Turn an artist loose in an Art Supply Shop and it’s just like letting a kid go crazy in a candy store. We rarely leave without adding something to our collection of artmaking supplies. Every artist I know has a deep well of materials filling shelves, drawers and closets – spilling out from the studio into other parts of our homes and lives.
For visual artists, collecting more paints is especially tempting; and the array of colors is mind boggling. I recently watched a video profiling a French maker of Oil Pastel sticks whose line up of pigments is nearing 2,000 colors. And that’s just one medium.
In the world of watercolor, where I live, you can purchase your colors in tubes, pans, sticks, pencils and in powder form. And you can purchase paints from many different manufacturers: Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, Holbein, Van Gogh, American Journey, Graham, QOR, Schminke, Sennelier, and more.
Many manufacturers sell their pigments under the same trade names – but that doesn’t mean that what comes out of each same-named tube will be an identical color. All Raw Siennas are not created equal. And some colors with different names actually contain the same pigments. Permanent Scarlet and Anthraquinoid Scarlett are both made from PR168. It can get confusing in a hurry.
Fortunately, there are clues to help decipher the differences and similarities. Each tube of paint lists the color index or pigment names and the mix of pigments used in creating that color. Of course, they may be mixed in different proportions using different binding agents. So the best way to sort out the differences is to conduct your own tests.
A couple of years ago, I took all the paints I had accumulated and created a swatch for each one noting the trade name, the manufacturer and, the pigment indices on each swatch card. This helps me determine which paints I prefer and would buy again, and which paints are so similar they could be substituted for one other and don’t both need to occupy a spot in my collection or on my palette.
I can also pull out several swatch cards and do a preliminary test of compatibility when I’m looking for a fresh combination of colors.
Each time I add a new paint to my collection, I create a card and add it to the file so the reference stays current. Hopefully, in the long run, this will help me become better acquainted with my paints and avoid wasting money and space stocking up on pigments I already own.
Artists' Workshop Saskatoon 