I worked on these paintings this morning. I painted-out some foliage in the upper-right of Three Girls. The tone in the photo of that area is more yellow–by far–than the actual tone. The under-painting is done (has been for a bit) and I’m driving toward finishing it. It’s a lot of fun painting the VW Bug. Three…
I finished this small painting this morning. It’s another in the series of my young children posing outside with a white lawn chair. I think this is the 3rd or 4th in this series. I have another small one in-hand. I’m thinking about doing this painting in a larger format, say 36″ x 48.”
Kremer Pigment is known for their pigments and their vast selection of rare and hard to find materials. Their only ready-made oil paint is cremnitz white. You can order this white in linseed or walnut oil. Their linseed white is excellent–among the best I’ve tried. A 250 ml jar is $62, which is a bargain compared to other top brands. A 225ml tube from Old Holland is $200+.
Normally, I don’t like paint in jars or cans but my glass jar of white from Kremer has remained fresh and hasn’t formed a skin, as is often the case for jar-ed paint.
I added Kremer to my Oil Paint brand list.
RGH makes decent paint. Their affordable prices make them a good value. Not only that, you can select the oil type when ordering white (they have a nice variety of whites, including the all-important flake). For someone, like me, who prefers cold-pressed linseed, this is compelling. As far as I know, RGH is the only producer with this smart feature.
But some of their colors, including large-sized whites, are only available in jars. Cheap jars. Paint in jars (or cans) tends to form a skin. When the skin gets into the mass of paint, it ruins it. Removing the skin is tedious, time consuming, and wasteful. The only way to get rid of the skin is to remove a lot of paint. Knowing this, I spray water over the surface of the paint when sealing the jars. But a 250ml jar of cremnitz white formed a skin anyway. In spite of my best efforts, I didn’t get rid of all the skin and now it’s in the body of paint. Half the jar is useless–a $37 waste.
I won’t buy anymore colors available only in jars, which means I won’t buy large sizes of flake white from RGH until they change their policy.
By the way, the only producer of jar-ed paint I’ve had success with is Kremer and they use glass jars.
I use burnt sienna as the basis of my flesh tones, so I use a lot of burnt sienna. My favorite brand for this color is Natural Pigments’ French Burnt Sienna. Some burnt siennas are too red, like Winsor Newton’s. Old Holland’s is excellent–both light and dark. But Natural Pigments’ is just right: not too red, not too dark–just right.
I get a lot of email from readers, mostly technical questions, which I always answer. A recent correspondent asked my opinion about Blockx oils. Blockx is one of the premium brands and I cover it in my OIl Paint Brands reference. Blockx is really fine paint; Not long ago, I got a terrific price on their…
You know when your paint surface gets too slick and oil starts to bead? There are several remedies. Rubbing an onion over the surface works but has issues–obviously. A better method is to use denatured alcohol. A light application over the surface cures this problem instantly. Make sure to not overdo it. Too much alcohol…
I added RGH to my oil paint brand reference. RGH has supplanted Winsor Newton as my preferred mid-range brand. My second order from RGH arrived–again, shipped immediately–and the cold-pressed linseed flake white is very good. The outstanding quality along with competitive pricing makes this new brand a winner. Oh, they also included a free jar of permanent yellow.