Oil Painting Tips and Tricks by Winsor & Newton

Oil Painting Hints and Tips

Canvas
Stretched cotton canvas has been the most common support for oils since the 17th century. The weave of the cloth combined with the spring of the stretched material are the features which maintain its popularity.

Canvas board
Canvas boards have traditionally been used for sketching outdoors. Boards take up less room and are less easily damaged than stretched canvases. Winsor boards are made from a substantial board and high quality cloth, making them superior in quality to coated sketching boards. Finished paintings on boards can be easier and cheaper to frame than canvases.

Papers
Paper is popular for sketching in oil and also liked by professionals for its texture and drag. Contrary to hearsay advice, using paper is acceptable for oil painting. It is recommended however that good quality heavy water colour paper is used, thinly primed with Acrylic Gesso Primer.

Priming canvas and Medium Density Fibreboard (MDF)

By preparing your own surfaces you can choose any dimensions or shapes you like, even circular, and many artists enjoy the preparation of their materials. Priming hardboard or MDF (masonite types) for painting is inexpensive and this in itself can encourage more painting. Primers control the texture, absorbency and colour of your support.

Acrylic Primers
As a result of their formulation, Winsor & Newton acrylic primers are suitable for oil painting. They are popular because they dry quickly and do not require any sizing underneath. Winsor & Newton Acrylic Gesso Primer has the highest covering power and is the best primer if using one coat only. Galeria Gesso Primer provides a good quality gesso at an affordable price. Clear Gesso Base is a unique product which provides tooth and no colour. Using acrylic with Clear Gesso Base, you can make your own coloured gesso. A dark priming brings the elements of the painting together and also saves time when painting.
Oil Primer
Oil Painting Primer imparts a traditional oil base. Some artists prefer this and may find a slight increase in gloss and smoothness. Oil primed canvases may slacken off less than acrylic primed canvases. A coat of warm glue size is required first. The primer should be left to dry overnight. Foundation White is a white lead oil colour which can be used for lead priming. Lead priming was used exclusively up until the 20th century. As lead primed canvases have to dry for 6 months Oil Painting Primer is more popular.
Common failings
Achieving good results in oil painting relies as much on the quality of the ground as the use of good quality oil colour. A high proportion of technical problems experienced by artists are due to a poor quality ground. Winsor & Newton primers and ready made surfaces ensure these results by controlling texture, absorbency and colour. Invest in good surfaces as well as good colours!

Colour ranges and their combinations

From the 16th – 18th centuries oil colour totally dominated the world of painting. In the 19th century water colours became increasingly popular and in the latter half of the 20th century acrylics have gained a significant following. However, oil colour maintains its standing as the most professional of mediums. Its rich, voluptuous nature and smell remain unique.

There are five types of oil colours:

Traditional Oil Colour
Traditional oil colour is generally available in two qualities. Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colour provides the widest range of colours, the highest pigment strength and the best clarity of colour.The greatest variety of techniques is possible when using artists’ quality. Winton Oil Colour is a smaller range, suitable for those artists who require good quality colour at an affordable price. It is also available in 200ml tubes which are particularly popular with artists painting on a large scale.
Fast Drying Oil Colour
Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour allows techniques from impasto to glazing to be achieved in considerably less time than traditional oils. Griffin colours also have a greater transparency than other oil colours, and when painting in layers, can dry with a more even sheen.
Water Mixable Oil Colour
Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour is a new range of oil colours which can be mixed with water instead of solvents, yet it provides all the handling properties of of conventional oil colour. Artisan is popular in art schools and studios and with all painters who do not like the smell of turpentine or wish to cut down or eliminate the use of solvents. As a result of avoiding solvents, painting with Artisan is less hazardous. After painting, brushes and palettes can be cleaned using only soap and water.
Oil Colour in Stick Form
Artists’ Oilbar is oil colour in stick form. The soft, creamy bar facilitates drawing directly with wet oil colour. Oilbar has the handling properties of a conventional oil colour and not a crayon or oil pastel. The use of artists’ pigments in Oilbar also ensures considerably improved permanence to light. Oilbar is also widely used by hobbyists for stencilling.
Combining different oil colours
All of the above oil colour ranges can be freely intermixed. There are however three exceptions, where care should be taken; i) thin alkyd films should be avoided over thick oil ones, ii) thick Oilbar films under oil films are not recommended, iii) once water is added to Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colours, conventional oil colours should not be used.

Permanence
Most artists like to be sure that their colours are permanent. Fortunately, the 20th century has seen enormous improvements in the lightfastness of colours. All Winsor & Newton colours rated AA or A are recommended as permanent for artists’ use.

There are very few colours which do not reach this standard and are provided only because of the lack of permanent pigments in certain colour areas. Permanence ratings are on the product labels and our colour charts. For information on the origin, composition & permanence of pigments look out for our booklet, Notes on the Composition and Permanence of Artists’ Colours.

Drying rates of colours
Different drying rates occur in oil colour because each pigment reacts differently when mixed with oil. Winsor & Newton colours are formulated individually to optimise the overall drying rates, helping artists to avoid the problems of slow drying underlayers. However, a guide to the likely variations between colours when painting is useful for practical purposes and is given here:

The relative span of drying times varies with product range;

Artists’ Oil Colour touch dry in 2 – 12 days
Winton Oil Colour touch dry in 2 – 12 days.
Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour touch dry in 2 – 12 days.
Artists’ Oilbar touch dry in 2 – 7 days.
Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour touch dry in 18 – 24 hours.

Any differences in the drying of different colours in the Griffin range are insignificant over this short period of time.

FAST DRYING COLOURS (around 2 days)
Aureolin, Permanent Mauve (manganese), Cobalt Blues, Prussian Blue, Raw Sienna, Umbers, Flake, Foundation & Cremnitz White.

MEDIUM DRYING COLOURS (around 5 days)
Cadmiums, Permanent Alizarin Crimson,Cobalt Violets & Greens, Winsor Blues & Greens (phthalocyanines), Ultramarine Blues, Permanent Sap Green, Ochres, Burnt Sienna, Mars colours, Lamp Black, Ivory Black, Titanium White, Zinc White.

SLOW DRYING CLOURS (more than 5 days)
Winsor Yellows & Orange (arylamides), Quinacridones, Alizarin Crimson.

Painting thickly in oil colour (Impasto)
Very thick layers of oil colour may show wrinkling as the surface dries. This can be avoided by building up texture in thinner layers, allowing each layer to dry first. Using Oleopasto will also help by thickening the colour as well as speeding the drying time.

The important thing to avoid is the use of thinner layers of colour on top of thicker underlayers. This would be against the ‘thick over thin’ rule. The underlayer of impasto will shrink as it dries throughout and could cause a thin film on top to crack.

Impasto Basic palettes
Your initial palette should provide a wide colour spectrum and should have a good balance between transparent and opaque colours and between strong tinting and weaker tinting colours. Permanent colours are always desirable and the main palette should ideally be low in price. The common practice is to maintain a broad palette of about twelve colours and add to it for specific requirements.

Artists Oil Colour
Winsor Lemon, Winsor Yellow, Cadmium Red, Permanent Rose, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Winsor Blue (green shade), Winsor Green, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White.

Winton Oil Colour
Cadmium Lemon Hue, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cadmium Red Hue, Permanent Rose, Alizarin Crimson Hue, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue, Viridian Hue, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White.

Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour
Cadmium Lemon, London Yellow, Cadmium Red Medium, Permanent Rose, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White.

Artists’ OilBar
Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Red, Permanent Magenta, Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Manganese Blue Hue, Winsor Green, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White.

Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour
Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cadmium Red Medium, Permanent
Rose, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue (Red Shade), Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White.

Colour mixing – the 6 colour system
Restricted palettes are used by both beginners and serious painters to develop their understanding and use of colour. The six colour system uses two reds, two yellows and two blues as a ‘primary’ palette. This provides both a blue shade red and a yellow shade red for example, which will ensure clean violets and clean oranges from your palette.

The additional colours recommended in the basic palettes introduce a wider range of tones and greater variation in opacity and tinting strength.

See below for colour mixing palettes.

Artists Oil Colour
Winsor Lemon, Winsor Yellow, Cadmium Red, Permanent Rose, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine, Winsor Blue (Green Shade), Winsor Green, Raw Umber, Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Titanium White.

Winton Oil Colour
Cadmium Lemon Hue, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cadmium Red Hue, Permanent Rose, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue.

Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour
Cadmium Lemon, London Yellow, Cadmium Red Medium, Permanent Rose, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue.

Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour
Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Hue, Cadmium Red Hue, Permanent Rose, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue (Red Shade).

Artists’ OilBar
Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cadmium Red, Permanent Magenta, French Ultramarine, Manganese Blue Hue.
Additional colours for particular techniques
When choosing new colours, an excellent investment is a hand painted colour chart of the range. For a small price, you’ll be able to see all the colours in graded washes, helping you to make the right choice before buying new tubes. Colours named are from Artists’ Oil Colour, although many are also available from other ranges. A full list of chemical compositions for comparison is available in our booklet, Notes on Composition & Permanence of Artists’ Colours.

Landscape painting
New or different colours can really broaden your painting vocabulary. For landscapes, yellows, blues, greens and earth colours are always useful.

Landscape Colours
Lemon Yellow Hue, Cadmium Yellow Pale, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Blues, Winsor Blue (Green Shade), Ultramarine (Green Shade), Indanthrene Blue, Prussian Blue, Cobalt Turquoise, Cobalt Greens, Terre Verte, Oxide of Chromium, Viridian, Winsor Green (Yellow Shade), Prussian Green, Permanent Sap Green, Olive Green, Raw Sienna, Light Red, Indian Red, all ochres and red earths, Davy’s Gray, Lamp Black, Ivory Black, Zinc White.

Portrait painting
Portraiture needs that spark of life and character; clean, crisp colour mixtures and tones will achieve these. Pinks, violets and earth colours will make some of the subtle tones required for portraits.

Useful Portrait Colours
Lemon Yellow Hue, Cadmium Yellow, Flesh Tint, Cadmium Scarlet, Vermilion Hue, Rose Doré, Rose Madder Genuine, Rose Madder Deep, Cobalt Violet, Cerulean Blue, Jaune Brillant, Naples Yellow Light, Naples Yellow, Indian Red, Mars Violet Deep, Davy’s Gray, Charcoal Grey, Ivory Black, Lamp Black, Flake White No.1 or No. 2, Underpainting White.

Secondary colours
In addition to the bright secondary colours you will achieve from your basic palette, single pigment ‘secondaries’ are important, eg. Winsor Green can make brighter mixes than if you use a green mixed from a blue and yellow yourself.

Useful Secondary Colours
Winsor Orange, Cobalt Violets, Permanent Mauve, Winsor Violet, Ultramarine Violet, Permanent Magenta, Purple Madder Alizarin, Cobalt Turquoise & Greens, Oxide of Chromium, Viridian, Winsor Greens.

Glazing colours
Transparent colours are used as thin tinting films. An overall glaze at the end of a picture unifies the image. Glazing can also be used throughout the painting to produce delicate colour effects and depth to the painting. When a thin film of colour is required, thin the colour with Liquin and solvent to prevent the glaze from being underbound.

Useful Glazing colours
Transparent Yellow, Aureolin, Indian Yellow, Rose Dore, Cobalt Violet, Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Blue Deep, Prussian Blue, Terre Verte, Raw Sienna, Davy’s Gray, Zinc White.

Abstract painting
Abstract colour areas benefit from using opaque colours. They give flat, smooth finishes, covering underlayers and not showing brushmarks.

Useful Abstract Colours
Lemon Yellow Hue, Chrome Yellow Hue, Cadmium Yellows and Reds, Vermilion Hue, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Greens, Oxide of Chromium, Chrome Green Deep Hue, Yellow Ochre Pale, Mars colours, Light Red, Venetian Red, Indian Red, Mars Black, All tints made with white.

Scumbling
Scumbling also uses the opaque colours, very slightly diluted and scrubbed on briskly to achieve a scumbled glaze.

Useful Scumbling Colours
Lemon Yellow Hue, Chrome Yellow Hue, Cadmium Yellows and Reds, Vermilion Hue, Cerulean Blue, Cobalt Greens, Oxide of Chromium, Chrome Green Deep Hue, Yellow Ochre Pale, Mars colours, Light Red, Venetian Red, Indian Red, Mars Black, All tints made with white.

High key (bright) colour
These are generally the colours with high tinting strength. High key paintings are often made ‘alla prima’, using colour straight from the tube.

Useful High Key Colours
Cadmium Yellows and Reds, Winsor colours, Chrome Yellow Hue, Magenta, Permanent Magenta, Prussian Blue, Phthalo Turquoise, Titanium White.

Low key (subdued) colours
These can be tints (colour plus white) or shades (colour plus black) but can also include earths and other naturally low – tinting strength colours.

Useful Low Key Colours
Flesh Tint, Rose Doré, Rose Madder Genuine, Rose Madder Deep, Cobalt Violet, Cobalt Greens, Terre Verte, Oxide of Chromium, Jaune Brillant, Naples Yellows, Ochres, Siennas, Indian Red, Mars Violet, Deep, Umbers, Davy’s Gray, Blacks.

Hints, Tips & Techniques for Oil – Solvents

Find out here about how to use artists’ solvents and how to avoid overthinning.

Thinners are used to dilute the colour and clean brushes and palettes after painting. The same solvents can be used with all types of oil colour, with one exception. Water mixable oils are intended for use with water to avoid the need for traditional solvents.

Distilled Turpentine is the traditional solvent, with a characteristic smell. It maintains the oiliness of the colour in use. Artists’ White spirit and Sansodor are petroleum distillates. The first petroleum distillates were thought only to be good enough to clean brushes. This is no longer true of solvents supplied as artists’ quality.

Artists’ White spirit makes a watery mixture with the colour and evaporates more quickly. Sansodor performs like Distilled Turpentine but has a low odour and is the least hazardous of the solvents. All solvents should be used in a well ventilated room.

Using artists’ solvents
Make sure you use artists’ quality solvents. Solvents sold in hardware stores are not expected to be used in fine art and yellowing or non – drying can result.

Avoiding over thinning
Solvents thin the oil colour by diluting the linseed oil. If too much is used, there will be insufficient oil remaining to bind the pigment. A matt or uneven finish will appear on the painting and the work will be susceptible to scuffing and damage. Overthinning is avoided by the use of mediums in addition to solvents.

Artists’ White spirit makes a watery mixture with the colour and evaporates more quickly. Sansodor performs like turpentine but has a low odour and is the least hazardous of the solvents. All solvents should be used in a well ventilated room.

Artists Picture Cleaner
Artists’ Picture Cleaner is a non-acid emulsion of natural resins and essential oils designed for the cleaning of varnished oil paintings. It is perfectly safe and harmless if used according to the directions and is an excellent product for its limited purpose.

A picture which needs to have the old varnish removed should be entrusted to a competent picture restorer. Artists’ Picture Cleaner will remove surface dirt and the products of oxidation in the old varnish. It effects a wonderful improvement in most cases, but it must be clearly understood that it acts only as a cleaner. Any attempt to remove the old varnish by copious application of the cleaner and by hard rubbing will damage the painting and we cannot accept any responsibility for this outcome.

Unvarnished oil paintings may also be treated with the cleaner but great care is necessary and the process should be stopped immediately if the colour of the painting is removed. Heavily varnished tempera paintings may also be cleaned but you should never use it to clean an unvarnished tempera painting. Artists’ Picture Cleaner is also unsuitable for water colour paintings.

Artists’ Picture Cleaner is a highly recommended product. Users have said that it does amazingly well if you have an oil painting which is dirty but otherwise in good condition. It allows you to improve paintings simply and inexpensively, however, if you are in any doubt about the condition of the painting or if the varnish is cracked, let the necessary work be done by an expert.

Directions for Use

Remove the oil painting from its frame and lay it flat on a table.
Shake the bottle of Artists’ Picture Cleaner vigorously to mix the contents thoroughly. The emulsion must be uniformly white and creamy before it can be used. Shake the bottle every time you want to apply cleaner to your pad of cotton wool.
Moisten a wad of cotton wool with the cleaning emulsion.
Apply to the surface of the painting by means of a gentle, circular motion. Never allow liquid to remain on one part of the surface. Keep the cleaner evenly distributed over the whole area.
Take a fresh wad of cotton-wool as soon as the old piece becomes dirty. Repeat the process as long as necessary to achieve the desired result. Remember that some time will be required for the essential oils to penetrate the hardened varnish, and that the exercise of patience will be well rewarded. Never rub hard and be sparing with the amount of cleaner used.
Stop the cleaning immediately if colour is observed on the cotton wool.
When no more dirt is brought off on the cotton wool, the painting should be wiped over with fresh cotton wool moistened with Distilled Turpentine. Do this a second time with fresh cotton wool and turpentine.
The surface will now be slightly tacky. Put the picture aside in a warm dust-free atmosphere until the surface has re-hardened. This may take a few hours.
If considered desirable the picture can be re-varnished with the Winsor & Newton range of varnishes depending on the effect required.

Hints, Tips & Techniques for Oil – Mediums

Painting with oil colour almost always involves the use of Mediums and Oils in order to to further control the colour, prevent overthinning (see also solvents) and maintain the flexibility of the paint film (fat over lean).

At Winsor & Newton we can separate our mediums into four categories:

Linseed Oils
Oil Mediums
Fast Drying Mediums
Water Mixable Mediums

Below you will find an explanation of how mediums are used and an insight into the effects that you can create with them.

Working with oil colour is a skill that needs to be learnt and in this section we will also explain a few of the oil colour rules such as oiling out, how to combine different mediums, fat over lean and why varnishes should never be used as mediums.

Linseed Oils
Linseed oil is the traditional medium, as it is the binder for most oil colours. Generally oils dilute the colour, increasing gloss and transparency and are used in combination with solvents. The consistency, colour and drying time of linseed oil can be varied by different processing.

Click on the links to find out more about each individual product.

Oil mediums are ready made mixtures of particularly suitable linseed oils with solvents. They can be used as general purpuse mediums and can be used directly for oiling out.

Click on the link to find out more about each individual product.

Fast drying mediums

Modern resins called alkyds are used to make fast drying mediums for oil painting. These are extremely popular because they generally halve the drying times of the colours.

Click on the link to find out more about each individual product.

Water mixable mediums

Water mixable mediums are available for use with Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colours. These dedicated mediums ensure that all the traditional oil colour techniques can be achieved without the use of turpentine or white spirit (mineral spirits). In addition, all Artisan bottles are easy to open as they do not require child resistant caps.

They include:

Combining different mediums
All the conventional mediums can be mixed. However, the structure of the painting is under less stress in the long term if mixtures are avoided.

We recommend Water Mixable Mediums to be used exclusively with Artisan colours in order to benefit from the use of water instead of solvents.

Not using varnishes as mediums
Picture varnishes are not recommended as constituent parts of mediums because of their resoluble nature. Neither should they be used as intermediate layers in oil paintings.

Oil Painting Rules
When painting with oil colour, artists must adhere to three conventional oil painting rules:

Fat over lean – (see explanation below). When oil painting in layers, each successive layer must be more flexible than the one underneath. This rule is maintained by adding more medium to each successive layer.
Thick over thin – Thick layers of oil colour are best applied over thin under layers. Thin layers on impasto paintings are likely to crack.
Slow vs. fast drying colour – Slow drying colours should not form continuous under layers as any faster drying layers on top may crack.

Oil Painting Techniques and Effects

Artists can create a multitude of painting effects with the use of mediums. Below are a few illustrations which explain how they work and hopefully inspire you to try them out.

	Glazing Glazing is the build up of layers of transparent or semi trasnparent colour over dry underlayers. It is a lengthy technique where the effects in oil are unmatched when compared to other media. Liquin original is an excellent glazing medium and will reduce brushmarks. The new Blending & Glazing Medium is also ideal for this purpose.
	Scumbling Loosely brush a thin film of opaque or semi-opaque colour over your underpainting. This may actually show through in places and can retain an important influence on the surface appearance of the painting. Liquin can be used to thin the colour or if you prefer a thick texture, use Liquin Impasto or Liquin Oleopasto
	Stipple Effect A bristle brush and thick viscous colour can create a “stipple” texture. Tube colour alone will work well or colour mixed with Liquin Oleopasto.
	S’graffito “S’graffito”, the technique of scratching into a wet oil film, can be done with the pointed end of a brush, painting knife or any scraping device.

It is effective in defining outlines or details for expressive effects. If you want more time for scraping back the colour you can slow the drying by using Refined Linseed Oil or Artists’ Painting Medium with the colours.

Impasto
This is the technique of applying paint thickly, so that the brush strokes are plainly visible and create a textured effect.

Liquin Oleopasto will add texture and increase the transparency. For thick impasto, build the texture in several layers allowing each to dry first.

Underpainting
Many artists complete the underpainting ofa project in faster drying colour (such as Griffin Fast Drying Colour) to save time and then go on to complete it with conventional colour.

Underpainting can be done in monochrome using any colour, or it can be done in full colour if using fast drying colours.

Oiling out
Oiling out is the application of an oil medium to a painting which has sunk (become dull), or lost its oil to the layer underneath. The most common causes for this are an over- absorbent, cheap ground or the use of too much solvent and insufficient or no medium. When the colour is dry, Artists’ Painting Medium should be sparingly rubbed into any sunken areas with a clean cloth.

Wipe off any residue and leave to dry for a day or two. If smaller, dull areas remain, repeat the process until the painting has regained an even sheen. Varnishes should not be used for the purpose of recovering the lustre of a dead painting. For a faster drying oiling out medium, use Thickened Linseed Oil diluted with 50% white spirit (mineral spirits).

See related FAQ for ‘oiling out’

Why is my oil colour crawling when I leave it to dry?

Fat over lean
Fat over lean is better understood if considered as ‘flexible over less flexible’. When painting in layers, the proportion of medium used in each layer should be increased. The higher proportion of medium makes subsequent layers more flexible and prevents the painting from cracking. This rule has traditionally been kept by adding more and more oil to the solvent used. However, as Liquin is now more commonly used, it is the Liquin content which is increased. There is no need to use oil as well.

Hints, Tips & Techniques for Oil – Varnishes

Varnishes are used to protect the finished painting. Picture varnishes should be removable so that paintings can be cleaned when they have become dirty.

There are two important things to remember about varnishes:

Do not varnish too early, even the thinnest oil painting should be allowed to dry for 6 months. A minimum of one month is required for thin Griffin alkyd paintings.
Do not use varnishes as mediums, this would make the painting sensitive to solvent. An attempt to clean it in the future may remove the painting instead!

Types of varnishes

Varnishes are labelled ‘gloss’,‘matt’ and ‘satin’. However, there is a variety available made from different resins which provide relative levels of gloss, as many artists have their own personal preferences. Here are the most common choices:

Click here to see our complete range of varnishes.

You may also want to see our Frequently Asked Questions on Varnishes for more information.

Or read an article on How to Varnish Paintings.

Hints, Tips & Techniques for Oil – Brushes

Hog brushes are ideal for oils because of the thicker nature of the colour and the roughness of the canvas. The different head shapes facilitate different marks. The short flat (or Bright) is the most popular shape as it provides quick coverage, accurately.

Winsor & Newton have three ranges according to the quality of the bristle. The best hogs maintain their stiffness and shape in use and over a long period of time. The lower priced hogs provide good performance for a shorter period of time.

When glazing or working on fine detail, soft sable brushes are preferred. Smooth applications of colour are possible without leaving any brushmarks. The long handles allow the artist to paint at a reasonable distance from the picture. To avoid excess wear, colours can be mixed on the palette with hogs and the sable used for painting.

Cleaning Brushes
Brushes will last many years if cared for well. The most important thing is to clean them after every painting session.

Wipe excess colour from brushes with a rag. (Dispose of rags safely).
Rinse brush in solvent (water for water mixable oils)
Wash with warm water and household soap, repeating until there is no trace of colour.
Shape brush, dry handle and stand head uppermost in a jar to dry.

See care and cleaning of brushes for more information.

Hints, Tips & Techniques for Colour Mixing – The Terminology of Colour Theory

Hue: Colour, eg. red, blue or yellow.

Chroma: The purity, saturation or intensity of a hue.

Tint:Hue mixed with white.

Shade:Hue mixed with black.

Tone:Hue mixed with Grey.

Value: The extent to which a colour reflects or absorbs light.

The Cadmium reflects a significant amount of light to give a high value whilst Yellow Ochre absorbs more light to give a lower value.

Undertone: The colour of a pigment as it appears in a thin film; as opposed to its Top or Masstone straight from the tube.

Tinting Strength: A measure of the ability of a pigment to tint a white.

Transparency: The ability of the pigment to transmit light and allow previous colour layers to show, eg. a violet can be obtained by placing a transparent red over a transparent blue, or vice versa.

Opacity: Opposite to transparency, eg. an opaque red will cover up any previous colour layers (N.B. Opacity in water colour is low due to thinness of film).

Temperature: A colloquial term used by artists to indicate the colour relative to red (warm) and blue (cold).

Primary colour: In paints: red, blue and yellow, or more correctly, magenta, cyan and yellow.

Secondary colour: A secondary colour is the result of mixing two primary colours.

Complementary colour: The complementary of a primary colour is the combination of the two remaining primaries, e.g. in paints, blue and yellow mixed gives green, which is the complementary of red. Mixing complementaries, for example red and green, makes deep intense darks (blacks, browns and greys).

Additive colour mixing: The mixing of coloured light is additive, secondary colours are purer, ie. away from black. This is the opposite to what happens when artists’ colours are mixed and is the reason for much of the confusion regarding colour mixing.

Subtractive colour mixing: The mixing of pigments is subtractive, secondary colours become less pure, ie. towards black. This is the opposite to what happens when coloured light is mixed.

Hints, Tips & Techniques for Colour Mixing

The Practical Applications of Colour Theory

The objective of colour mixing in painting is to create the largest number of options from the minimum number of colours and to be able to mix the colour you want. The ability to succeed depends initially on the quality of the colour. Winsor & Newton was founded in 1832 by two artists determined to improve the range of colours available to painters and provide colours of greater permanence.

Serving these aims decade after decade requires the understanding and application of colour theory by Winsor & Newton to their ranges.

In this section, the practical applications of colour theory are discussed, with reference to the colour names and characteristics of the different media.

Basic Colour Theory

For reasons of simplicity, we are taught when young that the three primary colours – red, blue and yellow – are all that are required for colour mixing. In fact, in pigment form every colour has both a masstone and an undertone which is different to the next colour.

Looking at the illustration below, for example, a blue pigment will have either a red undertone or a green undertone in comparison to another blue pigment. French Ultramarine is a red shade blue whilst Prussian blue is a green shade blue.

The undertone or bias of each colour however, is relative to the next one. For example, Indanthrene Blue, is red shade in comparison to Prussian Blue, but both would be classed as green shade blues. The colour bias is often most easily seen in a tint.

So, red, blue and yellow alone are not the whole story and in fact six colours provide a wider base for colour mixing: a red with a yellow bias, a red with a blue bias, a blue with a green bias, a blue with a red bias, a yellow with a red bias and a yellow with a green bias.

Applying This In Practice

The hue and undertone of each colour are best seen on the Hand Painted Colour Charts produced by Winsor & Newton. Printed tint cards can only indicate hue and undertone as closely as is possible within the limitations of the printing process.

So, in practice: if an artist wants to mix green; blue and yellow are used. Using the colour grid diagram (see above right), the greenest or cleanest green is made by using a green shade blue and a green shade yellow.

For example, in Artists’ Water Colour, Ultramarine (Green Shade) and Cadmium Lemon. If a red shade blue, French Ultramarine and a red shade yellow, Cadmium Yellow Deep were used instead, a dirty green would result.


Artists Water Colour: Green made from Ultramarine (green shade) and Cadmium Lemon	Artists Water Colour: Green made from French Ultramarine and Cadmium Yellow Deep

Three Primary Colours

Of course, the use of three primary colours alone remains a good learning exercise. In this case, it is necessary to choose the red, blue and yellow which are the purest, eg. the red which is as far as possible mid way between a blue shade and yellow shade. This ensures the cleanest violets and the cleanest oranges when using only one red.

Theoretically, the three primaries are magenta, cyan and yellow. But, remember that each artists’ colour has a masstone and an undertone; that artists require a package of handling properties and that permanence is also important. The recommended primaries therefore offer the best practical mixing properties combined with permanence wherever possible.

Listed below are the recommended primaries for each Winsor & Newton range:

Artists’ Oil Colour:
Transparent Yellow, Winsor Blue
(red shade) and Permanent Rose.

Artists’ Water Colour:
Winsor Lemon, Winsor Blue
(red shade) and Permanent Rose.

Artists’ Acrylic Colour:
Azo Yellow Medium, Phthalo Blue
Red Shade and Permanent Rose.

Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour:
Lemon Yellow, Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) and Permanent Rose.

Artists’ Oilbar:
Cadmium Lemon, French
Ultramarine and Alizarin Crimson.

Griffin Fast Drying Oil Colour:
Winsor Yellow, Phthalo Blue
and Permanent Rose.

Designers’ Gouache:
Primary Yellow, Primary
Blue and Primary Red.

Winton Oil Colour:
Cadmium Lemon Hue, Phthalo
Blue and Permanent Rose.

Cotman Water Colour:
Lemon Yellow Hue, Intense
Blue and Permanent Rose.

Galeria Acrylic Colour:
Lemon Yellow, Winsor Blue and Permanent Rose.

Note; It is often a surprise to artists that Cadmium Red is not recommended as primary red in a three colour selection. Permanent Rose produces much cleaner and brighter violets and oranges, because it is closer to magenta.

Artists’ Water Colour primary colours: Permanent Rose, Winsor Blue (red shade), Winsor Lemon

The Six Colour System

A broader spectrum can be mixed with six colours as discussed under Basic Colour Theory earlier. As a learning exercise, the move from three colours to six also begins to introduce other variables like opacity, tinting strength, drying rate, and granulation, depending on the type of colour used. Here are the recommended six colour palettes:

Artists’ Oil Colour:
Winsor Lemon, Winsor Yellow, French Ultramarine, Winsor Blue (green shade), Permanent Rose and Cadmium Red.

Artists’ Water Colour:
Winsor Lemon, Winsor Yellow, French Ultramarine, Winsor Blue (Green Shade), Permanent Rose and ScarletLake.

Artists’ Acrylic Colour:
Lemon Yellow, Azo Yellow Medium, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue Green Shade, Permanent Rose and Cadmium Red Light.

Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour:
Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow Hue, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue (Red Shade), Permanent Rose and Cadmium Red Hue.

Artists’ Oilbar:
Cadmium Lemon, Cadmium Yellow Pale, French Ultramarine, Manganese Blue Hue, Permanent Magenta and Cadmium Red.

Griffin Fast Drying Oil Colour:
Cadmium Lemon, Winsor Yellow, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue, Permanent Rose and Cadmium Red Medium.

Designers’ Gouache:
Lemon Yellow, Permanent Yellow Deep, Phthalo Blue, Ultramarine, ScarletLake and Alizarin Crimson.

Winton Oil Colour:
Cadmium Lemon Hue, Cadmium Yellow Hue, French Ultramarine, Phthalo Blue, Permanent Rose and Cadmium Red Hue.

Cotman Water Colour:
Lemon Yellow Hue, Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue, Ultramarine, Intense Blue, Permanent Rose and Cadmium Red Hue.

Galeria Acrylic Colour:
Lemon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow
Deep Hue, Ultramarine, Winsor Blue, Permanent Rose and Vermilion Hue.

Other Palettes

Other palettes can be created by individual artists choosing a different selection of six colours. For example, both Winsor Blues rather than an Ultramarine and a Winsor Blue. The variations are endless!

Six colour systems give clean, bright secondary colours but of course this is not enough. The remainder of this section looks at some of the many other reasons why artists will still use more than six colours.

Across The Range Of Hue
Looking at a Hand Painted Colour Chart, or for example, the range of printed blues from Artists’ Oil Colour above, the relative nature in hue and undertone of each colour is obvious.

In practice, the artist may already have Winsor Blue (Green Shade), yet might use another green shade blue, Prussian Blue, for its lower tinting strength.

The Winsor & Newton range must also offer all artists the opportunity to select the palette of their choice, whatever that may be. Some may prefer to use only a Cerulean Blue in their palette.

Additional colours within the same hue may also be used due to variations in opacity, tinting strength, drying rate, granulation etc. Manganese Blue Hue may be used for its transparency and Cerulean for its opacity, although they are both light blues. Equally, there are greens, violets and oranges which are unique within the spectrum and so artists will supplement their palette with those greens and violets, etc.

Different Names

The names of colours can vary from range to range, for example, Winsor Blue in Galeria Acrylics and Phthalo Blue in Winton Oil Colour are both made from phthalocyanine blue. This is principally for historical reasons; colours were known by different names in different decades. The pigment content of each colour is usually detailed on the tube and can be found on this site on each colour page, in the Composition and Permanence for each range or in the Winsor & Newton catalogue.

Single Pigments

The common understanding that mixing too many colours together results in muddy browns is due to the subtractive nature of colour mixing with paints.

The use of single pigments wherever possible by Winsor & Newton in manufacturing is therefore an important benefit. For example, in Artists’ Water Colour, ScarletLake and Winsor Red are included in the range because ScarletLake is very yellow whilst Winsor Red is very blue.

The result is two distinct colour positions, each being brighter than an equivalent hue made from more than one pigment. The use of both colours will produce a wider range of mixtures, each being clean and bright.

Scarlet Lake & Winsor Red
The same principle applies to single pigments in the green, orange and violet areas of the spectrum. These are usually known as secondary colours, however Winsor & Newton ensure that there are also as many single pigment ‘secondaries’ available to the artist as possible. A single pigment green will provide a more intense (ie. further away from black) colour than if the artist were to try to mix that same green made from blue and yellow.

Retaining Intensity

As a general statement the more colours in a mixture, the nearer to black (muddiness) the mixture will become. When mixing you cannot obtain a colour of greater intensity by using a mixture of others.

For example, no colour can be added to a mixture of Davy’s Gray and Cadmium Lemon to regain the intensity of Cadmium Lemon alone.

Davy’s Grey mixed with Cadmium Lemon cannot retain the intensity of Cadmium Lemon

Tinting Strength

Every pigment varies in strength. Winsor Blue, for example, has a high tinting strength whilst Terre Verte has a low tinting strength. In other words Winsor Blue will have a dominant effect on any mixtures whilst Terre Verte will not have a significant effect in mixtures. Care is required in colour mixing to avoid the strong colours over-dominating the paint surface. Strong colours can be controlled by adding small amounts to the mixture repeatedly until the required hue is reached.

Alternatively, some artists may choose colours with lower tinting strength, for example, Ultramarine (Green Shade) in preference to Winsor Blue (Green Shade) as it has a lower tinting strength. High tinting strength colours are often high key whilst low tinting strength colours are often low key. As a general guide the following colours tend to have a high tinting strength, relative to other colours of similar hue:

Benzimidazolones: Cadmium Yellows, Oranges & Reds; Winsor (Phthalo) colours; colours pre-fixed with ‘Permanent’ eg. Permanent Alizarin Crimson; Perylenes;

Quinacridone colours: Prussian Blue; Mars colours; Burnt Sienna; Lamp Black and Titanium White.

N.B. Artists’ quality colours generally have higher tinting strength than the equivalent colour in the more moderately priced second quality ranges. Although this does of course have an effect on colour mixing, providing stronger mixtures, it should not be confused with the relative strength of each pigment. For example, Prussian Blue has a high tinting strength in all ranges.

Value and Chroma – ‘High Key and Low Key Colour’

Each pigment has a relative ability to reflect or absorb light (value) and each colour has a relative intensity (chroma). Those which reflect a greater quantity of light or have a high intensity make ‘high key’ colours, for example Cadmium Yellow. Those which absorb less light or have a low intensity make ‘low key’ colours, for example Yellow Ochre.

Although many artists will balance high and low key colour across their paintings, successful works can exploit high key or low key colour throughout.

Transparency

Every colour is relatively transparent or opaque and this also affects colour mixing. Colours can be optically mixed by layers of transparent colours on the surface rather than directly on the palette. Depth is built up in paintings by this method, it is called ‘glazing’.

Flat areas of colour are achieved by using opaque colours such as cadmiums. The relative transparency or opacity of Winsor & Newton colours is noted on the colour charts.

The thickness of the paint film will of course affect the relative transparency. Thin films of colour will tend to be transparent either because they are physically thin or because the colour has been substantially diluted with medium before application. Thick films will always tend to be opaque because of the density of pigment on the surface.

Thick films of transparent colours will actually appear almost black in masstone. Transparent colours can only be seen when light is reflected back through the paint film from the support. In thick films, the light is absorbed and the colour appears dark.

Thick film of Permanent Alizarin Crimson

When used thinly on black or dark backgrounds, transparent colours will not show as the light is absorbed by the dark surface – typically, a water colour on black paper. Transparent colours therefore appear brightest on white.

In comparison, opaque colours reflect the light from the colour itself and appear bright on any surface. Opaque colours will also appear very bright when surrounded by black because the light is being reflected by the colour and absorbed by the black.

Temperature

The temperature of a colour is a term used by artists which refers to the general undertone in terms of red (warm) and blue (cold). The use of temperature descriptions in painting may be useful generally but it is not accurate in the more complex applications of colour mixing.

Complementary Colours

Complementary colours are used in colour mixing for intense darks. Mixing red with green, blue with orange or yellow with violet will all give deep, dark colours. These intense darks would not be achieved simply by the addition of black.

For example, mixing Burnt Umber with Ultramarine (Green Shade) in water colour will give a very deep dark. In addition, complementary colours are useful for toning down mixtures without dirtying them.

Burnt umber mixed with Ultramarine (green shade)

Complementary colours can also be used close together to produce particularly vibrant colours and can result in a picture which visually shimmers, as in the example below.

The Use of Black, Grey and White

In general, the addition of black will dirty a colour. If the artist wishes to tone down a colour, Davy’s Gray will achieve this. For example, Cadmium Lemon and black will tend to an olive green whilst Cadmium Lemon and Davy’s Gray will tend towards a citrus green.

Using Black and Davy’s Grey to tone down colour

When using black as a colour, you can avoid ‘dirtiness’ to some degree by taking note of the colour bias and tinting strength. Ivory Black has a brown undertone and a low tinting strength, most suitable for tinting landscape colours.

Lamp Black has bluer undertone, more suitable for tinting skies and has a higher tinting strength. Mars Black is the densest, most opaque black, ideal for large areas of black and where the blackest black is required.

The addition of white to colours produces tints. Tints will be imperative for many artists to alter tone, produce shadows and highlights. However, a common mistake with beginners is the reliance on white to lighten all colours rather than develop colour mixing skills to produce hues of varying intensity.

For opacity and high tinting strength, Titanium White is best. For toning down a colour the lower tinting strength of Zinc White (in oils) is excellent. The equivalent in Finity Artists’ Acrylics is called Mixing White and in water colour, Chinese White.

From left-right: Pyrrole Red and Titanium White, Pyrrole Red and Mixing White

Effects of Mixtures On Lightfastness And Permanence

On lightfastness
A mixture can never be more permanent than the original two colours. If a fugitive pink is used with a blue to make violet, the pink will fade over the years, leaving the blue. Fortunately, more and more permanent colours are becoming available, so concerns regarding permanence are lessened. Those colours which are rated AA, or A are recommended as permanent for artists’ use.

On permanence
Almost all Winsor & Newton colours can now be safely intermixed without affecting permanence. However there remain three colours which are not compatible with Flake White (or other lead whites), Vermilion Hue in Winton and Griffin and Winsor Red in Griffin.

Understanding the quality of your Oil Colour

Oil colour remains the preferred choice of professional painters. Its rich, luscious nature is timeless and irresistible. This month Emma Pearce, former Technical Expert at Winsor & Newton and author of Artist Materials, focuses on how to judge the quality of oil colour, making it easier for you to choose materials to get the best results.
View larger label image here

How wide is the spectrum?

So much of painting is about colour so having the widest possible selection of pigments offers the best choice to artists. Look at the colour chart; is there a good selection of colours in every part of the spectrum?

Bear in mind that the total number of colours in the range isn’t the most important factor. Some ranges have vast numbers of yellows, greens or earths and almost no violets, crimsons, pale blues or turquoises. It is important to consider pigment groups too, as you want to see a range across cadmiums, cobalts, ultramarines and the modern pigments like quinacridones, perylenes, pyrrols as well as a balance of both natural earths and synthetic iron oxides. Also look out for modern ideas such as Transparent White, Transparent Maroon and Perylene Black. These recent introductions show that a range is being adapted to bring new ideas to the artist. An example of wide spectrum choice is Winsor & Newton’s Artist’s Oil Colours where there are 80 single pigments and 120 colours in total.

Single or Mixed Pigments?

As with the spectrum choice, different ranges will offer single or mixed pigments. Using the Colour Index Generic Name (see ‘Pigment Content’ on label image) you can see if the colour is made from one or more pigments. Those made from a single pigment will have a unique position in the spectrum and you as the artist can make the choice as to where to take it depending on what you mix with it and how you apply it.

The single pigments are in a row across the top – use them to go anywhere in the area of the triangle below. If a pigment has already been mixed with another then you are already lower down the triangle with a muddier colour.

However, mixed pigment colours are important and exist for good reasons, such as:

A pigment has been discontinued and to maintain the brightness and actual colour position of a common colour, eg. Raw Sienna, our Winsor & Newton chemist will have used more than one pigment
Some colours are hugely popular and it saves time to have them ready mixed, eg. Sap Green

What is the Pigment strength?

Judging the strength of a pigment is one of the most important ways of diagnosing the quality of an oil colour. In the lab, this is done by a measured volume reduction with the same white. The highest quality colours have the highest tinting strength. There are also other factors involved:

Every colour has a different natural strength, eg. Terre Verte is a weak colour
If too much pigment is used there will not be enough oil to coat and carry the pigment particles. These colours will solidify in the tubes
If the grinding of the colour (the dispersion) is not appropriate to each particular pigment then the strength of the colour can be affected. These colours are often less stable, leaking oil and being difficult to handle on the palette

Tinting strength of Dioxazine Purple of Oil colour competitor (Left) and Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colour (Right)

For further information on the pigment strength of Artists’ Oil Colour see the downloadable leaflet.

Compare Masstone and undertone

When a tube is opened what you see when you look inside is the masstone, this is a very dark and strong colour. If the colour is smeared thinly onto a palette you will see the undertone of the colour. The colour comes to life, showing its true hue, brightness, clarity and colour bias. To judge a colour from the tube, make sure you look at the undertone as you will see differences when comparing with different brands and grades of colour.

Check the Series number

Pigments cost different amounts according to the rarity of the raw material or its difficulty in processing. Pigments also vary in density and oil absorption and so the weight used and therefore the cost is different in every colour. This results in the colours being sold in Series (see label image).
The higher the series number the more expensive the colour. Don’t confuse this with quality, all Artists’ Oil Colours are as highly pigmented as they can be. This mustn’t be confused with permanence either. The idea that permanence is affected by series number dates to the time past where cheaper student colours were less permanent – this is not the case now.

What is the type of oil used?

At Winsor & Newton tests show that cold pressed linseed oils have superior properties to alkali refined ones, so oil colours made from the former are better. With Winsor & Newton tubes the vehicle used (see label image) will be, linseed, safflower or linseed/safflower. This reflects the individual formulation of each colour where our chemist works out which mixture produces the brightest, most stable colour combined with controlling its drying rate and consistency. In addition, Walnut oil has not been shown to have any superior benefits as it behaves as a mixture of linseed and safflower.

The important time to remember this is when using whites. The whites (except Foundation and Underpainting) are made on safflower to make them brighter and less yellow. If you ordinarily mix white with other colours then they will all dry around the same time. If, however you underpaint extensively with white you must use either Foundation or Underpainting as these linseed oil whites will not cause cracking of subsequent layers.

There are few oil colour ranges which contain linseed oil whites so a range that does include them demonstrates that it understands the technical necessity of the colour and ensures that an artist can produce the highest quality work.

What is the variable opacity of the range?

The best range of oil colour will show a broad range of opacity (see label image). At Winsor & Newton we broadly categorize all our colour into four bands; Opaque , Semi-opaque , Transparent and Semi-transparent . Colours tending towards transparency generally make cleaner, brighter colour mixtures and can be used in layers to produce optical mixing. Colours which are more opaque will cover more easily and give more solidity to images. Look again at the hand painted colour chart above and look at the variety of hues combined with their opacity. there is a huge choice to ensure that you can achieve whatever you want.

What is the Permanence of the colour?

Pigments have become so permanent that this is no longer the issue that it once was. Here again much can be judged by the amount and type of information provided. Winsor & Newton provide permanence rating on all colour ranges (see label image) and these are awarded using results from exposure and acceleration pigment tests in our labs combined with ratings from the pigment supplier.

Additional factors such as pigment strength, chemical stability, humidity, acidity and the effects of varnish are also taken into account. These are the most stringent ratings that exist. ASTM lightfastness ratings can also be used but many of the newer pigments have yet to be tested by ASTM. This is a cost issue and does not imply a negative for a colour which has no rating.

Artists’ vs. Students’ ranges

Smaller ranges and lower price points will often indicate whether a range is Students’ rather than Artists’. However, it is still worth remembering that any of the elements of a range, such as pigment strength, could still be comparatively good for a student range. It is worth judging the quality of the colour by using the means above rather than relying on the brand name of the paint.

And finally……… Next time you’re painting or choosing a colour, think about the elements discussed. Have you experienced any of these properties at work? Don’t forget they are all interlinked and the best colour involves all these factors. Get to know the Colour Index Generic Names and make the small investment in a Hand Painted Colour Chart; you’ll be able to judge hue and colour bias easily and it never ceases to help with colour mixing.

View all Winsor & Newton Oil Colour ranges

Watching Paint Dry: Understanding the drying times for oil paint

Traditional oil paints are bound with drying oils. This is what gives them their unique working properties and makes them much slower drying than water-based media.

A drying oil is a vegetable oil which dries by oxidation (explanation below) and there are many types including poppy seed oil and safflower oil among others. Linseed oil is the one used in the majority of oil paints because it dries to the most durable film.

What effects do drying times have on oil paintings?

The main effects are dependent on how you layer your paints. If done incorrectly, you could create damage to your artwork. For example when underpainting, if a faster-drying layer is applied over the top of oil underpainting, this will be pulled apart as the slower-drying colour contracts. This is also true of colours which only surface dry such as cobalt. For underpainting, we would recommend an underpainting white, alkyd white or flake white (in linseed oil) because of their quick and thorough drying time.

In addition, paintings made in layers are also less likely to crack if the underpainting is thickly applied – that is, a thin paint film, not an excessively thinned paint film. It then has more time to dry thoroughly.

Which colours dry faster?

Most brands of oil paints contain driers in some colours in order to bring the drying times closer to range between 2 and 10 days. This helps to prevent problems with slow-drying colours and is perfectly safe for the paint film when controlled by experienced chemists.

Fortunately the drying rates of colours are rarely a problem because colours are almost always mixed on the palette and so the drying times tend to equalize to a great degree.

However, the following list gives a guide to the drying rates of pigments in linseed oil. Please remember that all colours made with poppy oil or similar will dry relatively slower than in the list

Rapid Driers
• Aureolin
• Cobalt blues
• Flake white
• Manganese blue and violet
• Siennas and Umbers

Average Driers
• Cadmiums
• Chromium oxide green
• Cobalt greens and violet
• Mars colours
• Perylenes
• Phthalyocyanine blue and green
• Pyrroles
• Some natural iron oxides
• Ultramarine blues and violet
• Viridian

Slow Driers
• Arylamide yellows
• Alizarin crimson
• Cerulean
• Green earth
• Ivory black
• Lamp black
• Quinacridones
• Rose madder
• Some natural iron oxides
• Titanium white
• Vandyke brown
• Yellow ochre
• Zinc oxide

Using Winsor & Newton Oil Colours

Both Artist’s Oil Colour and Winton Oil Colour are combined with Linseed oil and will behave in the way described above. In addition to this, it is worth stressing that, as Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour is also Linseed and Safflower based (not water based) it too has exactly the same drying mechanism and therefore rate of drying.

Speeding the drying rate

The safest way to accelerate the drying rate of oil colours is to use Liquin, which speeds the drying by about 50%. Thickened linseed oil can also be used and will speed drying by about 10%.

Neat driers (such as cobalt) are not recommended because they can crack the paint. The safe addition of driers depends on each pigment and is best left to the experience of manufacturers.

Liquin Mediums

The Winsor & Newton Liquin range of alkyd mediums, offer the ability to combine an alkyd resin with traditional oil colour effectively halving the drying time of the colour from the tube and result in an increased resistance to yellowing.

In particular, all the Liquin mediums will halve the drying time of oil colours from 2- 12 days to 1-6 days.

Winsor & Newton in fact used alkyds at the beginning of the 1950’s in craft colours, outdoor colours, varnishes and primers. In contrast to the more traditional natural resins of dammar, copal or mastic, that were the basis of the majority of the mediums on offer at the time the alkyd mediums ability to halve the drying times of oil colours, was a characteristic not seen with other traditional painting media.

This new ability to progress a painting more quickly had a profound effect on studio practice and Liquin shortly became what it is today – the most popular and commonly used oil painting medium.

The ingredients of Liquin are complex chemicals that are far more stable than the natural resin mediums of the past. Our chemists combine their cumulative experience of traditional mediums with modern paint technology and there is no doubt about the working characteristics and stability of Liquin.

The other most common question refers to the oil painting rule – ‘fat over lean’. Liquin is usually used instead of oil as a medium. Therefore, there is no need to add oil to increase flexibility in successive layers. When painting in layers simply increase the proportion of medium by adding more Liquin or reducing the solvent used as you progress.

The Liquin range – a comprehensive family of mediums

The Liquin range offers a comprehensive and varied selection to the artist, all of which are reinforced by the reliability and durability synonymous with the Liquin name. All Liquin products are suitable for use with conventional oil colour (Artists Oil Colour & Winton Oil Colour) whilst Griffin Fast Drying Oil Colour and Artists’ Oilbar and are intermixable.

The family includes:

Liquin Original – our most popular liquid alkyd medium

Liquin Fine Detail – for detailed brushwork

Liquin Light Gel – a slight gel that breaks down on brushing for a non-drip effect with colour

Liquin Impasto – a semi-gloss impasto medium that retains crisp textures and brush strokes

Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour

Another way to shorten the drying rate of your oil painting is to use Griffin Fast Drying Oil Colour. The Griffin range is formulated using an oil modified alkyd resin as the binder as apposed to a traditional drying oil.
Alkyds are polyesters modified by adding fatty acids. They are derived from polyols and a dicarboxylic acid or carboxylic acid anhydride. The name alkyd is in turn derived from these components – alcohol and acid or anhydride. They were introduced in 1928 by Kieule and had been used in lacquers and wood finishes.

Griffin Fast Drying Oil Colour offers a full palette of 50 colours enabling the traditional oil techniques of both impasto and glazing in considerably less time and a painting can be completed in a single session. The range was first launched in 1976 with its iconic labels, a set of which are held in the Winsor & NewtonMuseum.

Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour & Fast Drying Medium

Artisan Water Mixable Oil colour differs from traditional oil colour in that it is possible to thin the colour and clean it up with water. Its benefits also include the fact that it can be used without the need for hazardous solvents, making it a more environmentally friendly option for artists who share work space, or who are painting at schools or at home.

In order to control drying times, it contains within its range of specially formulated oils, thinners, mediums and varnishes – a Fast Drying Medium. This not only improves the flow of painting but speeds up drying time by about 50%, allowing further layers to be applied more quickly.

Retarding the Drying Rate of Oil Painting

Sometimes it is also necessary for artists to retard the drying rate. To achieve this use a 50:50 stand oil and turpentine mixture to thin it.

The Oxidation Process (drying process) explained

Oil colours, unlike water based colours which dry by evaporation, dry as the result of an oxidative reaction, an oxidative reaction being the absorption of oxygen from the air. This reaction is a complex one that can be broken down into different stages; The Autoxidation phase, the Polymerisation phase and finally the Stationary phase.

Autoxidation Phase

Vegetable oils (such as linseed oil and safflower oil) are made up of a mixture of various triglycerides that differ in terms of their fatty acid constituents. A triglyceride is a glyceride in which the glycerol is esterified with three fatty acids. Structurally this means that these oils contain long chains of hydrocarbons.

As oxygen is absorbed during the drying process, it attacks these hydrocarbon chains and produces free radicals.

Polymerisation Phase

These free radicals are highly reactive substances due to the presence of an unpaired electron. As more and more reactions occur, further free radicals are produced which start to polymerise and the process terminates when they form a new bond as their unpaired electrons combine.

This polymerisation stage takes days and weeks to complete after which the paint film will feel dry to the touch. However chemical changes in the paint film continue.

Stationary Phase

During this final stage the polymer chains begin to cross link. Covalent bonds formed by adjacent molecules result in a molecular network throughout the oil colour. This results in a stable and dry paint film.

It is these three stages that give the relatively long drying time for oil colours.
Finally…

Understanding the drying rates of oil colours and the impacts of oils and mediums is essential for every oil painter if they are to create stable art works that will stand the test of time. By experimenting with the different mediums and getting to know your oil colours there is no doubt that you are on your way to mastering the techniques of this classical art form.

Choosing the White that’s Right in Oils

Often the visual differentiation between the various whites available to artists is less easily discernable from the tube than with colours such as reds or blues. However, since white often comprises the largest volume of colour in most oil paintings, the right selection is really important to achieve the desired effect.

Winsor & Newton offers a wide variety of whites in three conventional oil colour formulations, plus one water mixable format;

Artists’ Oil Colour
Winton Oil Colour
Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour
Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour

In pre-historic times, the first whites were from chalks taken from the earth; very early in the history of colour, bones were also used for making white. Choosing a suitable white required little education as few options existed and artists simply used what was on hand.

Today the whites available offer a wide array of characteristics in differing degrees of opacity and consistency, and are suited to preliminary underpainting, for tinting colour, for highlighting, or for broader heavier applications of mass colour. This article highlights these sometimes subtle differences to help choose the white that best delivers the desired results.

A 1920’s addition to the artist’s palette, Titanium White is probably the most widely used white today. It is the brightest, most opaque and covering of all whites and is a good mixing white when opaque applications are desired. Due to its strength, it may overwhelm weaker, more transparent colours; when this is evident the addition of Flake White for warmer tints, or Zinc White for cooler tints, is suggested. The use of safflower oil reduces the tendency to yellow, common in whites ground in linseed oil. Available in Artists’ Oil Colour, Winton Oil Colour, Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour and Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour.

Zinc White and Flake White began to appear on artists’ palettes in the early 19th century. Zinc White dries to a cold white appearance and is particularly suitable for mixtures with cool colours and for glazing and scumbling techniques, as it does not overpower other hues. Though a dried film of Zinc White is relatively hard and brittle, this can be reduced by the addition of a small amount of Thickened Linseed Oil or Stand Oil. Available in Artists’ Oil Colour, Winton Oil Colour and Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour.

Prior to the advent of Zinc White and more recently Titanium White, Flake White* was the standard white used by artists around the world from classical times. Though lacking the opacity of Titanium White or the clean stark whiteness of Zinc White, Flake White has a fast, thorough drying rate, producing a paint film that is durable, with good flexibility and a firm consistency. Available in Artists’ Oil Colour (and Winton Oil Colour in the USA).

Flake White Hue has characteristics similar to genuine Flake White without the hazards associated with genuine lead pigment (see Health & Safety Data Information). Like the genuine Flake White, it has a lower tinting strength and faster drying rate than Titanium White. It is ideal for mixing with warm colours to maintain warmth and clarity. Available in Artists’ Oil Colour.

Made entirely from basic lead carbonate, Cremnitz White* is the modern equivalent of the traditional white used by the Old Masters and imparts the same brushstroke characteristics as seen in their work. In mixtures it tends to aid the drying process of oxidation of a paint film, a characteristic of all lead whites. Available in Artists’ Oil Colour.

Transparent White is titanium based, but weaker and more transparent than Zinc White. It is excellent for mixing strong tints and avoiding chalkiness or overly “pastel” colours, making it ideal for delicate tonal effects and glazing. Excellent for artists wishing to avoid opacity. Available in Artists’ Oil Colour.

Introduced in 1999, Soft Mixing White is a soft, creamy, non-sticky blend of Titanium White and Zinc White. This white is excellent for mixing strong tints and avoiding chalkiness or overly “pastel” colours, making it ideal for delicate tonal effects and glazing. It is a bright white, making it additionally suitable for opaque highlights. Although it is soft, it retains brush and knife marks. Available in Winton Oil Colour.

Mixing White is a special formulation of Titanium White with lower tinting strength to allow clean tints of colour without the chalkiness or “pastel” quality of mixtures made with regular Titanium White. Suitable for mixtures with transparent colours and glazing effects, Mixing White is a good neutral alternative to Zinc White. The quick drying alkyd resin, which is touch dry in 24 hours, allows the artist to add a glaze every day. It also decreases drying time when mixed with traditional oils. Available in Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour.

Foundation White* is made from basic lead carbonate with a small percentage of zinc white added to improve consistency and add whiteness to the paint film. With a fast drying rate it benefits mixtures by its durable, flexible nature. Linseed Oil whites will show greater yellowing than safflower white. The latter are recommended for final white highlights. Foundation White is recommended for underpainting and for the development of strong textural effects and in heavy paint applications. Available in Artists’ Oil Colour.

Made from Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide ground in Linseed Oil, Underpainting White has a fast drying rate and a coarse texture, both of which make it well suited to heavy underpainting, although it may also be used throughout the painting. When mixed with colours, Underpainting White will also hasten the drying rate of the resultant mixture. It has good opacity and provides a good toothy surface. It is a less hazardous alternative to Foundation White. Available in Artists’ Oil Colour.

Note on Safflower Oil Whites:

Take care not to use pure safflower oil whites for underpainting, as this may result in cracking in subsequent layers due to the shrinkage in volume of the slower drying safflower oil. For extensive underpainting, either Foundation White or Underpainting White is recommended.

*Flake White, Cremnitz White and Foundation White contain lead, which means that care must be taken to avoid ingestion of this pigment or paint mixtures containing this pigment. Read more about Health & Safety Data Information.

Finally, a note on Iridescent White. This isn’t a regular, traditional white. It is a mica-based pigment available in Artists’ Oil Colour and used primarily to achieve pearlescent white effects. It is lightfast and can be intermixed with other colours to make them appear pearlescent also.

Quick Reference Table:

Product Article – Brush Glossary

The large number of artists’ brushes available reflects two issues

Historically, many different brushes have been required to perform many different jobs and
Variations of the same shape of brush have existed to address different price points.

The result is a complicated array of products which many artists do not understand in full. Following is a glossary of brush terms for reference.

BRUSH GLOSSARY

Acrylic brush – synthetic brushes, the mix of hair is specially made for use with acrylic colour.
Balance – the correct weight and shape of a handle in relationship to the weight of the brush head.
Belly – the mid-section and thickest part of the brush head, or the individual hair filament itself. Sable filaments have excellent bellies, which result in well shaped round brushes.
Blunt – a hair which is missing its natural tip. Finest quality brushes, do not contain blunts or trimmed hairs.
Bright – often Short flat, a chisel ended, square headed bristle brush. Bright was a painter.
Bristle – hog hair. Coarse, strong hair, suited to thick brushwork in oil, alkyd and acrylic painting. Different qualities of hog brushes are available, the most expensive ones carry the most colour and retain their shape best when wet.
Camel – is a pseudonym for a mixture of miscellaneous hairs of low quality.
Crimp – the compressed section of the ferrule which holds the handle to the brush head.
Designers’ – an elongated round sable, most common for illustration work.
Egbert – an extra long filbert.
Fan – a flat fan, used for blending, available in both bristle and soft hair.
Ferrule – the metal tube which supports the hair and joins it to the handle.
Filbert – flat brushes with oval shaped heads, available in both bristle and soft hair.
Flag – the natural, split tip of each bristle. Flags carry more colour and are evident on the highest quality hog brushes.
Flat – usually Long flat; flat hog brushes with a chisel end.
Goat – makes good mop wash brushes.
Gummed – newly made brushes are pointed with gum in order to protect them in transit.
Interlocked – bristle brushes whose hairs curve inward towards the centre of the brush.
Kolinsky – the highest quality sable hair.
Length out – the length of hair, exposed from the ferrule to the tip.
Lettering – very thin, long, chisel ending sables, traditionally used for lines and letters in signwriting.
Liners – see Lettering.
Long flat – see Flat.
Mop – large, round, domed brushes, often goat or squirrel, used primarily to cover whole areas in water colour.
One Stroke – a flat soft hair brush which allows an area to be covered in one stroke, traditionally used in signwriting for block letters.
Ox – ear hair is used for flat wash brushes.
Pencil – see Spotter.
Polyester – Synthetic hair is made of polyester; different diameter filaments, varying tapers, different colours and different coatings result in as many possible variations in synthetic brushes as in those made from natural hair.
Pony – is a low cost cylindrical hair, ie. lacking a point, often used for childrens’ brushes.
Quill – bird quills were originally used for ferrules prior to the development of seamless metal ferrules. Still used in some squirrel brushes.
Rigger – very thin, long round sable, traditionally used for painting rigging in marine pictures.
Round – available in both bristle and soft hair, the latter having different types of rounds.
Sable – produces the best soft hair brushes, particularly for water colour. The conical shape and scaled surface of each hair provide a brush with an unrivalled point, responsiveness and colour carrying capacity. There are different qualities, the finest being taper-dressed Kolinsky [Winsor & Newton Series 7].
Short flat – see Bright.
Snap – see Spring.
Solid-dressed – sable which is sorted in bundles of equal length prior to brushmaking. Resultant brushes are not as responsive as taper-dressed sables.
Spotter – extra short and small sable rounds, used for retouching photographs and other high detail work.
Spring – the degree of resilience of the hair and its ability to return to a point. Sable displays excellent spring.
Squirrel – hair makes good mop brushes but does not hold its belly or point well.
Stripers – see Lettering.
Taper-dressed – Kolinsky sable which is sorted into different lengths prior to brushmaking. Resultant brushes have wider bellies and finer points.
Wash – large flat soft hair brushes, used primarily for flat washes in water colour.

BRUSH TYPES

Artists’ brushes can generally be categorized into two types, according to the type of hair used, [i] bristle and [ii] soft. Each type can then be further categorized by the shapes available in each hair type.

Bristle – The bristle category includes the original hog but also the synthetic stiff brushes like ‘Artisan’ for water mixable oils.

Shapes available: Round, Short Flat/Bright, Long Flat, Filbert (short and long) and Fan.

Soft – sable, ox, goat, squirrel, synthetic, pony, camel. Sable produces the best soft hair brushes, particularly for water colour. It’s conical shape and scaled surface provide unrivalled points, responsiveness and colour carrying capacity. Largely as a result of the cost of sable, other hairs are used for soft brushes, either on their own, or mixed.

Shapes available: Rounds; Spotters/Pencils, Designers, Riggers, Lettering/ Stripers/Liners, One Stroke, Mops, Wash, Filberts and Fans.

Two Additional Points To Note On Brushes

1.The sizing of brushes is most commonly done by a number system. Each number does not necessarily correlate to the same size brush in different ranges and this is particularly noticeable between English, French and Japanese sizes. It is important therefore that actual brushes are compared rather than relying on the sizes of the brushes you currently own.

Long handled brushes are available for oil, alkyd and acrylic painters who are more likely to be at a distance from their work than water colourists, whose brush handles are shorter.

What makes a quality artists’ brush?

Sometimes it is all too easy to forget about brushes, they are just the tool of application. Colour is the main player and naturally as artists we concentrate upon it. But the more you paint, the more you want tools that do what you want them to when you want them to.

In this article we are going to look at the three areas of brush, Natural, Hog and Synthetic; What they are, What they do, Where best used and Value.

A note about quality
As a student and for many artists afterwards in studios, money is tight. You may have little choice but to start with economically priced brushes. This is ok but bear two things in mind. Firstly, they will only just work, hogs will splay and soften, making messy marks and prevent you from controlling the colour. Synthetic brushes for inks, acrylics and watercolour will hold little colour and if very cheap will not even maintain their point. Secondly, they will deteriorate quickly and you are likely to find the cost of two or three cheap brushes is more than the artists’ quality brushes that would work to start with and last longer.

Natural hair
There are three main natural hairs used for artists’ brushes; sable, squirrel and goat. They all make relatively soft brushes and are therefore used for fluid colour whatever the medium.

Sable is the perfect hair for brush making. Each hair is conical itself, springy and covered in microscopic scales (see diagram on left).

The conical shape and spring make a perfect point and the scales increase the surface area so the brush sucks up a lot of colour. The combination of all three also allows for the controlled release of colour.

There’s only one problem with sable, it’s costly. Over the years this leads to fragmentation and many many sables at varying prices. So, how do you know what to buy? Well at the bottom end a very cheap sable is probably worse (and more expensive!) than buying a good synthetic for point, or a good goat or squirrel for colour carrying, or a sable synthetic mixture.

At the top end, both in quality and pricewise, is Series 7. Each Series 7 is made from a selection of different length hair, giving a longer and more tapered point. A worn down Series 7 will have the same profile as an ordinary sable brush. Series 7 are the only ‘taper dressed’ sable brushes in the world.

Series 7 will hold more colour and form a stronger point and body because only the very best hair is used, only 5% of the available sable hair is used in Series 7 brushes. So in fact the higher price of these brushes is deceiving. When I moved from an ordinary sable to a Series 7, my painting time was reduced by 60%; I could complete washes in one go and I no longer had to keep swapping back to smaller brushes to get a point for the finer lines. I could spend more time on my ideas than on struggling with my materials. Couple that with the fact that they last longer, I would go for a Series 7 every time. Put some on your Christmas list! From Queen Victoria to artists on the Titanic, they’ve been the brush of choice for a very long time.

One last thing to remember too, the sizing of sables differs in different makes. Make sure you are comparing like for like before you invest. (See diagram below where both brushes are a Size 10 but differ in actual size.)

Now for the middle ground. When you have less available cash, invest in a good quality sable like Artists’ Water Colour Sable. These are still much superior compared to synthetic brushes and will make glazing in oils and washes in watercolour far more accurate and controllable.

Squirrel hair makes good mop brushes because it has good colour carrying capacity. Comparing head sizes, a Winsor & Newton Pure Squirrel Pointed Wash is less than half the price of a good sable and if you mostly use washes then these are a good idea. The individual hairs are cylindrical and soft, so you will lose the good point and spring of a sable.

Goat also makes good mop brushes and they are very economical to purchase. Great at dropping large washes, the hair however is wavy and no point is possible.

Goat is the cheapest mop but squirrel is the better compromise before paying for the ideal sable.

Hog hair
Hog hair is a stiff natural hair, stout enough to pick up oil or acrylic colour straight from the tube. Each hair naturally ends in a ‘flagged’ tip or split end, and this increases the colour carrying of the brush as it scoops up the colour from the palette.

Like all things, hog brushes come in different qualities and therefore prices.

At the top end, the brush is made from the stiffest strongest hair, giving plenty of flag. Hog hair has a natural curve and each Artists’ Hog is made carefully so that every hair curves inwards. This gives control when pressing on the canvas, the brush tip widens only to the size of the ferrule in general use. The strong, curved hairs stay in the brush head, no strays trailing colour where you don’t want it. The best quality hogs also wear down gradually, maintaining their shape but getting smaller. These often become beloved brushes, you can’t make them like that without years of painting! So here again we find that the higher priced brush has more value, at less than twice the price of a mid range hog it will outperform it and last much much longer.

The mid range hog is excellent value when your budget is restricted. It will be a little softer and will not wear as nicely but it is perfectly serviceable.

The most economical Winsor & Newton hog is the Azanta Black. This is a good entry level hog. It will get you started but it will not maintain its shape and will be softer than the more expensive ranges. Azanta Black is the right choice when you’re strapped for cash, don’t be tempted to go any lower, the cheapest hogs are so soft and weak and splay so much they are unusable.

Synthetic hair
Synthetic hair is made from polyester and can be made soft or stiff for both fluid media and thicker colour. It is a cheaper raw material than natural soft and hog hair, allowing more economical brushes to be made. But it’s not only about the money, there are some aspects of synthetic brushes which are superior, so read on.

The softer brushes are made for the more fluid media. A good quality watercolour synthetic like Cotman gives an excellent point, especially in the small to medium sizes. Where you don’t need the colour carrying of sable, Cotman are a really good choice. However, within their own category, Cotman brushes are particularly superior as they are made with different thickness filaments. This gives them greater colour carrying capacity than an ordinary synthetic brush.

If you need a little more carrying capacity combined with the economy of synthetic look no further than Sceptre Gold II, which is a blend of sable and synthetic but at a price much closer to Cotman than sable alone. Also have a look at Cotman mops which are around the price of goat but have a much more controlled release of the colour.

The stiffer synthetic brushes are made for oil and acrylic painting. Their benefit in comparison to hog is that they do not become floppy in prolonged contact with water. This is particularly important in Artisan, as oil colour takes so long to dry, the brushes are in use so much more during the painting day. The polyester is boiled to encourage it to turn inwards and the cheaper price of an Artisan versus an Artists’ Hog should not be taken to indicate an inferior brush.

There are lower priced synthetics around but these have not been designed specifically for each type of painting, price being the priority. They will therefore not be as easy to paint with and they will not last as long.

Synthetic brushes also ensure vegetarians have the painting products they need.

Tips on brush care

All brushes will last longer if they are looked after but if you’ve invested in artists’ brushes – make them work for you!

Don’t stand your brushes head down in the brush pot whilst working.
Keep acrylic brushes rinsed whilst working so they don’t dry hard.
Don’t use sable brushes to mix large quantities, use a cheaper brush for any hard work.
After wiping and rinsing colour from brushes, wash them in warm water and soap, you will be amazed how much colour rinses away.
This will help to maintain their shape for much longer.
Shape washed brushes, dry handles and stand them uppermost to dry in a brush pot.
When not using regularly, store sables and other natural hair brushes away with a moth repellent.
Restore any bent synthetic brushes by dipping in slightly cooled boiled water for a minute or so.
Restore any splayed or bent brushes by washing thoroughly and then shaping up with Gum Arabic. Leave to dry for a few days at least before rinsing and using.

And finally……..
When I was starting this article, my 10 year old asked what I was writing about. I answered, ‘Mmm, I have to write about brushes, what’s a good one and how to make sure you have the one you need’. ‘Oh’, she said, ‘that will be easy, just buy Winsor & Newton’!

For more information please see the individual ranges within Brushes.

Written by Artist Emma Pearce