My paint testing thread

[Michael Lion]

However is the extra pigment load necessary?

I like to use a powerful opaque Yellow Ochre. So bring it on!

[Richard P]

I like opaque Yellow Ochres too, but the others are opaque enough even with medium added

[Richard P]

I’ve decided to put all this information on a simple webpage on my google drive account (with bigger pictures). I’ve added in the 15 red iron oxides I’ve tested as well:

https://1kbnidl8oczyjdwquzdjcq-on.drv.tw/Website/%5B/URL%5D

[stapeliad Moderator, NYC]

The non-transparent synthetic iron oxide earth pigments (PR 101) are opaque across student and artist lines. Phthalos are strong in the student lines too.

You will see more difference when you tint them or apply them in a transparent manner. It’s in the handling and mixing of the paint, and the coverage where there is a noticeable difference. But again prob not as much with phthalos or PR101s.

Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde

[Richard P]

While I haven’t tested them with mixing, their opacity and the backlight picture suggests to me that these PY42 and PR101s are very similar. I agree that there will be a big difference with other pigments.

[Michael Lion]

Richard, great job with the earth colors! Looking forward to finding out about the other colors you tested.

I use Winstor & Newton Gold Ochre, a PY42 color, and I haven’t noticed it taking 8 days to dry. It seems to dry a lot faster than that.

[Richard P]

I haven’t got Gold Ochre, what I am seeing is quite a variation in drying times which seems to be due to dryers. Also these are being stored in the dark between testing. Previously when I did a much smaller test I saw the paints drying much faster when there was some indirect light getting through to them.

[wal_t]

I was surprised by the Rembrandt Yellow Ochre. I thought it took longer to dry when I used it previously, but it was completely dry in 5 days, compared to 16 for the Van Gogh version. As both are ground in linseed oil it appears that the Rembrandt version has driers.

I think you have to redo this specific test as the observation is very odd …. not my experience and i use yellow ocre of both brands quite a bit.

[Richard P]

You are right it is odd. I may retest this colour. Having said that as I said the student versions are (in my opinion) indistinguishable.

[Michael Lion]

I haven’t got Gold Ochre, what I am seeing is quite a variation in drying times which seems to be due to dryers. Also these are being stored in the dark between testing. Previously when I did a much smaller test I saw the paints drying much faster when there was some indirect light getting through to them.

Sanity check. Today I touched some 3-day old W&N Gold Ochre (a PY42 color in linseed oil) painted onto a scrap of Canson Canva-Paper, and it’s totally dry. I don’t have any other W&N “ochre” colors to compare it to.

btw, even though it’s called “Gold Ochre,” it seems like the standard yellow ochre color. It looks identical to what Holbein just calls “Yellow Ochre.” I suspect that W&N already had a PY43 color called “Yellow Ochre” so they needed to give their PY42 ochre a different name, and someone came up with “Gold Ochre.”

[wal_t]

You are right it is odd. I may retest this colour. Having said that as I said the student versions are (in my opinion) indistinguishable.

I agree you will not smell of see a difference between the two brands of yellow ochre and a number of o ther colors. You will only see a huge difference in your wallet as the Van Gogh paint is not just a bit , but significantly cheaper. I have quite a bit of Rembrandt paint that I will use up but moneywise it is just a ripp off in my opinion as I do not see the added value other than a broader color range (that I do not need).

Yes I am a fan of the Van Gogh paint , I know ….

[Richard P]

I’m still waiting on one or two paints in each colour group to dry before I can post any more results. The good news (for me) is that I have a few paints that are taking a very long time to dry in these conditions.

[Richard P]

I haven’t had chance to properly write up all the results. But they have enabled me to narrow down the choice of pigments and brands to do the next stage of testing on a palette (so far still fluid after 19 days when stored in the dark and mixed with pure walnut oil, no clove oil)

I thought I’d post these links to the results, some surprises!

The results are interesting. In general I’d found that student grades seem to have a lot of dryers (and some brands like Sennelier). For my purposes apart from the odd exception they dry too quickly. As expected the pigment load is a lot less, although some are stronger than others.

Earth colours are all very similar, the difference comes in the more transparent pigments.

There is an anomaly with the Phthalo Green from Van Gogh which has an open time unlike anything I’ve ever seen from a Phthalo. Royal Talens are looking into it (hopefully) and I’ve posted on MITRA and asked Golden/Williamsburg about this too.

Results Spreadsheet:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YRxIvRKLoLjql-7YGXKlu10xWFCBpew1

Colour drying sheet 1 image

Showing opacity when applied direct from the tube, and also when mixed with walnut oil to a fluid consistency. Also used to show drying time in days:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CHNm6q8ofNxmT7o5pAs6byABVpx3C0Pp/view?usp=sharing

Colour drying sheet 2 image

Showing opacity when applied direct from the tube, and also when mixed with walnut oil to a fluid consistency. Also used to show drying time in days:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D1SAa2rHC0MqhWiaj7-qJd_R_av6BI4p/view?usp=sharing

Hope you find it interesting, and the images useful if nothing else!

[ilya K]

Richard, I’m wondering, where do you find which oil is used in the paints? I see this consistently published by W&N only.

Ilya K
C&C always welcome

[Richard P]

It’s on the tubes of the paints apart from Schminke Norma and Maimeri Classico.

[Author]

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