Guide to Oil Paint Brands

Under the yellow spotlights of the studio, muffled thuds of shoulder bags slung down onto taborets encrusted with layers oil paint alternate with the scraping sound of easels and stools moved into position. Palettes clatter slightly when set on the tabletops, and heavy metal tubes of oil paint (so satisfying and weighty in one's hand) sort themselves into makeshift rainbows. If you're familiar with a traditional palette there are ochres, siennas, and crimsons, and the Ultramarine isn't as much of a middle blue; in the painter's rainbow it almost looks black it is so deep, and the series of browns must be puzzle-pieced in somewhere in the glorious lineup of colors.

The beginning of a painting session isn't when you'll hear about brands-- no one really cares what anyone else is painting with during the chaotic rush of dipping brushes into the powerful gem-tone globs that comprise a painter's palette. It's during the after hours studio chats and momentary painting breaks that painters start talking shop about brands.

Back as a student in the studio, during painting breaks or after long sessions, I used to enjoy comparing notes with a cup of black coffee in hand before getting back to work at the easel. It's hard to find that kind of discussion about brands online, but we always appreciate hearing from fellow painters who have painted a lot with whom to compare notes and experiences. The topic of paint lines is huge and we are always expanding our knowledge.

So pull up a taboret, and pour yourself a cup of coffee or the drink you prefer.

At Paint List, we paint with a lot of brands. Each paint is best evaluated individually. That said, we've noticed that one of the factors among Artist quality brands (which tend to have similarly high tinting strengths) is the difference in the paint's consistency-- as in its thickness. There are four main categories in which we tend to think about viscosity-- Impasto/stiff like peanut butter, sculptable like buttercream, light like whipped cream, or flowing and dripping like melted butter (more below).

After considering the pigment choice, the best brand for you may come down to what sort of a consistency you like-- thick or thin, impasto or flowing, short or long. This may vary a bit from color to color but each brand has some general patterns in how they make paint.

Another one of our biases in oil painting is toward realism, moreso for me (Melissa) than for Jonathan. Over twenty years of portrait painting, I've gotten to know a lot of different brands, and have come to appreciate the differences in their nuances.

Every brand has a different take on where to place their cadmium notes. Cadmium Yellow, PY35, Cadmium Orange, PO20, and Cadmium Red, PR108 each have a gradient to them, and a brand will choose both how many cadmiums they offer, as well as how to name and place each one. This means that one brand's Cadmium Yellow Medium will be a different color than another brand's Cadmium Yellow Medium, even though they share the same pigment.

Working with oil paint in large quantities

In 2020, while portrait painting, I became fascinated by a historical color system. This was not the first time I dove into color theory to inform my painting practice. A book on Color where Betty Edwards suggested that it is best to study color in the medium one plans to use inspired this particular quest. To explore color theory in oil paint, I decided to mix up enough of each dialed-in color in the Atlas and tube it as its own convenience blend. This involved making somewhere close to 1,000 precisely color-matched tubes of oils. With this in mind, I bought paint in large quantities (i.e. gallon-cans of Titanium white) and began to blend and mix up small batches of colors. Though I had been painting in oils for decades at this point, I came to experience the paint itself in a whole new way.

Somehow, one afternoon, as I filled a dixie-cup full of dark green oil paint, the sight of the serpentine stream looping like a heavy rope into coils in the bottom of the paint cup was something I couldn't unsee. The semi-translucency of the gel-like paint struck me as somehow different from other phthalo greens I had worked with from other brands, and at first, I couldn't figure why. As I continued to work with that brand of paint, I started to notice little differences in the way that the light caught the edges of the paint, a sort of sub-surface scatter. Granted, when dried, one couldn't really tell the difference. The viscosity is something that affects the painter's experience more than the viewer's experience of the finished painting. I had never noticed this particular green's formulation before when I had just been working with little daubs on the palette. All of a sudden, I couldn't mentally separate the experience of the viscosity and the formulation. Where I hadn't been a strong brand adherent or detractor before, I began to really feel the differences.

As I continued to work on the large color theory mixing project, I began to shift from thinking primarily about pigment and surface color to developing preferences for a certain brand's interpretation of that color. When purchasing large quantities, these considerations and comparisons become louder in the decision making process.

For example, when purchasing PR177 for a series of low reds, I considered the pigment, the color, the binding oil, and the likelihood that the brand would test their product for lightfastness. I ended up buying Williamsburg's Permanent Alizarin Crimson, a brand I normally love, however for my purpose it seemed exceptionally stiff-- almost too stiff to use for the large mixing project.

I began to keep track of stiff paints and liquid ones. Some brands make paints so loose they could practically be administered with a dropper-- so soupy that I would use a drop to loosen a blend as well as tilt the hue. Through a wide variety of brands and paints, I learned how to drive through the color space, and it is not uncommon for me to have two versions at least of a given pigment on hand in painting, so that I could select the one with the qualities I need for a given task.

The end result of the project, along with finishing the mixing project for the color atlas, was immaterial-- a totally different view on paint brands.

Here's a quick visualization of some common paint tube sizes. It's important when buying to double check how many milliliters or ounces the tube contains. For beginners, one quick gotcha is the Titanium White. Painters often purchase a large quantity of Titanium White since it's a color that tends to get mixed into everything.

Standard sized oil paint tubes run around 40ml, though some brands sell these as 37ml or 38ml. The smaller tubes shown here are around the standard size. For reference, 37ml is 1.25oz.

Larger sizes range from 150ml (Williamsburg) to 200ml (Blockx) to 225ml (Michael Harding).

Important note: On Paint List, the links on our pages usually go to the size closest to 40ml. To purchase larger sizes, make sure you select the correct size on the retailer's site.

Each brand has a range of sizes that it offers, and not every size is available in every country. We've noticed European retailers will sometimes offer sizes which are not available in the U.S.

Some brands offer alternate sizes for their standard offering Rublev (not shown here) offers 50ml as the standard size, which is larger than the usual 37ml.

On the other hand, some companies offer another trial-size option in smaller quantities (20ml) like Holbein and Charvin (not shown).

Different paint brands are formulated with slightly different oils. Some are made with linseed oil, others safflower, or walnut, or even poppy, or a blend of several. We feel its important to know the properties of the different oils and understand the strengths and drawbacks of each one.

Linseed oil forms the strongest paint films, however it yellows. There are several different varieties such as Alkali Refined, Cold Pressed, or Sun Thickened.

Safflower oil forms weaker paint films and at times may have some drying problems, however it tends to yellow less.

Walnut oil is a historical choice which may yellow less, but may have some issues depending on the substrate and formulation.

Poppyseed oil yellows least, and it is a very slow drier. It has long been rumored that Poppyseed oil may actually re-liquify sometimes, and this is also mentioned in a resource by Kremer Pigments.

1. How much does lightfastness matter? Even if a person finds a good brand, each individual paint will have to be judged on its own merits for lightfastness. The choices a brand makes in terms of the lightfastness of the pigments signals whether their paints are intended for use by professional painters.

3. Do you paint in layers? The type of oil (linseed, safflower, walnut, etc.) a brand uses may be very important. Oils have different drying times as well as other properties, and a couple of popular brands use oils which are known to have occasional drying problems.

All impasto painting can be a little risky, but some forms of oil are much more problematic in thick applications. Some impasto passages may have more bloom, chalking, alligatoring, or failure to dry completely.

6. How much does tinting strength matter? One test painters like to do involves seeing how much pigment is actually in the paint. Pigment tends to be one of the most expensive ingredients, and so paintmakers occasionally skimp on the pigment. For each pigment there is an upper limit to how much pigment the paint can hold. The tinting strength can be roughly gauged using a tinting test where a paint is mixed in a fixed ratio with white.

Each pigment should be individually evaluated for tinting strength. However, there are some patterns which could be said to apply across the brand as a whole (generally high or generally low). Artist brands and high end Luxury brands tend to have high pigment loads, while student brands tend to be much lower. Paintmakers differ widely when it comes to the tinting strength of their colors.

We measure tinting strength in the little C-shaped swatches on our cross-brand review panels. These can be found in our articles section.

7. Does the brand's aesthetic appeal to you? Are you a professional painter who is interested in quality paint? Do you want a palette others would envy? Or are you budget-minded?

Ok, so we said earlier that we were trying to cut through the brand mythology. But at the end of the day, the overall charm, beauty, myth, wonder, and beautiful packaging of a brand may be worth it to you. We know we love the brands that go the extra mile to make the experience beautiful.

We think of a tube of paint as having the medium already baked in. The paintmaker is making choices in how they formulate the paint, which result in its native consistency out of the tube. A person can fight against the nature of the paint by adding their own medium, but things get more complex at that point. Instead of fighting the consistency constantly, a painter can opt to start with paint that is already the way they like it. However there is no guarantee the way a paintmaker formulates their color is actually archival, as some studies of 20th century modern oil paints are beginning to show.

Many paint brands presuppose that painters will use medium to modify the paint. A medium can be many different things, such as turpentine, stand oil, linseed oil, oil gels, certain petroleum products, dammar, resins, balsams, copal... the list goes on. Some additives may affect the longterm archival stability of the paint.

Modern paintmakers think about how to help the paint remain shelf stable in the tube. However these stabilizers and additives sometimes come at a cost, and there are actual archival considerations to every choice that is made.

At least four different kinds of 'buttery' Once upon a time we thought of buttery-ness in paints in terms of butter temperature (cold to warm). Now we find it's more helpful to instead think of paint consistency in terms of analogies to other food types (though please never eat your paint). Think of a stiff jar of smooth peanut butter, now imagine the sculpted whipped topping of a buttercream cupcake with its dense creaminess and slightly ragged edge. Now imagine pillows of slouching white whipped cream, and now, yellow table butter on a warm day. Last but not least imagine how slippery completely melted butter can be. As a quick aside, more 'butter' is not always better. Sometimes the additives that make a paint feel more "buttery" can have adverse effects down the road, but that goes beyond the scope of this article.

It's extremely difficult to describe consistency, as the feel of a paint is experienced kinetically, but there are also visual clues to paint behavior which you can learn to identify.

So all three of these paint brands are buttery, but completely different experiences. Old Holland is stiff and feels more like smooth peanut butter, Williamsburg has a medium spreadability a lot of body and buttercream feel, while Vasari can have a light whipped cream feel or in some colors, it can be as gliding as melted butter.

Consistency often varies by pigment We'll try to give a sense of the overall viscosity, which is the feeling when paint is pulled with the palette knife. This quality usually varies from color to color as each pigment has its own natural quality in oil. Some pigments form a paint with a lot of body, and other pigments are notoriously tricky, so paint manufacturers may modify each color to create their take on it.

Let's take a look at three of our buttery categories just to get the lay of the land.

Old Holland is a great example of a brand that's thick and stiff but is also really enjoyable to move around the palette.

Here's a few descriptors of Old Holland's Cadmium Red:

-Stiff -Cuts with a knife -Sculpted Dimensionality -Chiseled edges -Doesn't want to spread -Holds peaks -Keeps to itself -Similar to peanut butter

Bear in mind there are some stiff paints which are not buttery and feel dry instead. These may for example contain too much chalk (calcium carbonate) or have other issues.

Brands that tend to be stiff but buttery: Old Holland, some Gamblin, some Williamsburg.

This does not include student brands, such as Winton, which have a totally different consistency while still being stiff. Some student brands achieve stiffness through chalk or other additives.

The next somewhat stiff buttery category has a lot of variety. As a brand, Williamsburg has a lot of internal variation (some colors are stiff and others flowing according to the pigment), but many of their colors such as this Cadmium Red or their Titanium White have something like a buttercream consistency.

Buttercream-feeling paints could be said to have these characteristics:

-Medium Stiffness -Paint has a lot of body -Gathers to a bulge -Gently rounded edges -Medium spreadability -Buttercream look

Brands with a buttercream feel: Some Williamsburg.

There are more variations in the medium category-- for example Michael Harding, which has a consistency of its own.

Other Mid-Consistency brands: Middle consistencies vary tremendously, so each one of these will handle differently. While not buttercream, middle choices include some Michael Harding, Some Charvin, maybe a few Winsor and Newton Artist colors, and a few Gamblin Artist colors.

There are a lot of paints between medium and flowing--somewhere between dollops of whipped cream and melted butter.

This particular Cadmium Red by Vasari is one of the most flowing genuine Cadmium Reds we've seen. Here are a few of its characteristics:

-Super flowing -Tendency to flatten -Paint is almost drippy -Edges are rounded, melting -Outstanding spreadability -Melted butter look -Will drip off of palette knife

Brands with a dripping consistency: Many Vasari, some Rublev.

Note of caution on Student Brands: When considering flowing paints, their covering power becomes quite important. Professional brands like Vasari and Rublev have paints which are both flowing and highly pigmented. In contrast, some student brands make very flowing paint which has terrible coverage and poor tinting strength.

Some flowing paints such as Vasari have natural oil separation. We've heard that in high end brands that (allegedly) don't use additives, the separation isn't a bad thing.

Some student brands and mid-tier brands do have separation (plus a lot of additives) so just the fact the paint separates isn't a good indicator of what a paintmaker is using or not using in the paint.

Either way, separation is pretty easy to deal with. Simply put the paint on some paper or something else to blot the oil (take care not to create an oily rag situation as that can be flammable). We've also heard it helps to store tubes cap-down.

Unfortunately, no one knows precisely how various brands formulate their paints. It is pretty common for paint brands to say that they only use pure pigment and oil. However, not all pigments are equally easy to make into oil paints, and some pigments seem to need a little more than pigment and oil to behave like a modern oil paint. However, serious concerns have emerged about the role of modern additives (from things added to make the paint shelf-stable in the tube to things which give it a 'buttery' quality).

Before we lambast additives, let's just say they are not all equal, and they are not all bad-- they do affect paint films differently over time though.

However, artists are in the dark when it comes to knowing what's in their materials. From both a health and safety standpoint the lack of disclosure is problematic (we'd like to know what is in them) as well as from a material standpoint, since some of the additives, fillers, and stabilizers have long-term drawbacks.

We truly don't know what is in most brands' paint. We've had formulators tell us there is nothing but 'pigment and oil' and that they 'don't have additives' when their colors are known to contain various waxes or modified oils. We're here to paint, and do not wish to engage in semantics with paintmakers, but if you have ever made your own paints before, it's pretty clear when there's a difference. We're not experts in formulation, so we can't field those kinds of questions, but let's just say there is sometimes a lot of ingredients in a tube of oil paint sometimes.

Each pigment has its own oil requirements (ratio of pigment to oil by volume), and each pigment has its own native upper limit for tinting strength. Getting to know pigments will help a person to evaluate the tinting strength of their paints. It will also become more clear when fillers are used excessively.

This diagram is inspired by the 1970 Artist's Handbook by Mayer. In his book, he shows some common ratios-- the illustration depicts an extreme showing some of the wild ingredients a person might find. Typically student grade paints have more extenders and possibly cheaper pigments and oils.

It's an odd feature of artist-life that the brand a person loved ten years ago may have completely changed since that time. Corporate buyouts, or even a new CEO that eyes a resume stating how much they "cut costs" or "eliminated needless spending" by cutting colors or compromising on quality can trigger terrible long-term changes in the brand that devastate the paint line over time.

On the archival side, it can also take some time for certain problems with oil paint films to emerge, so it is vital for painters to share information with each other on how these paints behave in the long run. As painters we rely on each other to share information about brands.

This document is a living one that is likely to change. We've looked on as mega-conglomerates have overtaken paintmakers that really had something good going for them, or at least we remember the paint being better in the past and slowly stopped buying the paint.

An actual diversity of paint brands is good for artists and good for the market.

A brand's reaction to the news about zinc white also indicates quite a bit about their philosophy. Personally, we avoid zinc white PW4 as much as possible, but we know some painters who still seem to feel fine about using it, come what may. Some brands feel this way too and have continued to include it in their convenience blends. It's interesting to see how pervasive zinc oxide is in a paint line. Some questions we take a look at include: -How many colors still contain zinc, what percentage of the paint line still has it? -Is zinc mostly in the white paints, or is it in convenience color blends also?

All these are important questions regardless of how one feels about zinc white in oil painting. One thing to note is that some paint companies may indeed be using zinc oxide in their white or other paints, and may not be disclosing it on the label. So our tallies of colors which contain zinc only refer to tubes where zinc oxide (PW4) is listed.

Blockx paint is gorgeous and we'd use it more liberally except we use poppy oil selectively. While Poppy Oil is its claim to fame, they have a handful of linseed oil paints too, which are excellent. Blockx tends to have a medium to soft amount of sculptability (think rounded edges) and yet is buttery and highly pigmented. It has a workable consistency as far as spreadability and some colors are almost bouncy. These paints are gemlike high tinters with a lot to love about them. If we weren't concerned about painting in poppy oil, we'd probably prefer Blockx for most colors. However, we are wary of poppyseed oil and use it carefully, reserving it for thin topmost-layer-only applications of blues and whites.

We've never met a Blockx color we didn't like, but watch out for zinc oxide in some of their blends. Once upon a time they made an enchanting historical yellow, which has since been discontinued.

Poppyseed Oil for most colors, but some are Linseed

Blockx is one of the few brands which has a significant amount of colors bound in poppyseed oil. Blockx offers a range of about 103 colors. However, not all of their colors are made with poppy oil.

Their "Series 1" colors (about 19 paints) are made with linseed oil, while the rest of the series are bound in poppyseed oil. We've enjoyed their linseed colors as much as the poppyseed ones, so if even if for the poppyseed averse, the Series 1 linseed oils may be fun to try.

Ranks exceptionally well for single-pigment colors The Blockx line has a better than average number of colors, and since a large percentage of those are single-pigment colors, the line is well stocked with interesting choices. The overall total number of paints, ~104 is interesting since more than 70% of the line is made from single-pigments. In terms of a ratio, three fourths of the paint line is made up of single-pigment colors (an estimated 75%), and in terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Blockx is exceptional. They offer around 78-80 single-pigment colors. The number single pigments once earths are removed is still excellent. In terms of cadmiums, we appreciate that they offer a fine number of cadmium color choices.

Charvin is brand from France that contains a dazzling array of colors and convenience blends. Charvin's great claim to fame is their enormous selection of convenience blends, particularly in the blues. If you're looking for a blue blend for a particular task and you don't want to mix it yourself, check out Charvin's line. They also offer an assortment of convenience greens that may be useful, as well as blends for every hue grouping. However, the paints do contain a blend of poppy oil and linseed oil.

As one of the largest, if not the largest, oil paint lines, they offer 218 colors. Charvin makes two lines, which are somewhat similarly named-- the Extra Fine, and the Super Fine. The Extra-Fine Oils are the artist-level paints, which are discussed here, while their other line, Super-Fine, is closer to a student brand.

There can be a bit of confusion between online listings in English and the paint names in French. We've done our best to sort out the French names and the English translations, so just be prepared to run into a bit of choppy water on that front from time to time.

We don't have very high confidence about which Charvin paints are single-pigment colors, since some of their colors are listed as only one pigment, and yet they are pastel (where the coloring pigment listed is not pastel) so there is not a high certainty whether all the pigments are listed, and we have reached out to them about this. When we inquired about this, we were directed back to the brochure.

We can say that Charvin seems to specialize in convenience blends as they have a large number of pre-mixed colors. Since the brochure left us with some uncertainty, it's hard to say much for sure about the ratio of single-pigments to blends, but based on the brochure, Charvin Extra-Fine seems to have an above average number of single pigments in the brand.

In terms of cadmiums, we appreciate that they offer a good amount of cadmium color choices. Sometimes it is not clear whether some of their colors are mixed with an undisclosed white pigment.

In regard to oil, the inclusion of poppyseed oil may be of concern to some painters.

At least four Charvin Extra-Fine white colors contain zinc, but unfortunately we were not able to ascertain whether more of their pastel colors may contain zinc white. A communication from Charvin was just a little unclear as to whether it is used elsewhere in the paint line.

Gamblin is an American paint company based in Oregon, and has two lines of paint, the Artist’s Oil Color and the 1980 line.

This is about their Artist-level line, which contains around 105 colors. Gamblin paints vary in consistency, but overall the paint line tends to be very thick. Even amongst the cadmiums there are a handful of consistencies with a few very thick examples like their Cadmium Red Deep. We've used a lot of Gamblin paint over the years. When we think of Gamblin we think of how thick some of the colors are. There are some with a really tough almost claylike thickness as well as others (like the Phthalo Green) which have a distinctive gel-like quality. Once we saw it we couldn't "un-see" it. The feel of the impasto in Gamblin feels different than other thick brands, such of Old Holland.

One may still need to watch out for some zinc white in the paint line, especially in whites and greys.

We don't know for sure as far as the paint's secret ingredients (true for everyone), so can only conjecture. The tinting strength of Gamblin tends to be decent but not outstanding in several expensive colors. We show a few Gamblin comparison panels in our video.

In addition to their main colors, they also offer 3 Reclaimed Earth colors, and their famous Torrit Grey, which is a mashup of all of the other colors.

Gamblin's Artist line has an above-average total number of paints. The overall number of paints, about 105, is not outstanding, but it is above the average compared to other artist lines. In terms of a ratio of single-pigments to blends, a little over half of the paint line is made from single-pigments. In terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Gamblin Artists' Oil Colors is above average with around 60 single-pigment colors.

While we like Gamblin, we reached out to them about the new lightfastness standard. For whatever reasons, Gamblin didn't wish to participate in the making of the new standard, which seemed like an indicator of less interest in lightfastness testing overall. In short, the choice of mixing white affects pigments lightfastness-- a vital area of emerging research for artists, and Gamblin didn't end up participating when a third testing partner was needed.

The single pigments once earths are removed are excellent. In terms of cadmiums, there's a nice range of cadmium color choices, however the consistency varies widely between the cadmiums. Cadmium Red Deep was surprisingly thick, while Cadmium Yellow Light was a much softer, more ribbon-like consistency. Some of the cadmiums have a light or matte quality when dried. Several of the cadmium yellows are the PY37 type of cadmium yellow pigment (cadmium yellows may be PY35 or PY37).

Watch out for zinc in whitish and greyish colors Gamblin Artist's line still contains zinc white (~7 colors). A handful of their whitish convenience blends do still contain zinc white, PW4, as of spring of 2026. Several of their well-known convenience grey blends do too.

Somewhere around 2023-2024, Gamblin rolled out some new labels. There were a small collection of quiet formulation changes as well.

Of the two lines by Grumbacher, Pre-Tested is Grumbacher's more artist-level line. This is a brand that has had many faces and seasons as it's been bought and sold over the decades. Some people love Grumbacher and if it's one you love by all means stick to what works for you. For us, as we've used different brands, the more recent is Grumbacher wouldn't be our first pick. Some colors have a slick or glossy look to the paint, and it's a personal preference but we just weren't that excited about them. They tend toward a medium consistency.

Watch out for zinc in both whites and convenience blends.

An American company now owned by Chartpak, Grumbacher Pre-Tested has approximately 98 colors on offer.

Average

Grumbacher Pre-tested has just over the average number of colors, so not fantastic but not terrible either. The overall total number of paints, 96-98 is about average. In terms of a ratio of single-pigments to blends, just over half (an estimated 55%) of the Grumbacher Pre-tested paint line is single-pigment colors. In terms of the sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints compared to other brands, Grumbacher Pre-tested is still about average with around 54 single-pigment colors.

Once earths are removed from the single-pigment colors, the number of choices are above average. In terms of cadmiums, Grumbacher is known to have the more diluted form of cadmiums in red and yellow, hence the cadmium barium colors. One thing we appreciate is that they note this in the pigment code and on the paint tube.

Grumbacher Pre-Tested has a lot of zinc white still in the line at ~13 colors, though five of those are various kinds of white. About six convenience colors remain in the line with zinc white.

Legends about about finer oil paints in days gone by, and the rumors are partially true. Based on comments that older Grumbacher was outstanding, we got really into vintage oil paint.

There are several different iterations of vintage Grumbacher. One of the lines, the best of them, was called Grumbacher Finest. There was another line called Pretested, which differs quite a bit from the current version of pre-tested. Among the old Grumbacher Pretested colors, there was an era with colored caps.

While the paint feels great, sometimes the tubes have corroded badly. We also wonder a bit about the additives that were used back then (additives are also used in modern paints as well). The feel of the vintage paint does remind one of some of the higher quality brands available today.

Some of the vintage paints mixed in with modern oil colors from a variety of brands. Most of the brands in this article are represented in this paintbox, as well as a few others.

Isaro paints, while sometimes hard to find, are interesting colors worth trying. We love that their Titanium White comes in a narrower elongated tube that has a lot of old-world charm.

The ultramarine blue has a diversity of texture like we've never seen before, and we enjoyed the cadmiums and cobalts. It's hard to generalize, but we'd describe these as medium to thick in consistency with soft but sculptable texture.

As an interesting aside, we ordered these from Isaro directly and the package got stuck in customs in LA in an indefinite limbo, and we had to get a second shipment. Through it Isabelle was awesome, and everything worked out. If you're ordering from the US it may be worth going through a store, though with imports these days there may be extra surprises.

Small but mighty boutique brand

Isaro is a Belgian paint brand, made by Isabelle Roelofs, part of a family of the paintmakers who also have some connection to the development of Old Holland paints. Isaro offers about 50 colors in their oil paint line.

Compared to brands that offer a larger array of colors, Isaro offers a little over half the average number of paints, though the selection is broad enough and the number is about on par with other bespoke paintmakers. The overall total number of paints, 50, could cover all the bases, if a high percentage are single-pigments. In terms of Isaro, just over 70% of the paint line is made up of single-pigment colors, which signals that this is a brand that is aimed at professional artists. In terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Isaro is ample, but slightly below average in nubmer. The line is not terrible in terms of number of single pigment paints, with around 36 single-pigment colors.

Once earths are removed, Isaro's single-pigment paints still hold steady with a sufficient number of single-pigments colors. In terms of cadmiums, Isaro's range covers the main cadmium categories.

A few colors contain zinc oxide Four Isaro colors contain zinc white, and about half of those are white paints.

We've painted with Lukas over the years and have found it trend toward being fairly soft and light in its consistency but can't speak for all the colors. We were introduced to Lukas through videos of seascape painting which called for some of their convenience blends as favorite colors such as their Indigo made of four pigments, and Bohemian Green Earth. While we normally privilege single-pigment colors, sometimes a blend saves time if one understands the component pigments. Around the time the zinc white evidence came in from Golden, we had be painting with a tube of Lukas 1862 Titanium White and were bummed to see it contained PW4.

Corporate Changes Over the Years Lukas was a German brand, and there are several paint lines. Lukas has been bought and sold, and in 2016 the F.I.L.A. Group took over Daler Rowney LUKAS. The Lukas 1862 line, which is the more Artist Quality line, contains a range of 80 paints.

In terms of number of colors in the line, Lukas 1862 Oil has almost 90% of the average number of paints. The overall total number of paints, 80, is decent. In terms of a ratio, not quite half of the paint line is made of single-pigment paints (about 46%). In terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Lukas 1862 is ample-- it's not huge but not terrible. Lukas has around 37 single-pigment colors. The single pigments once earths are removed contain a sufficient number of pigments. In terms of cadmiums, Lukas covers the main cadmium categories.

Zinc in a couple of colors Four Lukas 1862 colors contain zinc, and about half of those are white paints. We were disappointed to find out a Titanium White of theirs contained zinc.

At 80% of the average number of paints, the line is actually pretty well stocked with colors, since there is such a high percentage of single-pigment paints. The overall total number of paints, about 74, is enough to be interesting. In terms of a ratio, over 70% of the paint line is made up of single-pigment colors, a signal of a brand that is aimed at professional artists. In terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, M Graham is about average compared to other artist lines, with around 54 or 55 single-pigment colors.

The single pigments once earths are removed are above average. In terms of cadmiums, they have a lovely range. Their cadmium red light is especially useful, they have a terrific cadmium orange, and a great cadmium yellow light.

Watch out for Zinc Oxide Four M. Graham white colors contain zinc, so it is mostly to be found in only their white blends. About five of their paints total contain PW4, so it is something to watch out for if removing zinc white is part of one's painting practice.

Maimeri Puro is the most premium line of Maimeri paints, with 81-83 colors, which are all single pigments. We love using Maimeri Puro even though they are a blend of safflower and poppy oil, which is not the strongest binding oil. The colors are bright, and there are some extra special versions of cadmium yellow light and lemon. We actually wrote a little ode to the Cerulean Sky Blue, and found their Cobalt Blue Deep to be enchanting. The consistency is not the main story with Puro, though the consistency tends to be soft and workable. We've noticed the cadmium (pigments which are usually pretty robust in most oil paints) almost have a tendency to be separated when opened and need some working on the palette to incorporate them. Expect a bit of separation out of the tube.

Corporate acquisitions The F.I.L.A. Group acquired the Maimeri brands around 2016.

In terms of the number of colors in the line, Puro has about the average number of paints. However, all of them are single-pigment, which make the selection stand out as exceptional. The entire paint line of 81 colors is made up of single-pigments, a strong signal that this brand is intended for professional users. While there are brands with more single-pigment colors, Maimeri Puro still stands out.

The single pigments once earths are removed are excellent. In terms of cadmiums, they have an excellent range. Their cadmium yellow lemon and light are colors we particularly enjoy.

This is a paint brand that basically does not use zinc their line (being single pigment colors), though they do still offer one if a person really wants to use it.

Fabulous Array of Paints This brand has nearly 1.5x the average number of paints to explore, and combined with the high number of single-pigment colors, it is a real treat to experience the various colors in the paint line. The overall total number of paints offered, 127, is at the connoisseur level. At the time of this writing, about 70% of the paint line is made up of single-pigment colors, signaling dedication to professional artists. In terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Michael Harding is exceptional, with around 89 single-pigment paints.

The single pigments once earths are removed are outstanding. When earth tones are removed, Michael Harding still has an outstanding number of single-pigments. These cadmiums have something going for them-- they almost seem extra bright (especially the Cadmium Red and the Cadmium Yellow Lemon). The Cadmium Yellow Lemon almost looks like it has a note of highlighter brightness in it. It's one of the lemony-est we have found.

Michael Harding used to offer a zinc white, but it appears to have been discontinued/reformulated. This seems to be a brand that has opted to remove zinc from its line.

Some Rublev paint tends to be extremely loose and almost runny, but it depends on the color. Paints such as lead white are much more sculptural and have a thicker impasto. Rublev also makes a lot of earth tones. We have had problems with a sort of bronzing in one of the red earth tones, but most performed well. The Titanium White is almost like liquid, and very highly pigmented. Some earths are extremely gritty, but there is a diversity of textures. Rublev tends to have a philosophy of parting out the paint and the additives, which can give painters a sense of control.

Rublev is part of the Natural Pigments brand. It's hard to say how many paints they offer because there are frequent additions and subtractions to the line. Some of their listings experience temporary discontinuations due to the fluctuating availability of their materials, while other discontinuations appear to be more long-term. Rublev specializes in historical colors and they offer around 104-106 paints.

Some exceptionally toxic colors

Please be extremely cautious of some of their toxic colors - and we don't mean just an attitude of caution, we mean like actual hazmat caution with several of them. While there's a definite place for certain pigments in a museum restoration environment, few artists are educated or equipped to properly handle some of these colors. Once with a chemist we mentioned Chrome Yellow as a paint and it made his eyebrows leap. He could not believe it was being used glibly by artists and emphasized and re-emphasized just how carcinogenic it is. We are not toxicologists, so please contact the proper authorities for safe handling of any toxic pigments.

Rublev offers a wide array of painting mediums, extenders and ingredients so that painters may modify their own paints.

Natural Pigments/Rublev offers above the average number of paints, and combined with a high number of single-pigment colors, there is an interesting array of pigments from which to choose. The overall total number of paints, 106, is above average. In terms of a ratio, 85% of the paint line is made up of single-pigment colors, a signal that this brand is intended for professional users.

For the sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Natural Pigments has an exceptional number of single pigment paints. Overall, they offer about 90 single-pigment colors. Though they specialize in earths, the number of single-pigments once earths are removed are still excellent. They also offer a good range of cadmiums with thinner consistency and high pigmentation.

Early forerunner for zinc white research Natural Pigments was an early promoter of removing zinc white from a paint line, and did a lot of education toward that goal.

One of the widest selections of paints Old Holland has around 166 paints in the paint line.

Old Holland offers one of the widest selections of paints. The overall total number of paints,168, is quite notable as far as overall selection. Though Old Holland is known for its famous blends, more than half of the paint line is single-pigment colors. In terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Old Holland is exceptional. Their high number of single pigments paints is among the best (though by no means the highest) with around 93 total single-pigment colors.

The single pigments once earths are removed are outstanding. In terms of cadmiums, these are some of our favorite cadmiums, and we love how many different different cadmium notes they offer. Some have unique properties - several of their cadmium reds come to mind, and we love the way their cadmiums are keyed from cadmium yellow lemon to cadmium orange. Their cadmium orange is one of the redder cadmium oranges, but for more of a middle orange they offer several in-between steps that we adore. They are very strong tinters.

We also strangely love their Cerulean Blue, especially for unexpected roles, like portraiture.

Many colors contain zinc oxide Old Holland probably has the most zinc-containing paints (approx. 30 tubes), which comprises just a little less than a fifth of the overall number of colors (about 18% of the paint line). Old Holland has a statement as to their direction in zinc-inclusion. Currently three white paints contain zinc, so about 27 of their blends also contain this pigment. We do like the colors of the blends, and even though many zinc blends cannot be perfectly emulated with titanium, we wish they would offer an alternative/facsimile to the color recipes which currently contain zinc, as many of them are in useful colors which we now don't tend to use. Different artists' practice varies though, so this is just a heads up to check those convenience colors if removing zinc white is important to your painting process.

RGH is a boutique manufacturer owned by Rolf Haerem. We were drawn to RGH when we needed to paint in quantity-- and we really appreciate this option for professional painters. One can actually purchase oil paint in volume. Some of the colors come in jars or even caulking tubes. One one occasion we ordered two huge gallon-sized cans of oil paint. When ordering from RGH there may be some wait time, however it's always worth it when unpacking the colors from their box.

The colors are well-pigmented, however, you may wish to test the lightfastness of some of the pigments as they don't tend to come with lightfastness ratings. We have purchased quite a few paints from RGH over the years. We have really enjoyed their colors, particularly jar-fulls of their cadmium orange (we didn't have a problem with this, but if you're new to jars of oil paint, do look into how to prevent jar paints from drying out). We've painted with their cadmiums extensively and like them a lot, though some cadmium yellows may be keyed deeper in value (which we actually really like for specific use cases). Sometimes the tubes have leakage of the oil. They also make an Atelier series with washed linseed oil which has a special consistency and handling.

RGH is an independent New York manufacturer who offers around 112 paints, plus at least four more in their Artists' Atelier series, which brings the count somewhere around 116 paints-- an outstanding amount among small manufacturers.

In terms of a ratio, almost 60% of the paint line is made up of single-pigment colors, but in terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, RGH Artists’ Oil Paints, Inc. is exceptional. They offer around 69 single-pigment colors.

The single pigments once earths are removed are excellent. In terms of cadmiums, RGH offers an outstanding range of cadmiums in terms of variety. One of their cadmium oranges, at the time we purchased from them (pigment supply may or may not change) was exceptionally bright.

RGH has mostly removed zinc white, though it is still found in three of their white colors.

This is a one gallon can of oil paint from RGH! This is Titanium White (in safflower oil unfortunately) but it was excellent paint. RGH makes cans of varying sizes which is extremely useful for professional painters.

Schmincke Norma is usually considered a bit closer to an artist quality brand compared to the more premium Mussini line. Schincke Norma offers around 86 paints.

The Norma line has about the average number of colors in comparison to artist lines of paint. The overall total number of paints, 86 is decent. In terms of a ratio, about half of the Schmincke Norma paint line is made from single-pigments. In terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Schmincke Norma is close to average for number of pigment paints with around 44 single-pigment colors.

The single pigments once earths are removed are still about average. In terms of cadmiums, the Norma line covers the main cadmium categories.

Norma has quite a few paints (~14) that contain zinc white, but actually not quite as many as Schmincke Mussini. Similar to Mussini, four of the Norma whites contain Zinc White in their formulation. About 10 convenience blends still contain zinc white.

Utrecht Artists' Oil colors was bought out by Blick years ago. As so often happens, the paint quality changed. They offer 92 colors in their line.

Sometimes the modern Utrecht line has had some discrepancies between the pigments listed in the brochure and what is on Blick as well as perhaps what is on the tube, so it may be good to double check the pigments if it's a blend.

The line has about the average number of colors. The overall total number of paints, 92 is average. In terms of a ratio, not quite half of the paint line is made of single-pigment paints (about 46%), but in terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigments, Utrecht is close to average for the number of pigment paints with around 42 single-pigment colors.

The single pigments once earths are removed are still about average. In terms of cadmiums, we appreciate that they offer a good amount of cadmium color choices.

Utrecht has a lot of zinc white in the paint line at around 14 paints. Only one of their white paints has zinc, so 13 convenience blends may contain PW4.

When earth tones are removed, Vasari still offers an excellent number of pigments. In terms of cadmiums, they make gorgeous colors with a lot of flow. There is a wide variety of cadmiums available from Vasari. When selecting colors, bear in mind that their color names in the yellows are keyed in a way that feels offset from other brands. Their Cadmium Yellow Lemon is more like other brands' Cadmium Yellow Light. The Cadmium Yellow Medium is more like a Deep.

Vasari contains at least two white paints that list Zinc White, PW4. However since they do not list the pigments on a large number of their convenience blends, we do not know whether they contain Zinc White.

Ok there is a lot to explore about this paint brand. Williamsburg oils do tend to be on the stiffer side, but we like that they tend to let the qualities of each pigment shine through. Perhaps our favorite thing about Williamsburg is their commitment to research. Williamsburg was founded by the late painter Carl Plansky, and was later acquired by Golden Acrylics. Golden is one of the most research-oriented paint brands we have found. We also love the wide array of colors they offer, as it signals that these people love pigments.

We've written an in-depth article about Williamsburg here.

Their line of linseed-only paints is greatly appreciated by professional painters who do not wish to have a blend of oil types. Their thoughtfulness is also reflected in their collection of safflower-only paints for those colors where safflower makes the most difference to the paint color when dried.

Williamsburg offers a dazzling selection of single-pigment paints and makes around 172 colors. There are at least five special-edition colors, and they sometimes offer genuine YInMn Blue as well.

The overall total number of paints clocked in at around 177, and Williamsburg is in the top five for total number of paints. Perhaps one of the reasons we love Williamsburg is that they offer one of the widest selections of paints. Since this wide array has over 60% as single-pigment paints, they have set themselves apart as a brand for professional artists.

Williamsburg is exceptional in the number of single-pigment paint colors offered by brand, with around 113 single-pigment paints available (offered on an ongoing basis, give or take a small number of special edition paints). They still held the prize when we removed earth tones and are also in the top tier for the range of cadmiums on offer.

When we took a look at their single-pigments once earths were removed, Williamsburg had an outstanding number of pigments. Particularly we were impressed by the high number of continuously-offered single-pigments.

They make what is perhaps our favorite line of cadmiums for their high-chroma color choices and color spacing. We adore their Cadmium Yellows from Lemon to Light to Medium, to Deep and Extra Deep. They may have some of our favorite Cadmium Yellow Mediums and Deeps on the market. Their Cadmium Orange is a long-time favorite. We also love the specific color of their extra orangey Cadmium Red Light and Cadmium Red Medium. These are luscious colors.

This one of the paint brands (Golden) that have been leading the way in the research on the effects of zinc white on oil paint films. Williamsburg has published a lot of research and has diligently removed zinc white from their oil paint line. They have reformulated the colors which contained zinc and discontinued paints which could not be emulated without it. Zinc has been almost entirely removed from their line, though they do offer a Titanium-Zinc white.

Winsor and Newton Artist’s Oil Colours are the more artist-level of the Winsor and Newton lines. Most people, when the say W&N or W&N Artist are referring to this line.

Winsor and Newton Artist paints are sort of the lower end of the artist range. Winsor and Newton seems to have devoted themselves to riding the line as closely as they can to avoid falling out of the artist range while not setting themselves apart for excellence.

The paint has changed dramatically over the decades. Fans of vintage W&N Artist will be surprised by the current offering. Current paints tend to be on the lighter side. We did really enjoy their Cadmium Red Medium, and in general would use W&N except for a bit of caution regarding the mix of Linseed and Safflower oils. Aside from that, they feel pretty median. We wouldn't say no, but we're not especially excited.

In some ways, Winsor and Newton Artist feels like the softer analog to Gamblin Artist. Where Gamblin is stiffer, Winsor and Newton is usually softer than buttercream, and sometimes more like the whipped cream, but not as light as Rembrandt.

W&N has around 137 paints in the paint line, which is about 1.5x the average number of paints to explore with a nice array of single-pigment colors. In terms of a ratio of single-pigments to blends, just over 60% of the paint line is made up of single-pigment colors. As the total number of paints is large, the sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints is exceptional, with around 83 single-pigment colors.

The number of single pigments once earths are removed is excellent, in fact they receive an Honorary Mention for 4th highest number of single-pigment paints. In terms of cadmiums, we've painted with these a fair amount, and appreciate the Cadmium Red Medium. Their Cadmium Yellow Extra Deep is blend of cadmiums that is pitched at a particular hue which is nice out of the tube, and in the past, we've found ourselves buying it just for that note.

About five Winsor and Newton paints total contain PW4, so it is something to watch out for if removing zinc white is part of one's painting practice. However about four of those colors are white, so it is mostly to be found in their white blends.

Winton is the student oil paint brand from Winsor and Newton. We do hear that it is used by professional painters from time to time. They offer several genuine cadmiums and a cerulean, however the way the paint comes out of the tube sometimes is not great. While oil separation may be normal in paints without additives, Winton is certainly full of additives (based on how the paints handle) and there is a sort of orangey oil that separates from the paint at times. We've included some closeups below.

We did some color mixing with a basic palette and were surprised how dull the results were. The beginning stages of that are also included below.

On a recent trip to a university bookstore (namely Stanford) we noticed that Winton was one of the few brands that was available in the art supply section.

There is a distinctive kind of impasto that is found in Winton colors which is something of an acquired taste. When tinting strength is of moderate importance and heft is needed, they could be a good option. If archival qualities are wished for, we are not sure how Winton would fare.

Winsor and Newton Winton Oil Colour is Winsor and Newton's student line, and contains about 63 paints.

Winton offers just over 70% of the average number of paints, so the total selection is decent in terms of numbers. However, blends outnumber single-pigments significantly, which is common in student brands. Almost 1 in 3 pigments is a single-pigment (also on par with some of the other student brands). In terms of sheer number of choices for single-pigment paints, Winsor and Newton Winton Oil Colour is has a lower number of single pigments compared to average, with around 20 single-pigment colors.

The number of single pigments once earths are removed is low. In terms of cadmiums, Winton does contain some genuine cadmium colors.

Winton still contains zinc white, with 8 colors listed.