Art has always been a way for me to explore emotions and inner landscapes. Since my first encounter with oil paints, I felt a deep connection with their ability to create depth and layers. Every time I pick up the brush and prepare my palette, it feels like entering a timeless world, where patience and the slow drying process of the paint combine with the impulsiveness of my thought process.
I see myself as a collector who enjoys experimenting with various brands and colors. Each brand has its own unique recipe, consistency, and sometimes even slight variations in shades among different producers. Getting a new set of oils is my favorite Christmas gift.
I will show you my favorites, but you always need to try and experiment to find your own way to express yourself.
My absolute favorite brands at the moment are Schaal and Michael Harding.
Schaal is a fairly new producer located in France. I was able to try his colors some years ago and made quite a few orders since then. Every color is artigianal and have it's own personality and consistency; he has the best creamy Naples Yellow you will ever try.
(If you feel the toxicity of lead like I do, his Nickel Yellow is a perfect sobstitute for a transparent yellow shade.)
I can't live without Greenish Raw Umber, especially for underpaintings, and Burnt Umber from Cyprus. This one is a very warm and deep burnt umber that I use for shadows.
On the other hand, Michael Harding's colors concistency always never change, is buttery and easy to manipulate. He have the best Lapislazzuli (I've tried many brands and his shade is the most amazing) and the perfect Genuine Chinese Vermillion.
I am quite angry with him for changing the recepy of the main color I use for flesh tones, Venetian Red, but I will continue to use his colors regardless. I still have a tube from 2017 but it is almost over!
Old Holland is another brand I often use. His Raw Umber is insostituible for me.
His colors have a very thick consistency and I like to use it for grounding canvases. I will show you my process in another blog post!
Blocks, Sennelier, Gamblin and Wallace Seymour are also very valid choices for me. For example, Blocks have a very good Flake White and Venetian Red.
In the photo above, you can see the colors that are always on my palette. Sometimes I add Naples Yellow and other colors I like to try at a particular moment, but with the ones you see, I can practically do everything I need.
I have a transparent and an opaque White, Yellow Ochre, and Venetian Red for flesh tones, Raw and Burnt Umber for shadows, and Ivory Black... basically for everything. You can use it as a sobstitute of blue in a limited palette. I also use Alizarin Crimson as my cold and transparent red.
Lapislazzuli and Manganese Violet are bonuses that I can't live without lately. I use both for my flesh tones; they blend perfectly without overpowering.
That's it for now. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me. I am always happy to share my experience with other artists.
Until next Thursday,
Ania
Thank you… now I don't feel like the only one who uses whatever brand works for me.