Shopping for Oils? Read the Labels.

Experimenting with  my Flat Brushes # 4 and 8. A light, flat-out stroke made
with brush held with the long handle extended, turned and twisted and drybrushed itself into this "doodle.
I was also experimenting with a palette limited to two colors and black and white ala Zorn. 

But before you do, do know your brushes. Flats, #1, 5 and 8, are on the list for my Venetian Techniques painting course this Fall. I only own an 8 and what looks like a 4 and a 2--but those were good enough to  let me get a freeforall feel for the Flats before sizing up the quality of the paints in my box.

They were poor according to Michael Wilcox, founder of The School of Colour and author of The Artist's Guide to Selecting Colours, a book highly recommended by Richard Schmid.  My mistake was I never, ever, turned the tube over and read the label. Why would I?  I had no clue as to what those numbers meant.  I just wanted the color, I wanted.  I was an uninformed shopper. No more.

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Enlarge this photo and you might be able to read the information that's important before selecting a paint. 
M. Graham & Company's label has all the information.  Gamblin's label even has health warnings included.
Dick Blick's label is off side, but has all the necessary info too.  What is confusing to me about these three
paints made by different paintmakers is each company uses a different binder. From Blick to Graham: Safflower oil, Alkali refined linseed oil and Alkali Refined Walnut oil leaving me confused as to what makes one oil better than another?
For my Venetian Technique class, I bought Gamlin paints based on  knowing linseed oil has been used for centuries--but
then I have also heard it yellows with time?  Maybe that's where Alkali refined makes the difference? I also have used it before and like its consistency and the way it comes out of the tube.

As the chemistry of painting grounds affects the longevity and the look of our work, so does the chemistry of our paint.  I don't know about you, but I was a C student in high school chemistry. At that time in my life, I didn't know that any chemistry interested me. After years spent in architectural design and construction, I realize that I am as interested in the sound construction of a painting, as I was in the sound construction of homes.  I believe structures of paint or wood and brick should be soundly built from the ground up or clients get mad at you.

In the beginning, I bought these mediums to try.
Now, I don't know.

 I am interested in grounds that receive the paint well and allow for the correction of errors.  I am  interested in paints that don't  fade or darken even if the painting is hung outdoors in brilliant sunlight. I appreciate  paint that doesn't crack and fall off the canvas with changes in humidity and  the expansion and contraction of wood surfaces and stretcher bars that are affected. Paint that refuses to come out of the tube without an assist from a tube wringer or gushes out with a lot of oily filler that oozes all over the palette makes me moan and groan.  I want paintings that will last in good condition for decades--if not centuries. It has nothing to d with dreams of immortality; it has to do with excellent craftsmanship and satisfied patrons.  Wilcox's book, a short afternoon's read, discusses the chemistry of modern manufactured oils, watercolors, acrylics, gouache and alkyds,

We all know by now how  unstable Alizarin Crimson is so we've been buying the tube marked "Permanent."  But how permanent is it?  Do we really know the paintmaker corrected the chemistry and didn't just add the word to make us feel more secure so we'll keep stocking up? We don't--not unless we understand the writing on the back of the tube.  Wilcox, a chemist, doesn't like any of the Alizarins. He prefers the much more stable chemistry of Quinacredone violet and red. He has other preferences too in the other color families and tells you the science of each one and why he recommends one color over another.

Where once I stared out the window of my chemistry class bored to death, familiarizing myself with the science of color (light) and paint grabs my interests. I am spending way too much money on paint to buy junk.  Now, what about those painting mediums?  Both Schmid and Wilcox say use the paint right out of the tube and don't mix it with anything.

All of us would love to shave our painting costs down by buying "Student Quality" paints, but
our ego says, "NO. NO. NO! Artist is who I am and 'Artist Quality' is what I'll buy." Well,
we don't have to spend artist quality prices for all of our colors. Shouldn't we know which
pigments are made the same way?  Wilcox's guide is an eye opener.