This was a really well executed benchmark test for mass-tone and covering power, and we thought the commentary on the paint body was excellent. Utrecht Art Supplies still crafts paint at the same Brooklyn workshop as before we partnered with them, using the same formulas, along with some important new collections like Cadmium Free Oil Colors. The Utrecht team did ask us to explain something about the philosophy behind the formulas, and why some colors develop a bead of unbound oil at the top of the tube. We think the best place for modifications to be applied is on the artist's palette, so Utrecht has traditionally been really conservative where paint components other than pigment and oil are concerned. When paint settles in storage, the pigment will shed a little oil, unless an additive like aluminum stearate is included to bind it up. (A few brands hold finished paint to settle before tubing in order to reduce oil shed in the tube, but it's an expensive measure that results in a high cost for the artist.) Excessive use of stearates can make the paint more dull and dry in appearance, especially in lower priced paints where it's used as a filler, to stretch a small amount of pigment. A little oil at the top of the tube indicates that fillers are not present, and that the paint is in good condition (not oxidized in the tube). As other comments have indicated, massaging the tube to reintroduce the oil or blotting the first dollop on paper are effective techniques.

Some pigments require more oil than others. Also, one must remember that the pigment is in suspension in the oil (it is not disolved in it!!!); therefore, they will separate if left too long on the shelves, and a bunch of oil will come out when first squeezed. This is actually a good sign, as it shows that there is no suspension agent in the paint, meaning that the tube contains more pigment. Just let the excess oil soak into some paper towelling-it takes more oil to grind a pigment than to bind it. Oil paints are complicated.

This video was so helpful! Thank you 🙂 I just ordered a set of the Rembrandt! I use Langridge normally and I’m so happy with it. I’m hoping the Rembrandt will be similar.

On accelerating the drying of oil paint, a trace amount of cobalt drier does the trick. To me, the reason to use oil paint is because it dries slowly. Get a bottle of clove oil at a pharmacy and add a drop. I've kept paintings wet and workable for weeks using clove oil and it smells wonderful too. I love all the smells of oil paint. Linseed oil and dammar varnish bring me to heaven.

Tube paints naturally separate so squeezing it to mix helps to incorporate. Especially true for premium paints that have just pigment and oil.

What I always found to be most important was the specific pigments used in the paint. If I like the quality of a certain pigment, it rarely matters much which manufacturer made it into paint. It's possible to remove some oil by spreading the paint on a blotter paper before scraping it up and placing it on the pallet. As for solid fillers, I haven't been able to see their impact on color in reasonably good quality paints. I doubt any but the lowest of quality paints have fillers that will produce a change in the hue of the pigments used to make the paints. Oil seems to be the main adulterant in oil paints and Old Holland most certainly has the lowest oil content from the tube. Given the price of Old Holland, I believe you could remove some oil from a less expensive brand and have not a lot less paint than you would out of a tube of Old Holland of the same size. I doubt a less expensive paint is going to have 50% more oil in it than Old Holland. However, Old Holland has about the widest range of pigments you will find in any line of paints. As a final note, I'll add that I've made my own paint using dry pigments, oil and a muller on a frosted plate glass slab to make paint as low in oil content as Old Holland. I have noticed no difference in the hue of my homemade paint compared to any commercially produced paint. The notion that a power mill creates paint of better quality is not true in my experience. It takes time to make oil paint by hand but the artist knows for sure what's in that paint. Of course, from the perspective of permanence and color fastness, there has never been a time in history when paint quality mattered less. Even the humblest of paintings are kept in much favorable conditions than those the paintings of the old masters endured for a few hundred years. All paintings survive now, the good, the bad and the atrocious.

Old Holland oil paints are expensive because it has more pigments instead of a lot of fillers, which is what student grade paints are mostly fillers, in the long run you will pay more for cheaper oils, while still having plenty of Old Holland tubes left, that's all we use and without solvents, when you paint thin layers with Old Holland, you can if need be go back over a section that's already painted 2 days ago and paint over it, because the linseed oil they add to the pigment drys the paint pretty fast. But if you're doing impasto it's going to take some time to dry.

Thanks for covering their consistency. I wondered how Winsor and Newton and Gamblin differed.

I have tried so many brands of oil paint, all artist grade and most of them are considered to be the best. Utrecht is so good that I just can't justify buying a much more expensive brand. There is one exception, however. I also use Mussini because they smell so good.

As far as stiff paint goes, I like heavy bodied paint that I can still spread and mix tones easily. When the paint is too stiff from the tube, it takes too much time to add my "oil mixtures" and blend the color and tint I'm seeking. I mostly paint in the range of 32"X 24 canvas, approx 6 paintings per month. I have an abstract going, an impressionist landscape and some science fiction of sorts going at one time. I like the oily paint when I need to mix quick and cover a large area. I like it really stiff while taking my time mixing the perfect highlight or detail tone. I love the cheap low pigment raw umber and Paynes gray for quickly bringing down my greens. "Just a little dab will do ya" Having to keep adding expensive paint because you over did the raw umber ends up having to mix too much paint and a waste. Except when toning down a violet, I like a high quality, high pigment cad orange. My go too paints most often are artist pro grade Winsor Newton and Ultrech on sale at Blick. I'm not big on pre mixed colors. I like mixing my own, especially those highly varying pinks and greens. A high quality yellow ochre is a must on my pallet. It needs to be medium body and quick but not too wet. I have a mix of turpentine, linseed oil and mineral spirits on hand when needed. I also use a mix of Liquin Light Gel with a bit of mineral spirits on early layers for quicker dry time. Sometimes I just want to add a bit of paint thinner instead of oil for a nice flat wash. I would advise to experiment with all paints and additives and not get too selective. The way you find out is by painting and painting and more painting!

One thing that might have happened is that it’s oily cause sometimes the oil separates from the ping and when you get an old tube or if your colors sit in the tube for a long time they will separate

A way to stop all the oil from coming out is to store them upside down and all the excess oil will go to the back of the tube.

There are TONES of mediums and fluids designed to be mixed with the oli colors as they come out from tube ....some make oil colors fluid like watercolors, some make them real thick...some add gloss, other matting,...some speeds drying and others produce really slow drying....some alowed to build layers of paint quickly .. ...... name it !

Try Blockx oil paints from Belgium next time. They dry slowly but I love them, and they are a family company that has been around since forever :)

"Goop", the mechanic cleaner is good at getting oil out of clothes.

You use solvent or oil for thick paints. People buy them cause they are more pigmented which means you need less paint to cover object, less layers. You never buy it to be more oily... which means more fillers than pigment.

Utrecht is hard to beat for the value. I've been using Utrecht for years and it's consistent in quality. Although I've never had a problem, Blicks customer service is top notch.

paint that separates oil mostly is because it doesnt have stabilizers in it- the highest quality usually doesnt have those.

your choice?

Use soap and water to get the oil paint off your, never put solvent on your clothes, it's not good for you. The best thing at the time of you doing this video is stop recording wash out the oil paint, and come back with another shirt on. If I get paint on my hands I use soap and water and 90% to 100% of the oil comes off, depending where it touches your skin.

Dawn dish soap will get it out of clothes

Thank's a lot, and just let me tell you that you are nice and pretty.