Oil Painting Grounds

Everything you ever wanted to know about oil painting grounds but were afraid to ask. What are the choices, which one is best and why, which is best for me? Tradition ‘Gesso’, also known ‘glue gesso’ or ‘Italian gesso’ is a traditional mix of an animal glue binder (usually rabbit skinned glue, chalk, and white pigment, […]

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Sennelier Oil Paint Review

PROSPECTUS:_IN 1887, GUSTAVE SENNELIER, A DEVOTED CHEMIST, ESTABLISHED HIMSELF AS A PURVEYOR OF FINE-ARTISTS’ PAINTS AT 3 QUAI VOLTAIRE FACING THE LOUVRE AND STEPS AWAY FROM L’ECOLE DES BEAUX-ARTS. HAVING THOROUGHLY RESEARCHED THE HISTORY AND USAGE OF PIGMENTS, HE DEVELOPED A DISTINCTIVE PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING OIL COLOURS, FORMULATING PRECISE METHODS FOR MIXING TONES AND FOR […]

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Rembrandt Oil Paint Review.

PROSPECTUS:_Rembrandt Artists’ Oil Colors are manufactured to exacting professional quality standards in Apeldoorn, Holland. They respond to the brush with a buttery feel and have a noticeable brilliance and color intensity rarely seen anywhere in the world. Rembrandt Oils are highly durable and are produced with the highest color strength possible, using valuable, costly, pure […]

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MICHAEL HARDING ARTIST’ OIL COLOR REVIEW

This is a professional line of oil paint formulated to the highest standards. These oils feature high pigment load and excellent mixing power. Color intensities replicate those of handcrafted, limited edition oils produced prior to the invention of the collapsible tube in the 1840s. The consistency is silky, not oily. This enables the artist to […]

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M. GRAHAM ARTIST OILS REVIEW

PROSPECTUS:_M. Graham Artists’ Oil Colors are made with a walnut oil binder, an alternative to traditional linseed oil that’s been preferred by artists for centuries. In fact, today it’s known that Renaissance masters such as Da Vinci and Durer generally favored walnut oil over linseed oil. Walnut oil provides rich, vibrant color that is naturally […]

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HOW OLD IS OLD?

The Real Nitty Gritty behind the Heritage Lore of Leading Paint Manufacturers. FACT OR FICTION? OLD HOLLAND 1664:_ In 1664 the members of the Guild of Saint Luke in The Hague set up the ‘Painters’ confraternity Pictura and the Academy of Fine Arts’  in The Hague. They start making their own paint. The beginnings of Old Holland._Owned […]

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HOLBEIN EXTRA-FINE ARTIST OILS REVIEW

PROSPECTUS:_Holbein ranks as one of the world’s finest lines of professional oil colors. The formulation of each color is modified individually to compensate for the inherent differences in the working characteristics of pigments. The result is an even consistency across the entire palette of color. Holbein maintains its quality standards by test inspection of pigment […]

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GAMBLIN ARTIST OILS REVIEW

Gamblin Artist’s Oils have luscious working properties, and each color possesses unique characteristics in terms of texture, undertone, and tinting strength. The range of colors includes both historically accurate paints and modern, synthetically derived hues. Most are made with alkali-refined linseed oil as a binder, which creates a strong, flexible paint film and yellows significantly […]

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Blockx Oil Paint Review

PROSPECTUS:_In the Blockx tradition, paint is still hand-ground using a slowly rotating three roll stone mill. Only pure pigment is used. All colors have a minimum lightfastness rating of 7 out of 8 on the blue wool scale, so the entire line can be considered perfectly lightfast.Iron oxides, earth pigments, and blacks are ground with […]

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HOG BRISTLE BRUSHES

The Society of Figurative Arts’ mission here is to support product lines that maintain a focused commitment to the professional artist. TSoFA has been examining the characteristics of hog bristle brushes for the professional oil painter. These tests have taken several weeks, here are the observations. The top manufacturers of professional-grade hog bristle brushes, in no particular […]

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