The finest quality artist materials don’t have to be expensive. Schmincke offer an excellent range of art products at affordable prices, bringing something new to the table.
In 1881 two German chemists, Hermann Schmincke and Josef Horadam, founded the company H. Schmincke & Co. They are renowned for their continued use of traditional family recipes of the finest natural resin-oil-colours, as well as for their passion and quality of their products.
Today the company is operated by the fourth generation of the Schmincke family. They continue to use their founders’ motto ‘Meliora Cogito’, which means ‘I Strive For The Best’. This philosophy shines through the Schmincke brand and, as such, we believe that they offer some of the finest paints on the market. Here’s a brief overview of the product ranges:
Schmincke is unique in their use of creating identical formulas for both tubes and pans in their HORADAM watercolour assortment. This enables the artist to work with the same watercolours in different techniques and also when mixing.
Pans are poured 3 to 4 times in liquid state, with a drying process of several weeks after each layer. The production time of one pan is 3-5 months, which is a significant commitment to quality assurance. Watercolour paint is made up of pigments and a Gum Arabic binder made from the best quality Acacia trees grown in Africa. Horadam Watercolours come in 110 brilliant colours.
Schmincke strive on achieving the very best pigment quality across their range. They use single pigments for as many paints as possible for maximum possible pigment concentration, resulting in the highest colour brilliance with the best mixing results. Akademie acrylics are delightfully thick and full-bodied.
Great for students and beginners, College Oils use a sophisticated fabrication method which is formulated by hand. They leave sufficient time for ripening to ensure they deliver the best quality paint to artists. College Oil is an excellent choice for users to experiment with, and it comes in a range of 24 vibrant colours.
Aqua Bronzes are pigments ready to be mixed with water to create brilliant glossy iridescent metallic effects to gouache or watercolour paintings. They are formulated based on real metal pigments for the best effect. Aqua Bronzes come in a range of 5 colour shades: Rich Gold, Rich Pale Gold, Gale Gold, Copper and Silver.
Quality Assurance
All paints have the same quality assurance, which can be seen on each paint tube or pan’s packaging.
The Square represents opacity. A fully coloured square indicates that the paint is Opaque. Half coloured squares mean that the paint is semi-opaque. A square with line through the centre means the paint is semi transparent and an empty square indicates full transparence.
Each paint also has a Star Rating. The more stars present out of 5 means the more lightfast the paint is. To test this, a page is covered in paint, allowed to dry and then folded to leave a small area exposed. This page is then subjected to extreme UV light, constantly rotated for 3 months. The difference between the covered area and the exposed area will determine the lightfastness rating.
The Triangle symbol represents the paints staining properties. A fully coloured triangle is staining, a half-coloured triangle is semi-staining and an uncoloured triangle indicates no staining.
Finally, the Circled number identifies which price group the paint belongs to.
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