Genesis oil paints
Genesis Heat- Set Oil Paints are a unique paint that offers a non toxic, odour free and non allergenic product as well as an unparalleled level of control when it comes to drying time.
Genesis Heat-set Oil Paint gives you time - time to work the way you choose to. With traditional oils the length of drying time often means we can lose our momentum in getting our ideas and thoughts onto the canvas. Acrylics and watercolours can dry too quickly, not giving you the time to get the results you want. You, the artist, at last have TOTAL control with the drying process. You choose when you are happy with your work, then simply dry that section and keep on working.
With Genesis, you can apply washes like watercolour artists do or blend to your heart’s content! You can apply layer over layer just as you can with other paints, but Genesis will also allow you to blend colours easily if you desire. Simply dry the area you want to keep working on, then apply more paint, or a wash or glaze straight over the top. If you make a mistake, just wipe it off, then when you’re happy with a layer or area; dry it straight away – no more worrying about ruining you masterpiece! Genesis offers fine control in mixing, blending and application. Artists can achieve the very clean and crisp edge that is required for detailed and realism style painting. Genesis is no different in appearance to conventional oils. You can leave your palette for days, weeks, months or even years then simply ‘mash’ the paint and continue with your masterpiece. There is no colour shift from wet to dry so it is easy to pick up just where you left off from your last painting session.
Due to their very high pigment content, colours are strong and vibrant, even after drying. Genesis instantly gives your paintings depth and allows good coverage. A tiny amount goes a long way. Of the 87 colours in the Genesis range, 79 colours are in Category 1 for light fastness, and eight are in Category 2 (diox/purple values). The full range of paints, mediums and varnishes all conform to ATSM D-4236 standards thus guaranteeing strong archival qualities. Genesis Heat-set Oil Paints are not solvent or water based. They have their own specially formulated base carrier.
The full range of colours and their mediums are all certified Odourless and Non-toxic, which allows the many artists who suffer from allergies to get back to or commence using oils.
Genesis Heat-set Oils are great for Reborning Artists as the paint and mediums allow you to create the lovely skin texture required for reborn dolls.
coarsely ground oil colours
S&S has several new ranges of paint for 2011. They cover both ends of the spectrum in regard to paint history and technology. There are several new ranges that allow the artist to ‘go back in time’ and paint in the way of the Old Masters. The Maimeri Paint Company of Italy has “re-developed” three ranges of Coarsely Ground Oil Colours that faithfully reproduce the colours, style and type of oil paint that was first used more than 500 years ago and was common until the advent of the Industrial Revolution, when machinery was developed to produce smoother oil colours.
Coarsely Ground oil colours are exactly what the name implies – they have been manufactured with pigments that have been coarsely ground and rare semi drying oils such as Walnut oil and Safflower oil, exactly in the same way as paints were made throughout Renaissance Europe. The main difference between Coarsely Ground oil colours and the more modern or ‘traditional’ oil colours is the pigment size. Modern paint manufacturing has enabled the pigment grinding process to become more refined. Most (if not all) modern colours are triple-ground through big, heavy mills that ensure the smallest pigment size possible, allowing for the production of smooth, buttery oil colours that are commonly used today.
Coarsely Ground oil colours are not as finely ground as modern oil colours, and have been prepared with the same grain size and dispersion as paints used in the time of the Renaissance. The result is a paint that is more opaque, has a thicker paste density that accentuates the brush strokes and a rougher finished coat.
The application (whether with a brush or palette knife) and finished result of paintings using Coarsely Ground oil colours are markedly different from those done with modern colours.
The artist will not only need to adjust their techniques accordingly to get the best out of these paints, but also the mediums they use, specifically when thinning out these colours. It is highly recommended that these colours are not thinned with the traditional solvent based thinners such as White Spirit and Turpentine but instead use Walnut or Safflower oil. It is also recommended that hard bristle, ox hair or synthetic brushes are used to get the best finished results.
renaissance oil colours by maimeri
This line of oil colours has been “re-developed” to offer the modern painter the tonalities of the Master Artists of the Italian Renaissance – in paint composition, pigment size and the use of rare semi-drying oils that are non-yellowing and crystal clear. Each colour in the Renaissance range has a high pigment concentration and is prepared with grain size and dispersion in Walnut oil similar to those of Renaissance compositions. Most of the pigments in this range correspond to the originals; however the more toxic, unstable and hard to mix pigments have been replaced with modern alternatives.
This is a small range of 11 colours over three series with some of the colours having been unavailable to the modern painter for hundreds of years. The colours include Ceruse, Michelangelo Blue, Mummy, Bistre, Vasari Yellow, Kermes Lake, Paris Red, Vermillion, Murano Blue,
Greek Green and Malachite Green. With the exception of Kermes Lake and Bistre, all these tints are made with inorganic pigments based on non-hazardous metallic salts that successfully imitate the shades of traditional pigments based on lead, mercury and copper. These colours can be thinned solely with Walnut oil or Safflower oil but it is best to avoid thinning with the solvents
typically used to dilute oil colours such as White Spirit and Turpentine.
mediterraneo oil colours (mediterranean) by maimeri
Throughout history, the Mediterranean has been a place that has united cultures and civilisations and, along with it, colours and tints that are unique to this beautiful area. The colours in this range are especially suited for warm, bright and luminous paintings. There are 11 colours in the range and each colour is named from the place where it has been obtained. Colours include Santorini White, Trinacria Orange, Vesuvius Yellow, Damascus Yellow, Provence Rose Lake, Sevillea Red, Salento Green, Ercolano Blue, Capri Blue, Grasse Violet and the delightfully named Green Obsidian from Pantelleria.
These colours can be thinned with Walnut or Safflower oil but not with traditional solvent thinners (eg White Spirit, Turpentine) as they weaken the paste. To achieve the best results with these particular colours it is recommended by to prepare the canvas with uniform, soft coats of pastel pink or yellowish pink obtained with ochre or the Italian Natural Earth colours. The blue and green tones of this range are particularly enhanced using these complementary bases.
terra grezze d’italia (italian natural earth colours) by maimeri
These colours have been created from the ancient pigments used to decorate the monuments and facades of palaces throughout Italy. They are reflected in colours of Roman houses, Venetian palaces and of the Umbrian and Tuscan hill-towns that dot modern day Italy. The composition of this range is similar to those of the shades used by the old masters Tiziano, Tiepolo and others. Although the milled grain size of the dispersed pigments is larger than for other oil colours, natural earth oil colours can be used alone or mixed with any oil colour or even yolkbased temperas to produce a denser, full-bodied oil colour that appears to give a more opaque, natural tone due to a different refraction of light.
Italian Natural Earth colours are not only for traditional techniques but also satisfy the needs of contemporary artistic expression. There are 11 colours in this range and each colour is named from the place where it has been obtained. The colours include Carrara White Earth, Herculaneum Orange Earth, Rome Yellow Earth, Verona Yellow Earth, Raw Sienna, Venetian Red Earth, Sardinian Red Earth, Burnt Sienna, Verona Green Earth, Verona Antique Green Earth and Florence Brown Earth. These colours are formulated with natural pigments only which means that there will be slight discontinuities in colour tones from batch to batch which signifies the authentic and natural origins of the paint.
21st century colours oilo hd oil colours by maimeri
Olio HD is a brand new range of brilliant, vivid and modern colours based on high concentrations of organic-synthesis pigments. The colours in the HD range are the colours of the contemporary and younger generations. They are the colours of the digital and virtual worlds, of liquid crystals and high definition – not opaque and muted but luminous and, vibrant and transparent. Olio HD oil colours are formulated with very fluid and very bright drying oils.
There are a number of questions that are repeatedly and frequently asked about oil colours and there are also many misconceptions about the possibilities of oil colour as a contemporary choice for painters today. Most frequently asked questions are: How do I get my oil paintings to dry faster? And how can I avoid the use of hazardous solvents?
There has been a shift for many artists to acrylic colour as incredible improvements over the last 15 years in manufacturing artists’ quality acrylics has been made. With the added attraction of acrylics’ ability to wash up in water and its quicker drying time, it became a real professional alternative.
This migration to acrylics by artists has sometimes disappointing and frustrating results as artists discover that acrylics (whilst a fantastic medium to use) are a completely different animal with completely different working properties. Techniques that artists have perfected in oil colour suddenly demand a whole new practice and method from the artist.
Sadly, artists often shift from oils because they have not explored the options available to artists now – all under the banner of Oil Colour. A quick explanation of what oil colour is will allow me to explain the oil alternatives available today.
Oil colours have been used in various forms since the fifteenth century. Oil paints are bound with drying oils. A drying oil is a vegetable oil which dries by oxidation. Linseed oil is used in the majority of cases because it dries to the most durable film.
The popularity of oil colour can be attributed to its extraordinary versatility. It offers techniques of blending and glazing, impasto and scumbling.
The manufacturer, Winsor & Newton offers three oil colour possibilities for artists with comparable working properties. The two alternatives worth mentioning to our well known conventional oil colour are Griffin Alkyds Fast Drying Oil Colour and Artisan Water – mixable Oil Colour.
Griffin Alkyds are a genuine oil colour made from pigment and oil modified alkyd resin. Its unique formulation allows the paint to dry quicker than most oil colours but slower than acrylics. Completing a painting or using glazing techniques which is touch dry in a day becomes a possibility with Griffin Alkyds.
Alkyd paint is also more durable than oil in outside conditions. It has a good resistance to physical wear and is an ideal choice for using on surfaces such as wood, glass, metal or porcelain. It is great for underpainting, impasto and glazing because of its speed of drying, which is 18 – 24 hours (touch dry). Griffin Alkyds provide a glassy effect but so do alkyd mediums. The most popular and useful medium of these is Liquin. It speeds the drying of colour by about 50% depending on the colour and the quantity used. This is the perfect choice for artists and art students who wish to achieve all the benefits of oil colour but have to work quickly between layers for exhibition deadlines and assessment.
An increasingly popular choice for many artists today is Artisan Watermixable oil colour. It has the same rich buttery quality fresh from the tube and offers artists the exact same results for
techniques of blending and glazing, impasto and scumbling – all except that you can clean up with water.
How is this possible? Well
Artisan water – mixable oil colour is made of linseed oil and safflower oil just like traditional oil colour. The only difference is the linseed oil and safflower oil used in Artisan have been modified so that they mix and clean up with water. The drying rates are the same as conventional oils.
Artisan is ideal for artists who wish to avoid exposure to turps and mineral spirits, school environments where use of oil colour is prohibited due to the solvents, artists who work in a shared studio space and (favoured most by me) transportation on aeroplanes is possible.
Artisan oil colours also have a range of thinners, oils, mediums and varnishes to achieve all the expected techniques possible with an oil colour but with the ability to maintain the water – mixable characteristics and a safer studio environment.
Recently, we have been using Artisan in our educational support workshops as a conventional oil colour but also as a substitute for printmaking inks to create monotypes. This has been very successful and the permanency and richness of the colours far surpass any printmaking ink I’ve ever worked with.
Still confused over what is best for you?….then all good art stores will have all these all of these oil colour options and should be able to offer the right choice and information for your needs.
painting rules for all types of oil colour fat over lean
This principle is often repeated when referring to building layers of oil colour but what it really implies is Flexible over Less
Flexible. When flexible layers are built on top of each other, the final paint film has the best resilience and resistance to cracking. Increasing flexibility is done by adding more medium or oil to each layer of colour.
thick over thin
Thicker Layers of oil colour are best applied alone or over thinner underlayers, ensuring that the thick layers are able to dry.
drying rates
The different drying rates of Artists’ Oil Colours are due to the different reactions of each pigment when dispersed in oil. Some pigments serve as chemical catalysts, accelerating the drying process. Others affect it little, while some slow the process.
Slow drying underlayers can cause cracking of any subsequent fast drying layers. Examples of colours that are slow drying (more than five days drying time) are Winsor Yellows, Alizarin Crimson, and Quinacridones. Medium drying colours are Titanium White, Cadmiums, Ultramarine Blues, iron oxides and examples of the fastest drying colours (around two days) are cobalt blues, Raw Sienna, Prussian Blue and Umbers.
underpainting
(The first layer of colour upon the canvas is called the underpainting). Winsor & Newton Oil colours use safflower oil in the formulation of their whites because of the oils paler colour. Safflower whites are not recommended for use in underpainting and priming as they undergo greater dimensional changes and could result in upper layer cracking. Underpainting White is the recommendation for use on initial layers of the painting.