Differences in series of paint brands

[Amanda Grosjean]

I am about to make the big switch from buying my paints at the local craft store (subject to being at the mercy of them being out of certain colors or a higher series) to purchasing them solely online. I am not going to ask what your favorite brand is, it has been answered many times before in various threads and seems to be a very personal thing, mostly what you were introduced to as a young artist and what you become used to. I'd be very impressed if there is anyone out there who has tried every single brand in this catalog.

My question is actually about the "series" of these paints. Your options are very limited locally at the stores but now I have the option of picking series 1-6 of each color. Obviously there is a significant difference in price but, chemically...and from a usability standpoint, what makes them superior as the series goes up? How does a series 4 from Sennelier compare to a series 4 from say Winsor Newton? Perhaps the Sennelier is more but is that reflective of the quality or that maybe one is from another country, tacking on extra money. Does anyone here actually purchase the series 6, 80 dollar and up, 40 ml tube? It is certainly not something I could afford but ..is it worth it? Also, has anyone ever had problems mixing 2 different brands?

-Amanda

[Julie Deane]

I believe that series numbers are sole for pricing purposes. The more expensive colors would be in a different number series. Correct me if I am wrong.

They should all mix fine, but some brands use different oils, so that should be considered. Safflower oil is used exclusively by one brand, for instance, and would be a slower drier.

[Claudemir Bonfim]

I never had trouble mixing brands, series or whatever. You only cannot mix Green P. Veronese with Ultramarine Blue or other colors which contain sulfur, if you do so, you'll experience a chemical reaction that will affect the color in a matter of months.
Sargent had no care about brands or suppliers, that's why some of his colors are vanishing away, getting brownish or greyish.

[Amanda Grosjean]

That's frightening about Sargent, Claudemir. That's why I want more info about what I am applying to my canvas. If the masters can make mistakes what hope do I have?

I've heard that if a tube of paint appears more "oily" (you take the cap off and oil is the first thing that comes out) that it is inferior because it was added to extend the life of a lesser quality product. That being said I have gone up in a series and noticed more oil. The colors seem to stay wetter longer. So I am not sure if that first statement is true. My question was if anyone knows which increases as you go up in the series, the pigment of the color or the linseed oil. What causes the price increase and makes it superior?

Julie, yes, I did notice that Sennelier is made of Safflower instead of Linseed. Have you tried it? I am so tempted to try this brand based on this tube of sepia printer's ink that a professor let me try years ago. I still dream of the velvety, creamy wonder of that ink. Any thoughts as to whether that would be a problem mixing paints...not because there would be two different brands but because you'd be mixing a linseed based paint with a safflower based paint?

[Amanda Grosjean]

I suppose that the following definition can be extended to define the "series" differences, not just student vs professional grade?


Both artist grade and traditional student grade are made by packing fluid oil with pigment to get the desired stiffness of paste. The difference between them is that traditional student grade has pigment taken out and replaced with extenders. This lowers the price, tinting strength, and opacity. But the two types share the quality of raw materials.

So what level do you choose/feel is adequate?

[Richard Bingham]

The first consideration for quality in paint is the vehicle. Since Cennini wrote his treatise on painting materials and methods over 500 years ago, linseed oil has been preferred, because of all the drying oils, it produces the most durable paint films. Walnut oil is an acceptable second choice, but the films it produces are not as strong.

Safflower oil dries so slowly as to not be considered a drying oil. It produces incredibly weak, granular films, and requires the addition of siccatives to make usable paint. It has become quite universal in commonly available oil paints not because of its superiority, but because it is very cheaply available. Produced by the tank-car load in great abundance for use in the food industries, a vast supply is always available.

Conversely, linseed oil is becoming increasingly expensive as declining production makes it more difficult to obtain owing to its replacement in the paint and varnish industry by synthetics and petrochemicals.

"Series" is an identification of a price range that has nothing to do with quality differences between different series. The overall quality of student through professional grade tiers is specified for each grade regardless of the relative cost of different colors. A "series" system is tied to the comparative cost of different pigment stuffs, e.g., cadmium red pigment costs more than raw siena.

Because most painters today expect a certain uniformly thick, pasty consistency from tube colors, there is actually a tendency for some tube colors to be underbound (i.e., not enough oil). A tube of color that exudes free oil only demonstrates that: A. there is ample oil to bind the paint and B. the paint has "aged" adequately, to fully disperse the oil around each pigment particle. Far from being indication of a defect, it's a good sign and easily dealt with by storing the tubes inverted vertically.

As with most items, real value can be a bit difficult to ascertain. My opinion is that "student" grade paints are the absolutely poorest value for the money, and worse, a cruel hoax that puts a very real stumbling block in the way of developing painters who need every possible advantage to smooth the way for their progress. No one ever became wealthy by saving on paint, and the best value for money spent is to buy the very highest quality paints you can obtain.

These days, the best paint is not offered by the "big names" who monopolize art and craft stores. Grumbacher and Winsor & Newton (to name but two) are hollow shells of companies that once represented reliable high quality. They have been bought and sold so many times their committment to their customers and to high quality has shifted entirely to their fiscal bottom line. For the moment, they continue to trade off the patrimony of once-excellent reputations, but their current product lines would not meet their own former standards.

The highest quality paints are currently offered by small, boutique color makers who truly know their craft, and remain committed to high quality. Robert Doak, M.Graham, Old Holland, Vasari, Michael Harding, and Cennini to name a few among these. I have tried them all, and all represent a very high quality.

If you are comparing prices at this level of quality, don't overlook the difference tube size makes!

There is no reason not to intermix oil paints from any number of makers, or even quality tiers . . . almost everyone who paints prefers certain colors form one maker and not another, so most folks' paint-boxes show quite a cross-section of color makers.

Claudemir, much has changed since Sargent's day. There would be no "store-bought" artists colors if industry did not demand massive quantities of pigment stuffs of all kinds. ASTM standards, improved methods of manufacture and chemical engineering have eliminated the old caveats for color intermixtures based on adverse chemical reactions and trace impurities. There is no particular reason to consider such, unless you are mulling your own paints from uncertified pigment sources, or using long-obsolete arsenic compounds.