Research on lightfastness of watercolor paint

My name is Jennifer Schaudt and I am a sophomore in high school.

For the past three years, I have been working on a science fair project
which deals with the permanency of water color paints. I tested 1640
samples of paint last year, some with zinc oxide added or a wash of alum
on the paper for acidity.  I also randomly tested the pH on some paints.
In order to quantify my work, I manually measured the color value of
each sample through red, green and blue filters before and after
exposure to sunlight.  I then analyzed the data using analysis of
variance.

This year, I plan on making a few watercolor paints with pigments that I
know from my testing are fugitive and then I plan on buffering them to
see if higher pH helps them become more permanent.

I am looking for the following:

    1.  information on the reaction of sunlight on pigments and what
        causes  the pigment to fade.

    2.  for a xenon-arc fadeometer to speed up the fading process during
        the few winter months that I have to do this project.

    3.  a colorimeter or plans to build one.

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, please contact me at the address
or phone numbers above.

   **** Moderator's comments:   In a separate message Kenneth Schaudt
   added the following:

   At this point, she probably most needs some information on the
   process that causes the colors to fade.  last year she tested over a
   thousand samples.  She tested the pH of a number of the paint samples
   and has formed the hypothesis that the degree of fading may be
   connected to the pH or buffering of the paint.  This hypothesis is
   based upon the 1993 testing. She has contacted the local
   universities, the museums, local science libraries and paint
   manufactures for help without success.

Thanks,

Jennifer Schaudt
OMNET: K.Schaudt.Marathon

                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:49
                 Distributed: Saturday, January 8, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-7-49-001
                                  ***