Every artist will have their own preferred brand of oil paints, based on things such as the colors available, the consistency of the paint, and price. I believe in rather buying a few tubes of artist's colors than a whole range of cheap paints as the colors are more saturated, for starters, and you'll get better results when mixing colors. There is little to differentiate the best artist's oil paints other than price and availability, so I'd recommend assessing a tube of a similar color in various brands to see how you feel about each.
1. Michael Harding Oil Paints
Photo © Marion Boddy-Evans
Oil paints created by an artist in London and definitely not cheap. You're paying for the intensity of the colors through the high pigment loading and lack of fillers. If glazing is your preferred oil painting technique, a tube should last a while. Good range of colors, including traditional favorites such as lead white (full color list). At least once, treat yourself to a tube in a favorite color, compare it to what you usually use, and see if you think it's truly better or just celebrity paint-manufacturer hype.
2. M Graham Oil Paints
Another small paint manufacturer in the USA created by an artist to produce high quality, traditional-style oil paints. Walnut oil is used as a binder instead of linseed oil; it's a slow-drying oil with less tendency to yellow. It also has a lower viscosity (is more free spreading) so works well for glazing and thinner applications of paint without adding turps. (Full color list)3. Winsor and Newton Oil Paints
A tube of Rose Madder Genuine, a W&N lake color made from rose madder root. Photo © M Boddy-Evans
W&N is one of the most widely available brands and its oil paints, like its other paints, strikes a good balance between price (not quite faint-on-the-spot range) and quality. If you're on a tight budget, save money by selecting select your colors from the series 1 pigments in the range (full color chart), otherwise pick 'n mix from the wide range of pigments including lead white for traditionalists (labelled Cremnitz White). (Note: W&N's student oil paint is branded Winton.)
• See Also: W&N Oilbars
• See Also: W&N Oilbars
4. Gamblin Oil Paints
Gamblin Artists' Colors is an USA paint company founded by colorman Robert Gamblin that aims to produce quality paints that are safe to use. Its turps replacement or solvent, Gamsol, has a lower evaporation rate and higher flashpoint than turps, making it safer to use in the studio. A wide range of colors is available, including various grays (color list), a flake white replacement with working properties like lead white, and a chromatic black. Gamblin also produces an alkyd-based medium, Galkyd, which speeds up the drying time of oils.5. Schmincke Mussini Oil Paints
Photo © Marion Boddy-Evans
Made in Germany, Mussini is Schmincke's artist's quality grade oil paint. Pigment is mixed with linseed oil and dammar resin (and sometimes other oils) to give a paint the manufacturer says dries more evenly from inside and reduces the risk of the paint wrinkling as it dries. (Read details on Schmincke's website). About 100 colors available, including a range of grays.
6. Bob Ross Oil Paints
There are three categories of painters: those who's never heard of Bob Ross and his TV program "The Joy of Painting", those who hate him, and those who love his approach and style. If you're in the latter category, don't fall the marketing hype that you can't paint in a similar style without using the Bob Ross branded paint. Wet-on-wet painting isn't about the brand of paint you use, it's a technique. You can make your own equivalent to Liquid White or Liquid Clear from other oil paints and mediums. So as you expand your oil painting skills, be sure to expand the brands of paint you try too.7. Other Brands of Oil Paint
Photo © Marion Boddy-Evans
There's no shortage of other brands of oil paint, for instance Old Holland, Grumbacher, Holbein, Williamsburg. If you find one that appeals, buy a tube in a color you use and compare it to your usual brand (see Assessing a New Brand of Oil Paint). Trying a paint for yourself is truly the only way to know if you're going to enjoy using it.
