New Year: New Paint, New Palette Arrangement

Time for a Standard New Year Post About New Things. And to be honest, I actually started these changes just before Christmas, but this makes for a much more timely post to pretend it's a New Year's thing.

First change, I'm switching my paint brand almost entirely. Since I started painting in oil years ago, I've used mostly Gamblin and Winsor & Newton paints. This was mostly due to availability. Recently, I began purchasing some colors in the Williamsburg brand. I've liked what I've gotten so much, that I decided to keep purchasing the Williamsburg paints and hopefully switch over entirely to them.

Of course, some colors might not be what I want and I may stay with Gamblin or Winsor & Newton, but so far I've switched out about 5 or so colors and was quite pleased with them.

The ultimate test for me was Alizarin Crimson. It's definitely my favorite color to paint with, so if nothing else, THAT color had to stand the test. And it does beautifully. Following is a comparison:

I bought these at the same time, and you can see which one I preferred

First thing to note, I think the outside color guide is MUCH more accurate on the Williamsburg tube. That's not a big deal when you're already familiar with the color, but it's nice when you're considering a new one.

Blood red, I love it so!

See? You get a truer sense of the color with the Williamsburg guide. But what actually sells me on the paint itself is the texture and body.

There's a lot of Neo Megilp buid-up on my palette knife handle...

So the Winsor & Newton looks all smooth and pretty, but if you notice, there's a little pool of suspension at the edges and the color thins out fast. It's TOO smooth. The Williamsburg retains a nice body, without too much suspension, and thus better pigment integrity. It has a lovely buttery type of feel (I'm very tactile-oriented), and stands up beautifully with my medium, even thinned as a glaze. I've found this true of all the colors I've tried thus far (Raw Umber, Naples Yellow, Italian Terra Rosa, Davy's Grey, and Payne's Grey).

The last time I got paint, I needed some Cadmium Red Deep, but the store I purchase from was totally out of it in Williamsburg, so I had to get it in Winsor & Newton. As if to REALLY point out why I switched, even after massaging the tube a bit to mix up the paint, it still came out like this:

My blood is bleeding

Blegh! Maybe I'm too finicky, but I hate those pools of suspension. I haven't had that happen yet with the Williamsburgs.

And lastly, I also like that Williamsburg is a local company. They were bought out by Golden a couple years ago, but Golden is also a great company, and still local. Whenever possible, I like to shop local.

Here is Williamsburg's website for more information.

Next post will be about my new palette arrangement!