Abstract: Liquid colorant dispersions preferably comprising 5-70 weight percent colorant and 95-30% vehicle. The colorant is preferably a conventional pigment. The vehicle typically comprises two major components, (1) from 5 to 25 weight percent of a physically active, chemically inert solid in the form of fine particles (less than 90 microns in size), and, correspondingly, (2) from 95 to 75% of a surfactant system. It is often desirable to also include in the vehicle materials which serve as extenders and/or which modify vehicle properties such as rheology. Many times such materials are conventionally known as plasticizers although they do not function as such when used in the dispersions of this invention. The inert solid is preferably calcium carbonate. The preferred surfactant system is a sorbitan ester surfactant, such as sorbitan trioleate.