Free Cryla samples **UK only**

[Catkin]

Wow some great reviews - I feel guilty as mine is coming along so slowly. Since I got my sample paints everything has got so hectic at work (NHS) I've had to work most of my days off because of the upsurge of flu and swine flu.
Will hopefully have it finished soon
Sharon

[davepuls]

Hi Maureen - beautiful colour mixing sample. And I love the apples painting.

I've learned a lot just from reading your review!

[timelady]

after just a leeeetle nagging my review will be heading to Cryla today. Someone mentioned a snail mail address but I just wanted to point out that there is an email in the letter too. (whew, I'm an email kinda gal)

Tina.

[Charlie's Mum]

I sent mine via email too Tina

[timelady]

okie, here's my review! I worry that I repeat a few things but ah well.
______

MY BACKGROUND

I am an abstract painter that works with heavy body paint thinning it down to glazes or working with very dry scumbles and dry brushing. My method relies on exact pigments and very thin transparent layers and glazes. The paintings themselves are very large (over 100cm) or very small (7-12cm). The paintings can contain dozens of layers, even a dozen layers of one colour to slowly build up the exact opacity I'm aiming for.

I'm a full-time artists selling commercial. Trained in oil painting, I translated my glazing methods into acrylics later. I've been using acrylics exclusively in my gallery work for approximately 7 years.


FINISH

All the colours I tried seem to dry to a uniform satin finish.

This can be a pro or con. I personally prefer paints that dry to a natural finish depending on the pigment as I'm used to this and can "see" what needs doing next based on that property - plus I finish my paintings with a varnish to unify the surface.

Painters who don't varnish may prefer paint with additives to create a uniform finish.

OPACITY

All the paints I tried were rated on the tubes as being towards the more opaque side. I found them almost equally opaque despite the little "dial" saying otherwise. Ultramarine blue in particular is typically somewhat opaque but the Daler version seems more opaque than others (Golden and Liquitex) in my supplies.

While I applaud the opacity indication on the tubes I would prefer a handpainted swatch or at least the availability of a full colour chart that had painted swatches.

TEXTURE/BODY

The overall body of the paint was that of a very heavy bodied paint. In this regard Daler Rowney is one of the thickest paints I've used! A fantastic texture, always smooth, that holds and is pleasant to work with. This will particularly suit painters who work alla prima or impasto style.

PACKAGING

All the new features on the label are very welcome: opacity 'dial', pigment codes included, lightfastness rating. The new label is very clear and easy to read and looks modern and professional.

Permanence: I would like to know the top rating for context, 3 out of 4 or 3 out of 5 for example.

Pigment codes: possibly the number one improvement! I have actually avoided Daler paints in the past because I usually buy based on specific pigments and tubes didn't have this information previously.

Opacity: please see above.

Cap: large cap with deep threads is great, easy to use and less likely to fail than the old caps.

PIGMENTS/MIXTURES

My main disappointment with the paints I received was that they were mainly mixtures and hues. I received cobalt violet hue but wondered if you have a real cobalt mix rather than hue? (I prefer real cobalt pigments.) Many of the paints were mixtures with titanium white which made them very difficult for me to use - I use zinc white almost entirely due to the nature of my technique, painting in very transparent layers. The addition of titanium white caused several of the colours to be more opaque than necessary. I would like to know if the single pigments will be available in the range as well as the mixtures.

SUMMARY

I have two conclusions.

For other artists I would say that the new Daler paints are a clear improvement and may rank with the best brands now if they provide a full range of colours (including single pigments and non-hues cobalts and cadmiums). They have excellent body, good pigment load, and the packaging is excellent. In particular they seem perfect for alla prima and impasto painters.

For myself these paints simply had too many features that, while beneficial to other artists, worked against my technique. The uniform finish was offputting. The mixtures were contrary to the types of paints I'd usually buy, in particular the addition of the overly opaque titanium white in mixtures. The overall opacity of the range (given my small selection) was too high. I work with very thin, very transparent layers of single colours (glazing, scumbling and dry brushing) and these features meant I actually was unable to use some of the paints in my large work except in establishing the initial underpainting. Availability of single-pigment tubes and genuine pigments such as cobalts would change that.

Overall the Cryla product is much improved and I'd highly recommend it.

[Catkin]

Finall my reveiw sorted -

NEW DALER-ROWNEY CRYLA ACRYLIC COLOUR RANGE
I’m 48 and have enjoyed painting and drawing on and off since I was young. I gained an A level in art 30 years ago but have no other formal training. I have a family and work full time so I don’t get to paint as much as I would like. I love colour and am drawn to creating abstract and semi abstract paintings though I do also have a passion for cats and try to capture them in paint.
I dabbled in oil paints when I was younger but didn’t like the smell or the solvents and found it hard to remove oil paint from cat fur! Acrylics seem to suit me much better and I like to use an assortment ranging from the inks to heavy body paints.
Cryla Acrylic Paints
The five colours I received were
metallic white (imit) – mixture – series B – opacity 4
primary yellow – mixture – series B – opacity 2
benzimidazolone orange H5G – series C – opacity 6
ultramarine – series A – opacity 6
permanent violet – mixture – series C – opacity 7

Packaging
The tubes are sturdy and a good size (75ml) with large screw caps which are useful as I suffer from arthritis. The label is easy to read with pigment type and opacity dial however I would have liked to see an actual sample of the paint on the label.

Texture and Brushability
The paints are indeed very heavy bodied and I was able to create luscious textures with my brush and knife imitating the impasto effects of oils. They also seemed to thin down quite well with water and gloss medium though it did take a little longer to get a smooth mixture.

Opacity and Transparency
The samples I received ranged from opacity 2 to 7 – it would have been interesting to have sampled a colour with opacity 11 or 12 just to get a broader view. The ratings were useful and I could see a difference between most of them however the ultramarine appeared to be more opaque than the orange even though they were both rated as 6.

Colour Strength and Colour Mixing
Straight from the tube the colours were strong and clean and still managed to retain their strength when thinned down. I would like to have tried more single pigment colours as three of the five tubes were mixtures and I prefer single pigments if I am using a limited palette. Never the less I found them comparable to other artist grade paints and liked the pearlescent effect when mixing the metallic white with other colours.

Drying Time / Colour Shift / Finish

On average the drying time was similar to other acrylic paints although when painting thickly it was extended a little which was useful – they dried quite quickly on watercolour paper but took longer on gessoed sheets. Colour shift varied between colours but wasn’t enough to cause me any major problems and all colours seemed to dry to a satin finish. This could be altered by varnishing with gloss or matt if desired.

Overall I would say these paints are worth a try and good value for money. I would be happy to use them as I like the thickness and they would suite many of my techniques.