I used some of the Lukas 1862 oils I wrote about before. I’m still not ready to add the brand to my oil paint reference because I need more testing.
In their marketing material, Lukas emphasizes the ‘smooth, buttery’ quality of their paint. Virtuality all low-end brands make this claim. I can attest that Lukas oils are, indeed, buttery, like Rembrandt and Charvin brands, two brands noted for their modest prices. Smoothness is much less important than pigment density. The best paints are heavily pigmented.
Lukas is firmly among the low-end brands. In this photo of my palette, the Lukas paints are labeled:
- royal blue
- cobalt green
- vermilion light
I often use low-end brands for sketching and underpainting and sometimes, as with this palette, on regular paintings. How else to provide a fair test?
Lukas paints are slightly more covering than other low-end brands. Heavily-pigmented paints are the best-covering paints. Lukas achieves its covering power by the addition of wax. In addition to imparting covering power, wax stiffens the paint. Wax also makes paint more matte than usual. While matte paint is a good thing, wax is not. Wax has been added to paint since the beginning of time. There are many mediums and recipes that highlight wax. I don’t use it.
To sum up, Lukas paints are more covering than other low-end brands but not as covering as good mid-range brands, such as Winsor Newton, RGH, or Blue Ridge. After a few more sessions with the paint, I’ll get around to updating my oil brand reference.