The Paintings

Oil-Paints

Depending on the style, complexity or request of the customer, we use the finest imported oils available in the market, such as Blockx and Winsor & Newton. Since its inception in 1832, Winsor & Newton has been manufacturing “The World’s Finest Art Materials.” Winsor & Newton have built their reputation on the quality and reliability of their products, combined with continual product development, improvement and innovation. Winsor & Newton paints are used only under special requests.

Founded in 1865 by Jacques Blockx I, Blockx has been recognized worldwide for its extra-fine oil colors. Five generations of renowned chemists and colorists have been working to perfect the Blockx color varietals. Today, Blockx perpetuates the tradition and offers the best quality products to artists.

Oil paint is essentially one or more pigments combined with a binder (the oil) and a thinner (such as turpentine). The oil functions as a carrier to hold and apply the pigments, while the thinner makes the paints easier to apply to surfaces with a brush. Linseed oil is the most popular oil in these artistic paints because it dries faster and provides more flexibility than other oils, such as walnut or safflower.

• Advantage: Time
  Oil paints take longer to dry than other paints, such as watercolors. This provides more time for artists to work with their creations and make changes.
• Advantage: Color Depth and Range
  Oil paints provide for a wide range of colors and a rich color depth, as they can be layered and mixed more freely than other paints, such as watercolor or acrylics. Artists can subtly change the richness and tone of their colors by adding minute amounts of other colors, for instance. This is partially true because oil paints take longer to dry.
• Advantage: Varied Applications
  Oil paints can be applied to surfaces in a greater variety of ways than other paints. Oil paints can be made into thin glazes or thick impastos, according to the Encyclopedia of Irish and World Art: 2010.
• Advantage: Range of Finishes and Effects
  Oil paints can be mixed to appear opaque, transparent or anything in between, as well as have a matte or gloss finish or anything in between.
• Advantage: Consistency
  Oil paints do not noticeably change in color, texture or finish once dried. This makes it easier for artists to predict what the finished creation will look like compared to other paints (such as watercolors) that can change their appearance after drying.

The Canvas

Primed cotton canvases are the traditional and most commonly used canvases for oil paintings. They are good for stability and offer proven longevity and a surface that will not flex. Their range consists of carefully selected and prepared stretched cotton to ensure outstanding quality, making the range more comprehensive and thus ideal for heavy application of color. Their surface has been triple coated, consisting of two different coats of highly pigmented primer and one coat of acid free titanium gesso sizing.

Linen canvases are the highest quality canvases available. Our medium grain canvases are made from 100% traditional linen cloth and are the preferred surface for professional artists. It is ideal for all techniques, including heavier applications of colors. They are primed with two coats of highly pigmented primer. The primers are perfectly balanced in terms of their absorbency and tooth essential for preventing the sinking of oil colors, and thereby improving its adhesion rate. Linen canvases are used only under special requests.

Brushes

As cheaper brushes shed their hair, we only use the best available brands - The Escoda family is known for crafting some of the finest brushes available. The Optimo series is a long handle brush made from a 50/50 blend of the finest male and female kolinsky sable hair to achieve the optimal results.

If you’re an oil painter you know that there are a lot of oil painting brushes available to choose from - big, small, square, angled, and everything in between.

In the image above, you can see several common types of artist’s paintbrushes: Round, Flat, Bright, Filbert, Fan, Angle, Mop, and Rigger. Besides the differences in shape, some brushes use synthetic fibers, some use natural hair, and some paintbrushes have a blend of both. Of course, each of those different types of paintbrushes come in several sizes. Some - like the Rigger - are around the size of a pencil tip, while others can be almost as large as a typical house painting brush. When it comes to synthetic versus natural, oil painting requires natural hogs hair brushes. Synthetic fibers are great for watercolor or inking, and can be used with acrylics occasionally, but they just aren’t tough enough to handle oil paint.

Each oil painting comes with a Certificate of Authenticity

Real Oil, Real Brushes, Real Artists, Real Art. The certificate of Authenticity which arrives with every painting provides an assurance and verifies the authenticity of the hand painted fine art reproduction you purchased. Each oil painting is created by hand using only the finest canvas and oil paints available.