What brand of Water Soluble Oils do you use?

Hi Sholly! Welcome to the forum! I think most people will discover that they gravitate toward a certain brand because that's what suits them. I've seen beautiful work in all brands of water soluble oils so I think the results speak for themselves. I happen to like the Holbein also.

Hi Sholly,
Welcome to the forum and thanks for your input. I've used multiple brands from Artisan to Duo and several in between. Each one seems to have it's own characteristic and once you get used to it, you adjust. My solution with the Artisans is to use walnut and this works really well, unlike water. The Duo's I like right out of the tube. No matter what brand, I do not mix water with them, but this is just my preference.

I look forward to seeing your work.
Judy

Hi Sholly. I love Holbein Duo also. Since you have tried them all, what is your impression of Lukas Berlin?

Susan, The Lukas Berlin are my second favorite brand in WSOs. They mix well with water and with the Holbein. I find them a little too oily.

Susan of Boyertown, Besides the Holbein oils I DO like Lukas Berlin, however as they are student grade they replace professional-grade pigments with substitutes. If you don't mind that, they are buttery smooth and handle pretty well. And they're a lot cheaper than Holbein.
I have been a student at Wayne Art center in Wayne PA for a number of years now, and the attitudes I've experienced there (toward water soluble oils) were surprising. The instructors seem to hate the new oils, and they pass their prejudices down to their students. When I showed up at an oil painting class with water mixable oils, I was practically booed out of class. The local art store that instructors at that school recommend only carries W&N brands. Thus I've concluded that the negative attitudes may be resulting from the stiffness and student-grade pigments used in Artisan paints. Holbein Duo Aqua is the only professional line of water mixable oil paints on the market today, and professional paints are nearly always better made than student grade paint. That's a fact, not just a personal opinion.

Good to hear from you, Sholly! So you don't live all that far from me! I sure would love to have a painting buddy!
I know that the Lukas is inexpensive. I got some but did not get the ones that are "hue" paints, and I haven't had time to use them yet.
It is an ignorance that people can be so closed minded and prejudiced about these paints. Oh well...
Funny though, the first oils I used were Georgian. I didn't know any better at all, and the first 3 paintings I did got in a juried show! I don't mean to toot my horn, but to say that over-all it's not so much the paint, but what you do with it. Nevertheless, when you do get into the different brands and experiment, you (I) can get quite fussy and want to paint with only the best!

I use mostly Winsor and Grumbacher.....they seem to be thicker and by adding oil and H2O to them I get more for the money. The others seem to not extend as far and thin out too much for me.

I perfer the thicker ones as I can always thin if I want too and if I want to have texture I seem to be able to with better with these. The other ones brands are a little more fluid, but Winsor and Grumbacher can get to the same fluidity when I add either H2O or an oil....they just seem richer and I am able to bring them to whatever texture I need them to be.

I am also interested in trying the new Cobra wso’s, got my sample but waiting to use….the tube seems a little thin/flimsy. I hope the larger tubes aren’t as thin/flimsy. I did open it and it seem a little thinner like the Lukas brand, but will have to see when I use it -- not sure if there is enough to get a good reading how it paints? Will see when tried.

Hello, Solley -- I have only one tube of the Holbein (Duo) oils and I do like it very much, they are very expensive though--- but the color does seem richer and the body of the paint is very nice and consistent in texture -- I love the one I have, just wish they weren't sooo expensive, but I guess you get what you pay for.

I use W&N Artisan because they are the most readily available and they are reasonably priced. They also have the 2 series of colours, so the true cads and so on are available if you want them. Maybe they aren't listed as artist grade, but they are above student grade and I like their consistency. The only other wso paints I've tried is Lukas Berlin and I find them too greasy and not as nice to work with. I've decided to try as many of the other brands as I can, so I can make a more informed judgement on the comparative quality of the paints. Yesterday I bought a selection of Van Gogh H2Oils. I bought zinc white, azo yellow medium, Indian yellow, carmine deep, and cobalt blue. I'll let you know what I think of these in a few days.

I just painted a color chart with my new Cobra WMOs. I'm definitely sticking with them. They feel and look just like my old Rembrandt regular oil paints--very creamy. They don't feel as sticky to me as the W/N Artisans, and they aren't as oily as the Lukas Berlin. The Cobras stay together better than the Lukas Berlin. Well, I'm EXCITED, EXCITED, EXCITED. I don't think I'll need to try any other brands.

Dayle

Crystal1 wrote:

I just painted a color chart with my new Cobra WMOs. I'm definitely sticking with them. They feel and look just like my old Rembrandt regular oil paints--very creamy. They don't feel as sticky to me as the W/N Artisans, and they aren't as oily as the Lukas Berlin. The Cobras stay together better than the Lukas Berlin. Well, I'm EXCITED, EXCITED, EXCITED. I don't think I'll need to try any other brands.

Dayle

Excellent I can't wait to buy a starter set!

K-

Janet, I guess we are going to have to add Cobra to our poll list.
Judy

Quote :

The local art store that instructors at that school recommend only
carries W&N brands. Thus I've concluded that the negative attitudes
may be resulting from the stiffness

Sholly,

That also is true of the art store on Campus here in Canton, NY. Until the schools get teachers that have experience with WSO's, the prejudice will remain. I eliminate the stiff of the WN ( more priced for student budgets) by using walnut oil. They still clean up with soap and water and are as creamy as I want them to be. If the teachers only understood that, it would help in the transition. Many schools are no longer teaching oils because of the toxic solvent and disposal problems.

Judy

Sofie: The Van Gogh H2Oils and Cobra WMOs are both made by Royal Talens. My understanding is that they will be discontinuing the Van Gogh H2Oils. I'm not positive if that is true, since it didn't come from Royal Talens. I guess that if you like them, you could pick up a lot on sale soon. Just hope it works out good for you.
Dayle

Hi Dayle - I noticed they were made by the same company and wondered about that. I thought maybe the H2Oils were student grade and the Cobras a higher grade. I haven't seen the Cobras offered in any stores here yet.

I'm back to report on my Van Gogh H2Os. Just to establish where I'm coming from, I wasn't an oil painter before switching to WSOs - I painted for years with acrylics. I cannot compare these paints to regular oils - I can only compare them to W&N Artisans.

When I opened the VG H2O tubes, there was a lot of excess oil that came out with the paint. After using the colours on 3-4 paintings, there is still a bit of this going on. I don't know if this is normal or expected, but I've never had it with the artisans. The VG H2O paints are very soft and the colours I bought are all transparent or semi-transparent, so I had to use a lot to get good coverage. I had to leave areas to dry a bit and go back to, just in order to get coverage. Not good for alla prima work. For some of my greens I had to use my artisan cad yellow with the VG cobalt to get more thickness (or an artisan blue with the VG yellow). I was painting in a situation where i needed to keep going so it was a good thing that I had two good sized paintings to work on.

I really liked the VG zinc white. Though it had a lot of yellowish oil exuding from it every time I put more paint on the pallette, it had a thicker consistency than the colours, and mixed and went on nicely. I also like the Indian yellow - it worked well in a lot of the colour mizing I did.

I will be able to use all the colours I bought, but these paints would not be my first choice. I like paint with more body. I also think I'll use these tubes up much quicker than the artisans because you have to use so much more to get the desired effect. If you like painting in thin coats, they might be a good choice, but for painters that like to slap it on thick, they're not ideal at all.

Good report Sophie. I've never used them, but sounds like they wouldn't be a choice for me. I like the thicker paints that I can thin with the walnut oil to any consistency I want. Thanks for the info.
Judy

I primarily use Grumbacher Max. I find Holbein a bit too expensive and though they have a lot of colors, not enough. The reds for instance are not Cadmium Lt. and Cadmium Med. like Grumbacher and the reds they have do not look like these colors that I use all the time. I was doing a painting with Max and ran out of ultramarine blue. I bought a tube, twice the price of Holbein and that part of the painting had a much shinier look than the rest of it. I had to remove the paint and repaint when I got another tube of Max. I have had the same problem with Artisan, unless I am mixing two or more colors together to overpower the shine of the Artisan. For this reason I am going to stick to Max. I like this brand a lot and it doesn't break you. I am selling my Artisan paints. I have 8 full tubes and others of varying degrees of paint used. If anyone is interested, I will send you a list, half price what I paid from Jerry's catalog. I use Linseed Oil made for Grumbacher Max and it works great. Terry

Hi Terry,
Welcome back. Thanks for the input. I've never tried Max but it sounds like you are very satisfied with them. I have mainly Artisan, but once I started using a little walnut with them, they were perfect for me. I don't tolerate the linseed oil, even the WM kind. It bothers my breathing.

You've probably noticed that we have grown quite a bit since you first signed up a year ago. Hope you find lots of info that interests you.

Judy

I had forgotten all about this site. Glad I stumbled upon it again. It has grown a lot and I am enjoying reading all the posts. Maybe someone will buy my Artisan paint so I can buy more Max. I like the Artisan. I just find that it is better to stick to one brand and I have more Max than I do Artisan. I might have missed a post somewhere, but where do you buy the walnut oil. I would like to try it. Terry

I just got back from France. In the grocery store there I got a nice big bottle of walnut oil. You might find it in the stores here, otherwise the best prices for the ones in bottles for artists are found at Art Supply Warehouse (ASW) and Jerry's Artarama. They are owned by 2 brothers that have mail-order art supply companies with about any art supply imaginable at deeply discounted prices. I buy all my paint, etc. from them. ASW has the best fixed price on shipping. If you sign up with them online or through Facebook you'll get emails about their discounts and specials.

Art supply stores carry it, Usually M. Graham. I have people tell me that they just buy it in the grocery store or health food store. A Graham representative did a demo at the art store in Tucson where I teach and he told people it was pure enough to use on a salad. I think I'll just use it in my paint.

Judy

Walnut oil is sold in stores to be used in salads, and I already have! It's good for the brain, so that makes me want to use it! I got some to eat and a bottle to paint with.

By the way - in the survey of which paint we use, I know I checked Holbein Duo - and I remember that a lot of other people did too, but why does it now say "O"? Why?

Looks like the survey got mixed up--I can't imagine that 10 percent use Reeves either. I know that they recently added Cobra to the list.
Dayle