Choosing a brand of Oil?

[Neal Glover]

After reading everything I can find on the site and boards about oil paints, I have a good idea what brands of paint to avoid, but no clue how to choose between those that remain.

Could anyone offer opinions or advice (particularly in the form of comparisons) about Winsor & Newton, Shiva Signature, Rembrandt, Gamblin, or Holbein oils? Links to discussions would be welcome too.

[rhoward]

W&N makes a good workaday paint. Gamblin is student grade paint that is overpriced for what it is. Rembrandt is surprisingly good except that it's been whipped into a mousse (that's why the tubes are so light) and air is cheaper than pigment. I can't speak to the Shive colors with much authority but the Holbein oils are fairly well made, with an eye toward consistent handling.

The standards for quality in large scale manufactured paints are Blockx and Old Holland, but Daniel Smith Autograph line of oils, while not quite to that quality, is a big bang for the buck.

If you're nutty about testing paints, go to a printing supply house and get a draw-down bar. That will tell you what's good and what's not.

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[colinbarclay]

Some of the pigments Shiva uses seem kind of iffy - Toluidine red is one .

[Painter]

I've been exploring colors, and have returned to Utrecht as the best junction between quality and price. At times they must be spread out on newspaper to absorb the excess oil, but that is true of most brands, except, perhaps, "Old Holland"

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God Blesses!
Ched

[357 Mag]

Gamblin Artist Oil Colors. And their prices are close to DaVinci and Grumbacher. I don't think they are student grade.

[rhoward]

Originally posted by 357 Mag:
Gamblin Artist Oil Colors. And their prices are close to DaVinci and Grumbacher. I don't think they are student grade.

But you were just recently a student, weren't you?

[icefan13]

Originally posted by 357 Mag:
Gamblin Artist Oil Colors. And their prices are close to DaVinci and Grumbacher. I don't think they are student grade.
......................

After I saw the post above, I contacted Gamblin and found out that they make both a student grade and a professional grade. (In fact I got an e-mail from Mr. Gamblin himself. He is an artist who tarted the company.) If you contact them they will send you an informational brochure on their paints and the science behind them.
.....................

[357 Mag]

Tell Mr. Gamblin his paints are student grade and overpriced. I betcha he vehemently disagrees. His prices don't reflect student grade paint.

[rhoward]

Originally posted by icefan13:
If you contact them they will send you an informational brochure on their paints and the science behind them.



The informational brochures are not paint. Rather than heave up some anecdotal evidence, make a few tests. You do not need to spend the $20 for a draw-down bar as I did. You can use a simple putty knife and come close. Just put equaly size dabs of paint on pieces of paper and, using the same pressure throughout, draw down the paint. The length of the streak tells you a bit about the conistency, but it's the final inch that tells you how well pigmented the paint is. Take a few examples of Gamblin's professional grade paint and compare them with paints costing as much.

After that, tell my what you did with the nicely writtem brochure.



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[357 Mag]

Your spelling is off.

[LaPetiteJehanne]

Originally posted by 357 Mag:
Your spelling is off.

Oops! This must be the spelling and grammar forum--I thought that I was in Oil Painting...I guess it's time I learned how to read, huh?

[rhoward]

Originally posted by 357 Mag:
Your spelling is off.


But not as consistently as is all of the really bad information you put forward...Utrecht paints as good as Old Holland, Commercial primers as good as white lead...Shesh!...Yestuday U cudn't even spel artyist, now you clame to bee one.


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[Arteology]

Now this iz a subzect I kin reely sink my teethe into! I relate, fur sur.

[John H]

Originally posted by Neal Glover:


Could anyone offer opinions or advice (particularly in the form of comparisons) about Winsor & Newton, Shiva Signature, Rembrandt, Gamblin, or Holbein oils? Links to discussions would be welcome too.

Neal, I've painted with Shiva Signature for about a year now and like their consistencies. But several of the new tubes had a bunch of oil on top that needed to be drained off. And then months later I couldn't get about the last 1/5th of the paint out because it was dried. I don't know if this is common among other brands of professional grade paints because I had just "graduated" from Winton and Bob Ross (which never came separated like that).
John H

[357 Mag]

I recently ordered 2 tubes of Shiva Signature Cadmium Yellow Medium. Really bad. Extremely runny, and a lot of the tube was filled with nothing. I wonder if all their colors are like that, or if I just got 2 bad tubes.

[Mark St.-C]

Pigment? Consistency? Bah! The true measure of an oil colour is its CAP.

Holbein and Winsor & Newton caps provide no grip whatsoever.

Don't get me started on Grumbacher caps - those miserable, pointy... my fingers hurt just thinking about them.

The best caps are Liquitex. They're the same diametre as the tube, real easy to turn, they don't get all gummed up... absolutely the cat's pajamas. Sure, they only make eight colours and three of them are Sap Green, but that beautiful CAP.... ahhhhh, oui!

[rhoward]

Originally posted by 357 Mag:
I recently ordered 2 tubes of Shiva Signature Cadmium Yellow Medium. Really bad. Extremely runny, and a lot of the tube was filled with nothing. I wonder if all their colors are like that, or if I just got 2 bad tubes.


I believe that Shiva was in finacial difficulty and closed down their operation...although it seems that their casein operation is back up and running. Aside from their excellent casein paints, Shiva's main claim to fame was the range of transparent oils they offered.

The separating tubes may just be old stock that they are moving out.


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[John H]

Originally posted by rhoward:



...The separating tubes may just be old stock that they are moving out.




I hope that's the case - because I like their prices! Just last month, one of the local art stores took down their Shiva display. I asked them why and the people who work there didn't know ("the boss told us to"). The next time I was there the display was back up again.