New artist grade WS oils from Talens

Even alkyds don't set up that quickly, I can't imagine an artist-quality oil paint behaving like that. Maybe you should email the company about that, see what they have to say. But now I'm really curious to try them because I'd like to have paints that set up fast when working outdoors (I use an alkyd medium to speed the drying), these might just be perfect for me!

Thanks for your support, Dale, Dana, and Callie. I was telling my husband last night that this may be ideal for winter paintings, when it takes so long for them to dry. It was probably about 95 degrees Farenheit yesterday while I was painting, with a warm breeze. I might try painting indoors today or tomorrow. I think trying different mediums will help.

Dayle

Dayle,

It will be very interesting to me to know how they paint in doors, how they set up and work for you. Thank you for keeping us informed.



Callie,

That would be great for you -- I hope you are able to get the paints to do what you have been wanting, without have to add to them, not making them perform with additives --it would be great that they'll just do it on their own, this would be less for you to carry when your out and about - Plein Aire Painting.

Dayle,
Try just the walnut oil and leave out the water. That is what usually works well for me. I just put a small bit of oil on my palette and then dip the brush into it a little bit and add it to the paint until I get the consistency I want. I've only used the Cobra inside for a short period of time. I did find it skinning over on the palette, but I wasn't using that much that I had to add oil.

Judy

Thanks, Judy. I'll give that a try. There are other people having the same problems with the fast drying of the Cobra WMOs at WetCanvas, but I'm hoping that it'll be something easy to that'll make them work better. I can't imagine how anyone was able to paint with the Artisan's before they came up with the thinner.
Dayle

I just add small amounts of walnut oil to any brand that is too thick for what I'm trying to do and that solves the problem.
Judy

Dayle thank you for sharing your experience with the Cobras! I haven't received mine yet but I think it will be interesting to see how they compare to the Holbein.

Hi Folks;

After examining color chips for the paints in my palette and the apparent Cobra equivalents, I chose to substitute Cobra colors that closely matched the Artisan or Duos I normally use or those that had a slight color shift that I thought improved my palette. These included Cobra; Titanium White, Vermillion, Pyrrole Red, Lemon Yellow, and Yellow Ochre.

Just after I got set up to first try them in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, a sudden storm arrived. Hmmm, maybe Thor was sending me a message !?! A second try in Butte, Montana was more successful (I guess Thor didn't really have it in for Cobras ).

For me, substituting Cobra Pyrrole Red for Artisan Cadmium Red Medium (CadRM) worked well. The Cobra CadRM appears a little grayer than the Artisan (duller, not as much punch). In turn, the Artisan CadRM appears just a tad grayer than the Cobra Pyrrole Red. So the latter is likely permanent first string on my palette.

The Cobra Yellow Ochre was a disappointment. While it appeared very close in color to the Artisan, the Cobra had a lot of separated oil and it ran on the tilted palette. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has encountered this.

The Cobra Vermillion is oranger than the Duo Aqua Vermillion (with white added there is a bit too much of a blue cast in the Duo for me). I use this occasionally for adding interest to clouds -a leftover from my watercolor days. The Cobra handled well and it'll go head to head with the Duo in a few more pre-season games before the final lineup is chosen.

The Cobra Lemon Yellow (L-Y) was also disappointing. I had already given up on the Artisan L-Y because it gets so hard in the tube. The Duo Aqua L-Y is a bit too soft and creamy for me, but preferable to the Artisan. However, I found the Cobra to be even softer and creamier than the Duo, so after a bit I went back to the latter. Note that in a cooler studio environment, this may not be an issue.

The Titanium White didn't seem to give any different results than I had previously experienced with the Artisan brand and handled similarly. So for me the jury is still out on this one.

Painting was done in the shade and inside (but with the doors open) and the temp in the high 80's to low 90's or outdoors near sunset. Water was used to thin for the initial "drawing", but no medium was used after that. Most painting was done without over-painting, so fast/slow drying was not an issue. For the one done with a lot of over-painting, too fast drying was a problem in some parts. However, since the colors used were a mix of Artisan and Cobra no conclusions can be drawn as to brand involvement.

A few comments about Cobra colors not used in the above.

Cobra Cad.Yellow Med. is less orange than the Artisan which doesn't work as well for me. The Cobra Burnt Umber is warmer than the Artisan. Cobra Cad.Orange is less red than the Duo Aqua (if I used this color, I would prefer the Cobra).

As to the blues, Cobra Cobalt Blue Ultra(marine) and Artisan Cobalt Blue appeared very close when I added some white. The Cobra Cobalt Blue appears a bit warmer than the Artisan to me. Cobra Cerulean is a bit greener than the Duo Aqua (also the Duo Aqua handles as if it has more pigment). The Cobra Ultramarine maybe is a smidge warmer than the Artisan. I chose not to use Cobra blues this time because I was so satisfied with the blues already in my palette.

It'll be fun to see if studio use changes my perceptions and to hear others' experiences in comparing brands. I do want to learn more about drying characteristics -especially when mixing colors with different brands. I am glad that Cobra has arrived.

Wow! Great report there, Jim. Thank you so much for taking the time to share your observations with us.

Jim: I'm glad to hear that you were basically happy with the Cobra WMOs. I expect my problem has more to do with my inexperience with the WMOs and it having been about 7 years since I painted at all. As far as the separation and runny oil, I had that happen with my tube of Cobra Permanent Lemon Yellow. However, I don't consider it a problem, since I like loose oil paints and just wipe it up.

Dayle

Jim,
Thank you very much for this thorough narrative on your experiences with Cobra. We're all lucky to have your insights and understanding, and I'm impressed with the way that you're going about testing the drying times and comparing pigments. You have a natural curiosity that I think many artists share. I think you'll enjoy using some of the auxiliaries that we offer, as these will certainly enhance your experience.

Having lived in that area of the country for a few years, I'm very excited to see some more of the works that you create. Please keep sharing!

All the best,

Kyle Richardson
Product Manager - North America
Royal Talens

Hi All;

I've made a larger version of the color chart available on the website so that the brand and color names can be viewed (see link in signature). Should have thought of that in the first place .

Dayle; In the studio with the palette flat the oil in the Yellow Ochre isn't a problem for me either. I keep the pochade box palette at an angle.

Thanks Kyle. Another color that I would like to see in the Cobra line is Alizarin Crimson. When I asked you about Indigo earlier you indicated there were no plans to add it because the pigments don't meet your quality standards. Is Alizarin in the same boat?

Regards;

Wow Jim what a great review on the Cobra WSOs! Thank you!

Jim, genuine indigo is a dye that fades quickly. No company should be selling that as a pigment. Cobra's Prussian blue PB27 might be the closest match.

Alizarin PR83 (aka "madder lake") is notorious for claims of being poorly lightfast, fading or darkening overtime. MAX and Duo Alizarin is PR83, and also have "hue" substitutes, which is what most companies offer. Cobra's "madder lake" is actually PR264 (diketo pyrrole,) which is a close match and described to be more lightfast.

In love with my Cobra WMOs again. On WetCanvas, Titanium recommended a medium of 1 part walnut oil to 2 parts stand oil for WMOs. Several people tried it and fell in love with it. I decided to try it, but for the bottom layer I added a little bit of distilled water. WOW, did that make a difference! Great medium for these WMOs and used a little bit of Artisan with it and found they worked good with that medium too. Now, I'm really sold on Cobras again.
It's going to take me a while to practice using oils after I've been away so long, but now I realize it's just a matter of time and practice, and things should start looking good again. Thanks for your encouragement in keeping going on WMOs. If it hadn't been for you guys, I probably would have given up.

BTW, I used Cobra's Glazing Medium for the Stand Oil. I don't know if that's exactly the same thing, but it worked great for me.

Dayle

Dayle, Soooo glad you found the brand that works for you. Thank you for sharing the medium that you're using!