Paints

Since the introduction of the collapsible tube over 170 years ago, manufactured artists’ oil paint has changed the way artists work. Artists no longer must laboriously grind pigment in oil to make paint. With this change also came greater uniformity in oil paint. Let’s face it; the composition of oil color is fairly simple. Generally, only three items are used in a modern oil color formula. They are the pigment, the oil and a stabilizer (typically ...

Where do all the different brands of drying oils in artists' supply shops originate? Artists' materials manufacturers do not process their own oil, but rather purchase it in bulk from large industrial sources. For example, there are two major producers of linseed oil in North America and at least two in Europe, but there are many brands of linseed and stand oils offered by artist materials companies. Artist materials companies do not have the resources to process linseed oil, which today is a very specialized and large-scale industry.

About Linseed Oil
Linseed oil is obtained by various methods, including pre-expelling, followed by hexane extraction of the resulting press cake. The oil is refined to remove phosphatides and gums, which naturally ...

The Reeves brothers are credited with the invention of watercolor cakes. Since the introduction of the watercolor cakes over 200 years ago, manufactured watercolor paint has changed the way artists work. Artists no longer must laboriously grind pigment in gum-water to make paint and tirelessly rub hard cakes to get color.


The Reeves brothers are credited with the invention of watercolor cakes.

Not only did a series of innovations in the 19th century improve watercolor painting materials, but thanks to modern chemistry, the variety, saturation and permanence of artists’ pigments available is greater than ...