Winsor & Newton Artists' Oil Colour (37ml)

Video: Opaque & Transparent Pigments In Winsor & Newton Oils

One of the five Winsor & Newton oil paint ranges, Artists' Oil Colour is renowned for its unrivalled purity, quality and reliability. Using only the purest pigments with the most suitable drying oils, this range contains 80 single pigment colours, allowing cleaner, brighter mixes and infinite hues, with exceptional covering power and strong intensity of tint. 

Excellent retention of brush and palette knife strokes is provided by Winsor & Newton Artist's Oil Paint's stiff, uniform consistency.

Offering the widest spectrum of all Winsor & Newton Oil Paint colours, the Artists’ Oil Colour range comprises 131 colours in 37ml size tubes, many of which are also available in 200ml tube sizes.

Colour Chart: Artists' Oil Colours

What is Oil Colour?

Oil colour is produced by the combination of a pigment with a natural oil binder, such as linseed, walnut and poppy oils. This is then applied to a support such as canvas. The pigment fixes to the support upon dehydration and oxidation of the oil, forming a hard film on the surface.

Oil colours are oil-based, so any brush used to apply the oil colour paint should be thoroughly cleaned after use with either a solvent or brush cleaner.

The following videos show different ways of cleaning oil colour paint brushes:

Removing Oil Colour Using A Solvent

Removing Oil Colour Using “The Masters” Brush Cleaner And Preserver

Why use Oil Colour?

Oil colour dries slowly, offering artists flexibility and time to make modifications. The slow drying properties of oil colour means they are excellent for creating subtle blends, affording the artist smooth transitions in their painting.

How long does Oil Colour take to dry?

Oil colour tends to become touch dry in 2-12 days. However, every pigment reacts differently when mixed with oil, resulting in varying drying times. It is important to know the drying times of the oil colours used, so that slower-drying oil colour is painted over faster-drying layers, in order to avoid cracking. Winsor & Newton provide further information on Understanding The Drying Times For Oil Colour.

There are a number of ways that the drying times of oil colours may be altered. Adding Winsor & Newton Liquin Original increases the drying rate by approximately 50%, whereas introducing a Painting Medium will change the rate of drying, as well as influencing the gloss and texture of the colour. Winsor & Newton offer some useful Tips For Using Oil Paint Mediums.

How do “Hue” colours differ from other oil colours?

Designed to closely resemble the spectrum of natural oil colour pigments, “Hue” oil colour offers a quality, affordable alternative. A high level of pigmentation is achieved by the use of moderately priced pigments, rather than reducing the pigment load. Influenced by the pigments used, the sheen of Artists’ Oil Colour may vary in gloss level across the range. This can be addressed by the addition of solvent or medium.

How does Oil Colour compare to Acrylic paint?

The main difference between Oil Colour and Acrylic paint is their drying times; Oil Colour dries very slowly, allowing the artist a longer working time, whereas Acrylic dries incredibly quickly. Much depends on how the artist prefers to work, and the effects they wish to create. The following link provides a more detailed comparison of the two media.

Guide To The Key Differences Between Oil Colour And Acrylic Paint

Which surfaces best support Oil Colour?

An important factor for the artist to consider when Choosing A Surface For Oil Painting is where they will be painting. Cotton or Linen canvas is ideal for studio work, whereas a Canvas Board or Canvas Pad may be more suitable when working outdoors.

Which brushes are best for Oil Colour painting?

Oil Colour painting requires the brush to have stiff bristles, with enough resilience to control and manipulate the colour. Providing good flow and texture, the stiffness of Hog Brush bristles makes them particularly well suited to oil painting.

Advancements in the production of synthetic hair have resulted in a rise in popularity of synthetic brushes, especially if price and durability are an issue. Originally designed for working with Acrylic paint, many artists have found Pro Arte’s Acrylix range of synthetic brushes ideal for painting with oil colour.

Oil colour painting can often entail working at a distance from the paint surface. In these circumstances, a long handled brush offers the perfect solution.

Palette Knives are another tool invaluable to the artist working with oil colour, and choosing a softer bristle brush from our range of Oil Paint Brushes is a further option, when working with thinned oil colour.

Which techniques work best with Oil Colour?

The following links show some useful techniques when working with oil colour:

How To Blend Oil Paint

Impasto Technique

Glazing With Oil Painting

Oil Painting Technique Using Winsor & Newton Liquin Medium

Who are Winsor & Newton?

In 1832, William Winsor and Henry Newton introduced the first moist water colours to the world. Today, Winsor and Newton remain the premier choice for artists, offering a wide variety of fine art supplies including: oil, water colour, acrylic and alkyd paints, pastels, artists' brushes, canvases, papers and portfolios.