ARTIST COLORS - Major Stocking Lines
To go to a listing of mediums and additives use this link
GAMBLIN ... Oils and mediums from the premier American producer. (And one considered by many to be the world's best.)
CHROMA ... The Australian company that makes the only artists' acrylic with controlable drying.
WINSOR & NEWTON ... Artists Oils, Winton Oils, Artisan Water-Soluble Oils, Finity Acrylics, Galeria Acrylics, Griffin Alkyds (fast-dry oils), Artists Watercolors, Cotman Watercolors.
GRUMBACHER ... Pre-Test Oils, Academy Oils, Academy Watercolors.
DA VINCI ... 1st-Quality Soft Oils, 1st-Quality Watercolors, Artists Gouache, Scuola Semi-Professional Oils.
DALER-ROWNEY ... Pearlescent Acrylics, FW Acrylic Inks
LIQUITEX ... Heavy Body, Super Heavy Body, and Soft Body Acrylics, Basics Acrylics, Glossies Acrylics
GENESIS ... Genesis heat-fixable artist colors (We are discontinuing this line.)
M.F.WEBER ... Bob Ross Oils, Permalba White
GOLDEN ... Tube acrylics
In addition ,,, (1) A wide selection of sets from the above, and other manufacturers.
EVALUATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS - OILS
Gamblin Oils - Almost universally considered the best oil made in the United States, and among the world's best. Oils from Gamblin are used by conservators in more than 200 museums worldwide.
Winsor & Newton Artists Oils - Pricey compared to many others, but of great quality. High pigment load means you'll use less in your tints, eliminating much of the price differential.
Winsor & Newton Winton Oils - One of the best "student-grade" oils. Its relatively stiff consistency makes it appropriate for both conventional or TV style "wet-on-wet" painting. If "signature" brands aren't available in your area, or if you prefer not to pay extra for a TV personality's name on the tube, try this paint. (It is also the only "student" grade we know that includes some of the true cadmiums and other high performance colors.
Winsor & Newton Artisan Oils - Probably the best of the water-soluble oils, and not overpriced like some of the others.
DaVinci First Quality Oils - DaVinci's watercolors truly are world class. Calling their oil that may be a mild stretch, but it's a very good product that may be particularly appealing to painters who prefer a creamy, easy-to-brush oil, at a better cost/value point than many better known brands of equivalent or lesser quality.
Grumbacher Pre-Test Oils - Good quality, but with an unnecessarily bloated number of colors for a product in its price/quality range. (In May, 2006, we dropped the 45 poorest-selling colors.) Most of the better artists we know rank it well below professional grade, but above many student grades.
Bob Ross Oils - (By M. F. Weber) The narrow range of oils developed for Ross's wet-on-wet painting methods. Not a bad product, but oils of equivalent quality are available for less money. The softer Floral Oil range does contain some "convenience" colors that may be helpful to painters who can't (or won't) get the hang of color mixing. Weber also makes Permalba, which we carry only in white.
Grumbacher Academy Oils - Grumbacher describes their Academy products as "near artists' quality." Frankly we doubt that.
Genesis Artist Colors - Technically its base is a synthetic, non-drying oil. In practice it is a paint so unique that it belongs in a category of its own. Genesis remains permanently workable until heat-fixed at 265 degrees (131 C.). Its physical characteristics combined with in-jar packaging totally eliminates the 30% of conventional oils said to be wasted by drying on the palette or being left in the tube. All colors are non-toxic and are characterized by a high pigment load. A full description of this remarkable paint is beyond the scope of these pages, but we have descriptive literature available in the store.
- Technically its base is a synthetic, non-drying oil. In practice it is a paint so unique that it belongs in a category of its own. Genesis remains permanently workable until heat-fixed at 265 degrees (131 C.). Its physical characteristics combined with in-jar packaging totally eliminates the 30% of conventional oils said to be wasted by drying on the palette or being left in the tube. All colors are non-toxic and are characterized by a high pigment load. A full description of this remarkable paint is beyond the scope of these pages, but we have descriptive literature available in the store.EVALUATIONS AND DECRIPTIONS - ALKYDS
Winsor & Newton Griffin Alkyds - If you think that acrylics dry too fast and oils too slow, this is the product for you. Unlike acrylics, alkyds remain workable for up to six hours, but they may be coated with retouch varnish in 24 hours, and receive a final varnish in four to six weeks (versus the six months to a year recommended for oils). They dry to a uniform sheen, and, unlike oils, all colors dry at the same rate. Unlike acrylics, there is no wet-to-dry color shift.
EVALUATIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS - WATERCOLOR
Winsor & Newton Artists Watercolors - Recognized as one of the world's great watercolors, and as the best selling professional-grade, it's available in 90 colors. We have a hand-painted color chart to aid you in your selection.
Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolors - An economical alternative to higher-priced watercolors, this Winsor & Newton second line is great budget-conscious painters, and especially good for beginners
DaVinci First-Quality Watercolors - There are two good reasons for choosing DaVinci for your next watercolor buy: First, its packaging in large tubes, with the attendant savings derived therefrom, makes it extraordinarily economical on a per-ounce basis. More important, it's one of the best watercolors in the world. (Check our reference copy of Wilcox's Guide to the World's Best Watercolor Paints for proof. DaVinci received high marks throughout, and was the only tested brand without a single color rated unsatisfactory.) Stocked in 15-ml and 37-ml tubes.
Grumbacher Academy Watercolors - With Impellist no longer available, we've placed this secondary Grumbacher line in stock. It may be, as they claim, "near artist quality." We're taking a wait and see attitude, as we do with all Grumbacher products.
In addition ... A wide selection of sets in the brands above, and in others.
EVALUATIONS & DESCRIPTIONS - ACRYLICS
Winsor & Newton Finity Acrylics - Totally reformulated not long ago, Finity is vastly improved over the old Winsor & Newton product, and now takes its place among the world's better acrylics. Shows less wet-to-dry color shift than most of its competition.
Winsor & Newton Galeria Acrylics - Has our vote as the best of the second-line (or student-grade) acrylics. Color line was increased and vastly improved in 1999. Available in 2-oz. tubes, 8.4-oz. bottles, and 200-ml (6.7-oz.) tubes.
Liquitex High Viscosity Acrylics - Liquitex Medium Viscosity Acrylics - More liquid than the tube color,and has the same pigment load, but somewhat less opaque in most colors because of lower film build. Ideal for decorative painting (and superior to so-called craft acrylics), but also entirely suitable for fine-art use. Packed in jars, not tubes.
Liquitex Basics Acrylics - An outstanding bargain (especially at our deep discounts) in a student-grade acrylic. Color selection is limited, but adequate. Comes in jumbo 4-oz. tubes.
Golden Acrylics - A first-rate acrylic which is particularly well accepted by many leading art schools.
Craft Acrylics - No one knows just where to draw the line between fine art and crafts, and there's a large gray area in between, but the characteristics of craft acrylics can be summarized as follows:
Lower pigment load, less acrylic binder, thus lower adhesion vs. artist paints.Contain cheaper filler pigments to augment color pigments.Lower per-ounce prices as the result of the above, but with a wider range of pre-mixed colors to satisfy the needs of those who choose not to bother with color mixing. Since Red Swan's product mix is primarily oriented toward fine art supplies rather than crafts, you will not find a vast array of craft acrylic brands here, just one or two of the very best ones.
PAINTS FOR GLASS, PORCELAIN, TILE, ETC. - These products fall into two distinct categories. Liquitex Glossies require setting in a home oven to be permanent. Perm Enamel requires no heat-fixing. Regardless of which way you choose to go, it's extremely important to follow all instructions religiously, but when you do the results can be breathtaking.
TEMPERA PAINTS - You remember them from grade school and they're still around. Available as liquids in 2-oz. through quart sizes, and as dry powders that let you mix just what you need. Sometimes called poster paints. A poor relative of gouache, (which to confuse you is called tempera by some European manufacturers).