{"id":10964,"date":"2022-08-24T14:40:10","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T18:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=10964"},"modified":"2022-08-24T17:00:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T21:00:20","slug":"reader-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/08\/reader-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Reader questions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, a reader emailed me several questions that I want to share:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

i am looking for the perfect oil paint and it is not easy to choose and find the one that suits me. it would save me from buying several brands to test. it scares me.<\/p>

I have seen your excellent work on testing the different brands, it is great and what an adventure!
I’m surprised that Rembrandt has gone down in quality even though it’s very pigmented and buttery it seems.<\/p>

I’m sure I preferred very vibrant colors that were creamy for the fades and not too oily for the details (grass, leaves, hair, etc.). It’s probably in the high end oils like block or MH that you recommend.<\/p>

what solvent do you use to make the paint creamier?<\/p>

what do you think of the van gogh brand?<\/p>

are the colors in gamblin really vibrant?<\/p>

thank you very much for your insight.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Perfect paint<\/strong>. There is no perfect commercial paint. The best paints are the ones with highest pigment-to-binder ratio. Old Holland is considered the top brand for this reason. Heavily-pigmented paints are stiff. It’s best for you to make stiff paint malleable or ‘buttery’ yourself rather than the manufacturer. This way you know what you’ve used. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Rembrandt oils<\/strong>. I still use some Rembrandt colors. Their raw umber is my favorite version of this important color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Medium<\/strong>. I use copal varnish, turpentine, and linseed oil 1:1:1 with a drop of Courtrai drier added to it. For something that you can make yourself that is a acceptable try turpentine, mineral spirits, and oil. Experiment with the ratios. You might start 1:1:1. Just mix the ingredients together before you start painting. By the way, I think this is what Old Holland uses in its painting medium, although I don’t know the ratios.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more<\/span>Smooth Move—Smooth Painting Surfaces<\/span><\/a><\/div>

Van Gogh oils<\/strong>. I haven’t tried this brand. I’ve been asked about these oils several times so I’ll test and review them on my Oil Paint Brand review page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gamblin oils<\/strong>. Gamblin uses alkali refined linseed oil for its paint binder. The process of alkali refining removes fats which makes the oil short–hard to wet. Many manufacturers put some of the fat back into the oil after it’s refined to counter this undesirable effect. For me, Gamblin remains too short, so I don’t use it. Although I must say that their paint seems heavily pigmented. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently, a reader emailed me several questions that I want to share: i am looking for the perfect oil paint and it is not easy to choose and find the one that suits me. it would save me from buying several brands to test. it scares me. I have seen your excellent work on testing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":9958,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208,24,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-materials","category-shop_talk","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pal-a.jpg?fit=1000%2C587&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9861,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2021\/09\/oil-paint-brands-update-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10964,"position":0},"title":"Oil paint brands update","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"September 30, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"To update my oil paint brands review and reference, I bought some paints that I don't normally use. I have never used Cranfield or Bob Ross. I list Maimeri Puro and Richeson in my reference but I haven't used them enough to rate them. This purchase allows me to correct\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/5-tubes-a5.jpg?fit=1000%2C808&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/5-tubes-a5.jpg?fit=1000%2C808&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/5-tubes-a5.jpg?fit=1000%2C808&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/5-tubes-a5.jpg?fit=1000%2C808&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":10041,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2022\/01\/review-cranfield-oil-paint\/","url_meta":{"origin":10964,"position":1},"title":"Review: Cranfield oil paint","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"January 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Part of a recent paint buy included a tube of Cranfield's King's blue deep, which I'd bought in order to review. The Cranfield brand is new to me and King's blue is not a palette regular but I like to try new paint brands and colors. Cranfield is a British\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Grumpy review"","block_context":{"text":"Grumpy review","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/grumpy-review\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cranfield1.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cranfield1.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cranfield1.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/cranfield1.jpg?fit=800%2C536&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2557,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2013\/09\/update-to-oil-paint-brands-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":10964,"position":2},"title":"Update to Oil Paint Brands","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"September 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"I continue to update the survey of oil paint brands. I have been using a lot of paint from the small producer Blue Ridge Colors. I am constantly on the lookout for reliable day-to-day paints, that is, paints that are good quality and reasonably priced. In this pursuit, I've recently\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Shop Talk"","block_context":{"text":"Shop Talk","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/shop_talk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3591,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/review-rgh-oil-paint\/","url_meta":{"origin":10964,"position":3},"title":"Review: RGH Oil Paint","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"May 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"RGH Oils is a small manufacturer that promotes its wide-range of lead-based whites. I think that is smart. There is an opportunity here for small suppliers to fill the gap left as the larger companies cut production--and raise prices to lurid heights. After using the paints from my first order\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/rgh-paint.jpg?fit=444%2C369&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6507,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2016\/11\/rgh-and-blue-ridge-oils\/","url_meta":{"origin":10964,"position":4},"title":"RGH and Blue Ridge oils","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"November 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Along with Winsor Newton, Blue Ridge and RGH oils get a lot of use on my palette. \u00a0 The categories I use to rate manufacturers in my oil paint brand reference--low-end, mid-range, and high-end--are based on price and quality. While there is a lot of churn in the low-end category,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/rgh-blue.jpg?fit=600%2C569&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/rgh-blue.jpg?fit=600%2C569&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/rgh-blue.jpg?fit=600%2C569&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9898,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2021\/10\/review-bob-ross-oil-paint\/","url_meta":{"origin":10964,"position":5},"title":"Review: Bob Ross oil paint","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Bob Ross oils are low-end. Cheap. 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