Some of the firms which make art materials have been around for a very long time. Others are more recent.
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| Schminke Horadam Gouache Paint Tubes |
I'm not making any distinction as to:
- different brands of paint - I'm focusing entirely on the manufacturer's name
- whether they make just one or all the different types of paint (eg oil, watercolour, acrylic, gouache, casein, egg tempera)
I'm also not including the smallest manufacturers and paint which is less easily available.
Who is your favourite artists' paint manufacturer?
You can vote for your favourite paint manufacturer in the poll in the side column. The closing date is 31 October and I'll report back on the results on this blog soon after that.
The options are:
- Blockx
- Chroma
- Daler Rowney
- Daniel Smith
- Da Vinci
- Gamblin
- Golden
- Grumbacher
- Holbein
- Kremer
- Lefranc & Bourgeois
- Liquitex
- Maimeri
- M. Graham
- Michael Harding
- Old Holland
- Pebeo
- Royal Talens
- Schminke
- Sennelier
- ShinHan
- Vasari
- Winsor & Newton
I'll be repeating this exercise for other art materials (dry media; paper; canvases; brushes etc)
More about Artists Colourmen
Below are some links to databases and historical records of artists' colourmen over the years.
- National Portrait Gallery - British artists' suppliers, 1650-1950. This is a biographical directory of British and foreign firms of artists’ suppliers and colourmen operating in Britain and British firms operating overseas.
- National Gallery of Victoria - Artists Colourmen - this is a database of the stamps, stencils, labels and marks representing Artists’ Colourmen stamps which have been found on artworks in the NGV Collection.
- my website Which is the best brand of watercolour paint for artists?
- my previous polls:
This poll is a difficult one. I was deciding between
ReplyDeleteLiquitex & Golden. Both have advanced the art of acrylic paints. I finally chose Liquitex because of their recent innovations-paint markers & artist quality spray paint.
Daniel Smith has in my opinion advanced the art of
watercolor through their extensive selection of colors and variations such as the Luminescent and Prima -TeK colors. Their acrylics are A-1 and the oil paints
look to be of the same quality. Gamblin has
been working on making oil painting safer with improved solvents and varnishes.
I have always used winsor&newton in the past and swear by their quality! especially in the Artist Quality pigments, recently though I've just started using Daniel smith watercolours and the pigment and fine quality is really impressive!
ReplyDeleteI agree with njart. This was a tough one because I have used many acrylic paints. Golden is excellent overall for their selection of mediums, variety and consistent paints, however, M. Graham has one of the nicest paints for smooth and buttery consistency. W&N has started using a clear resin which eliminates that value shift for more subtle work that requires delicate value changes. I have moved away from Liquitex, but they used to dominate my palette and a few of their recent liquid innovations are helping them to make their way back into my toolbox!
ReplyDeletePerhaps I'm unadventurous, but I have never had a problem with Daler-Rowney's paints. They are easy to get hold of and do what I want them to do; they're also not frighteningly expensive (I use a lot of paint on some canvases). And I did go for a tour around the factory once, which was nice.
ReplyDeletenew to Google+ so missed the link to here! oops. Copying my comments from there:
ReplyDeleteGolden is my choice: they have a consistent very high pigment load with brilliant colour, and the heavy body are very thick and predictable in texture and feel. (the fluids are excellent too, but I don't use them often) Windsor & Newton are also excellent, and my second choice. Other brands (Liquitex and Daler Rowney in particular) I find inconsistent in body and texture from tube to tube and pigment to pigment.