2017 Best Brands of Oil Paints

Every artist will have their own preferred brand of oil paints, based on things such as the colors available, the consistency of the paint, and price. I believe in rather buying a few tubes of artist's colors than a whole range of cheap paints as the colors are more saturated, for starters, and you'll get better results when mixing colors. There is little to differentiate the best artist's oil paints other than price and availability, so I'd recommend assessing a tube of a similar color in various brands to see how you feel about each.

01

M Graham Oil Paints

Another small paint manufacturer in the USA created by an artist to produce high quality, traditional-style oil paints. Walnut oil is used as a binder instead of linseed oil; it's a slow-drying oil with less tendency to yellow. It also has a lower viscosity (is more free spreading) so works well for glazing and thinner applications of paint without adding turps. (Full color list)

02

Gamblin Oil Paints

Gamblin Artists' Colors is an USA paint company founded by colorman Robert Gamblin that aims to produce quality paints that are safe to use. Its turps replacement or solvent, Gamsol, has a lower evaporation rate and higher flashpoint than turps, making it safer to use in the studio. A wide range of colors is available, including various grays (color list), a flake white replacement with working properties like lead white, and a chromatic black. Gamblin also produces an alkyd-based medium, Galkyd, which speeds up the drying time of oils.

03

Winsor and Newton Oil Paints

W&N is one of the most widely available brands and its oil paints, like its other paints, strikes a good balance between price (not quite faint-on-the-spot range) and quality. If you're on a tight budget, save money by selecting select your colors from the series 1 pigments in the range (full color chart), otherwise pick 'n mix from the wide range of pigments including lead white for traditionalists (labeled Cremnitz White). (Note: W&N's student oil paint is branded Winton.)

04

Sennelier Oil Paints

Sennelier's oil paints have a stiff-butter consistency, spreading and blending easily with a brush but liking to hold its shape and brushmarks. The company's history of making oil paints dates back to 1887, when Gustave Sennelier set himself up as a color merchant in Paris. Artists that used Sennelier oils include Monet, Gauguin, Matisse, and Picasso. Today Sennelier has more than 140 colors in its range of artist's oil paints (see Sennelier's color chart).

05

Schmincke Mussini Oil Paints

Made in Germany, Mussini is Schmincke's artist's quality grade oil paint. Pigment is mixed with linseed oil and dammar resin (and sometimes other oils) to give a paint the manufacturer says dries more evenly from inside and reduces the risk of the paint wrinkling as it dries. (Read details on Schmincke's website). About 100 colors available, including a range of grays.

#composition #colors