Williamsburg Oil Colors Overview

Getting the proper pigment is just the beginning. So much of the quality of oil paint is in the grinding. Each color is ground to enhance the beauty and luminosity specific to that particular pigment. Some colors will feel slightly gritty; others extremely smooth. Our Cerulean Blue will have a beautiful velvet, light-absorbing surface with an extremely strong covering power; our Siennas will often be chunky or gritty to allow light to travel through the vehicle, exposing rich golden or mahogany undertones instead of just heavy, dull browns.

Pigments are ground in pure, premium, alkali-refined linseed oil and made in batches no larger than eight gallons at a time. This gives us total control over the product, much like the late nineteenth-century French color makers. All the materials are hand measured, and every ounce of paint is scrutinized. The paint is packed in 37 ml and 150 ml non-reactive aluminum tubes. Larger quantities of paint are packed in aluminum cans using only the purest materials.

Williamsburg Artist Oil Colors are used by the world's finest artists whose work can be found at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and MOMA in New York, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, and the Beaubourg in Paris.

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Reference Materials

Williamsburg Grind Chart

Alternative Color Mixes for Discontinued Quinacridones

How to mix colors to match discontinued Quinacridone Crimson, Quin/Nickel Azo Gold, and Quin Burnt Orange colors.

Williamsburg Oil Content by Volume

An informational chart which organizes Williamsburg colors, Extender Medium and Oil Grounds into four categories of oil content by volume.

ASTM Lightfastness Testing for Oil Paints

A comprehensive study of ASTM standard D4302 to improve our understanding of oil paint lightfastness and to ensure the accuracy and comprehensiveness ...