Our whites and blacks in oil paints

Transparent Black

Transparent Black enables the artist to mix glowing, vibrant darks without the overpowering effect of Lamp or Ivory blacks. On its own Transparent Black is a neutral black with a mid grey undertone, as distinct from the cool undertone of Lamp Black and the warmth of Ivory Black.

BWS8, Permanence ****

Ivory Black

A semi transparent black with a warm undertone. By far the most widely used and popular black today.

ASTM1, Permanence ****

Lamp Black

The most opaque and blackest black. Lamp Black is a cool, very slow drying black with a slightly blue undertone. Please note that Lamp Black will appear blacker than can be registered in this colour swatch.

ASTM1, Permanence ****

Zinc White

Simply unbeatable as a mixing white because of the subtle luminous results when mixed with colours. Being one third the opacity of Titanium White, it allows stronger, translucent tints to be mixed. It can also be used for subtle glazing effects; a pin head of zinc added to each colour layer will identify that colour within multiple layers of glaze.

ASTM1

Permanence ****

Titanium White

Titanium is extremely opaque and is the whitest of all whites. Its covering power and resistance to yellowing makes it a popular choice where areas of pure white colour are needed. In mixes it produces opaque, more pastel shades, as distinct from the more luminous results obtained with Zinc White. Titanium White contains a small amount of PW4 to ensure useability for the artist.

ASTM1

Permanence ****

Titanium White #2

Formulated with more pigment and less oil than our standard Titanium, the Titanium # 2 is milled for long periods which results in an extremely heavy bodied paint. It is an exceptionally opaque and brilliant white, and because of the heavy body and lower oil content is ideal for impasto work, and a useful replacement for the toxic flake white (lead white).

ASTM1

Permanence ****

Underpainting White

A fast drying oil-resin white ideal for priming and under painting. Straight from the tube it has a soft, cottage cheese like consistency which becomes smooth when brushed out or worked with a palette knife. Underpainting white dries in around half the time of other whites.

Permanence ****

ASTM1           

Oil Paint ratings explained

Lightfastness refers to how much colours are subject to fade with exposure to light over time.

ASTM refers to the American Society for Testing Materials. Oil Paints are rated as Class I through to Class V, with Class I being the most lightfast.

BWS refers to Blue Wool Scale, a lightfastness rating system of 1 to 8, with 7 and 8 being the highest (and thus equivalent to ASTMI).

Create your own Colourfix Paper background shades

Did you know you can create your own pastel background colour by using Colourfix Primer?

Simply apply the Colourfix Primer of your choice to paper (300gsm or heavier) or canvas, board, timber ... (there is a whole range of clean, dry surfaces this primer will adhere to). Each colour in the standard Colourfix range is available (as well as a clear, extra-textured 'Supertooth'), but you can also mix them together or tint them with Art Spectrum Gouache or Artists' Ink to make your own customised Colourfix paper.

The primer can also restore your original background colour during, or at the end of, the painting process. For example, see Donna's tips on using Colourfix Primer to correct errors:
http://artstretchers.blogspot.com/2010/06/donnas-tips-on-using-colourfix-papers.html

So now you can make your own coloured pastel paper, perfectly matched to your palette!

Art Spectrum celebrates its 45th year!

In 2011 Art Spectrum celebrates its 45^th year!

 The first tube of Art Spectrum paint was produced in 1966 when the business was running out of the studio of artist and founder David Keys. It was initially an artists’ co-op created to import high quality linen at affordable prices. Now Art Spectrum paints and papers are sold around the world. Art Spectrum remains a family company with David, his wife Gay and their son David still running the business.

Artist Maria Paterson on Art Spectrum dark pastels

Artist Maria Paterson has written a post on her blog about our dark pastels:
http://treasuresfromthesculpturecupboard.blogspot.com/2011/01/pastel-darks.html

Below is a painting of hers using Art Spectrum pastels.
Three boys  pastel on paper  45cm x 55cm

An introduction to Art Spectrum Varnishes

Varnish is used on a fully dried oil painting to even out the gloss of the paint and to protect it from dust and other contaminants. Please note that it may take between six months and a year (or more) for an oil painting to completely dry, depending on a range of factors such as climate and the thickness of paint application.

If the painting becomes dirty or yellowed over time, the varnish may be carefully removed with an appropriate solvent then new varnish applied – thus preserving the colours of the original painting. Often a conservator is employed for this purpose.

Picture varnish should never be used during painting as a medium, as any attempt to clean off the surface in future may result in paint being removed. Conversely, care should be taken never to use a medium as a varnish. For a simple introduction to the proper use of mediums please see our mediums page. Usually the longest lasting paintings are based on simple and time-tested techniques. Beware of faulty techniques in oil painting, as it can take a long time for problems to develop in the surface of your painting. Always use varnish in a well-ventilated area and carefully follow safety instructions.

Our range of varnishes includes:

Damar Varnish

Damar Varnish is a traditional gloss final varnish for oil and alkyd paintings. Also used in making some painting mediums. Remove carefully with Gum Turpentine. Damar Crystals are also available.

Artists’ Gloss Varnish (formerly called Paraloid Varnish)

A high gloss, non-yellowing acrylic varnish. Remove carefully with a small amount of methylated spirits on a lint-free cloth.

Retouch Varnish

A fast-drying, touch-up varnish. A thin coat restores luminosity to dull areas to aid colour matching. Used as a sealer for painting grounds if the surface is too porous. Must be dry before overpainting. Retouch Varnish is sometimes thinly applied as a temporary picture varnish for works that are touch dry but not fully dry enough for a final varnish. Remove carefully with Mineral Turpentine.

Matt Wax Varnish

A satin matt varnish made from beeswax and natural resin. Can be rubbed and buffed to a sheen with a lint-free cloth. Use Gum Turpentine as solvent.

pastels, pastels, pastels! (Margaret Evans workshop and the final instalment of our pastel sets description)

Margaret Evans has just been from one end of Australia to the other - sharing her knowledge of pastels. It's been a great opportunity for pastellists to extend their technique and understanding. It's also given us the pleasure of seeing artists enjoying Art Spectrum Pastels, Colourfix and Colourfix Suede! There have been some glowing reports on the workshops and a rumour that Margaret may return in 2012.

The photo was kindly provided by Nina Poulton of the South Coast Pastel Society, NSW.

Find out more about Margaret Evans at http://www.shinafoot.co.uk/

And to complete the final instalment of our pastel sets information... Our Deluxe Pastel box includes no less than 154 colours (our complete range of standard pastels). The pastels are protected by six foam trays in an elegant, dark wooden box with sliding lid. If you are very serious about your pastels, this may just be the set for you. 

Margaret Cowling on a favourite AS watercolour: Tasman Blue

Tasman Blue - some say it's opaque, but so what? It can be, but it depends what you do with it. It's bold as a saturated colour, a sweet, joyous mid and a warm blue. It can dilute down to the finest suggestion, in fact a veil. I love to glaze a Tas Blue veil across an area - figure, still life, land or seascape - that mood change is magic.

Margaret Cowling.

Margaret Cowling is an Australian artist who has had a long and wonderful association with the Art Spectrum company.  

You can find out more about Margaret here

And view one of her painting galleries here

guide to Art Spectrum pastel sets part two of three!

We have so many sets we've had to break them up. Please click on images to see photos full-size. The site has decided to be extra colourful and put this text in blue ... 

Of course, many artists prefer to make up their own collections of colours, but if you are not sure where to start, or would like the convenience of a lovely range of colours already selected for you, you will really enjoy these sets.

Sets of thirty pastels: 'Assorted', 'Darks' (a collection of our darkest colours - N's and D's with some vibrant P's amongst them - please see link to our pastel page for tint names), 'Flowers' (as vibrant as you would expect), 'Landscape', 'Portrait' and 'Seascape' (a lovely seascape set, dominated by blues and greens, while not forgetting some very useful sand colours).

Set of thirty Jumbo pastels: An assorted set of our large, studio pastels (below). Popular with those who really churn through their pastels in the studio - but also for very discerning street artists.

Set of sixty in a wooden box (increasingly luxurious).

Set of 120 in a wooden box - an absolutely beautiful colour range (surpassed only by our Deluxe set - but that's for the next post).

If you are interested in any of these sets, please contact your nearest retail stockist of Art Spectrum products. You can find your nearest stockist by speaking to the distributor for your country or state.

Our full pastel colour chart is provided here. You can also find a list of our pastel pigments here.

Please note that individual colours in sets may change due to availability.

guide to Art Spectrum pastel sets part one of three!

Complimenting our Colourfix papers (and vice versa) is the Art Spectrum pastel range. Every pastel in our range is available individually but we also have a useful series of pastel sets - wonderful as a Christmas gift for the keen pastellist (or simply as a gift to yourself!).

6ix Packs - sets of six related colours: 'Lightest Lights', 'Fiery Warms', 'Red Wine 'n' Roses', 'Blues 'n' Violets', 'Moody Blues', 'Winter Greens', 'Summer Greens', 'Autumn Earths', 'Rich Earths', 'Stone Tones', 'Darkest Darks', 'Extra Soft Cool Tints', 'Extra Soft Warm Tints' and 'Black, White and Between' (excellent for life drawing).

Boxed Sets of 12: set of 12 'Life Drawing' (a wonderful life drawing set including white, black, greys and some earths - pictured below - someone's been using this set!) or a set of 12 'Grey Tonal' (a range of cool and warm greys, plus black and white).

Boxed Sets of 15: 'Assorted' (a great range of colours to start with), 'Landscape' (a lovely range of violets, blues, greens, earths and red and grey), 'Portrait' and 'Darks'.

Next post: Sets of 30, 60 and 120. And later: our wonderful Deluxe Pastel Set.

Please note that individual colours in sets may change due to availability.

If you are interested in any of these sets, please contact your nearest retail stockist of Art Spectrum products. You can find your nearest stockist by speaking to the distributor for your country or state.
Our full pastel colour chart is provided here. You can also find a list of our pastel pigments here.

the colourfix suede colour range

For those who were wondering about this picture in our first Suede post, the colours from left to right are Tasman Sky, Outback Blush, Brown Paper Bag (a neutral brown, by popular request), Jacaranda, Kalangadoo (it's a South Australian town!), White Suede, Black Suede and Kangaroo Grey.

art spectrum painting knives

Art Spectrum Painting Knives are sensitive, flexible steel blades designed for applying paint directly to the canvas. The cranked handles keep your hand well clear of wet paint. Three out of the full range of eighteen are shown below: 1087, 1006 (left-handed) and 1081.

If you're feeling experimental you might like to try our new Steel Brushes line of ten painting knives (pictured below is knife 1201). There's an intriguing range of shapes in very flexible carbon steel with bubinga handles.

If you'd like to find out more, please ask your nearest stockist of Art Spectrum products for more details.

Happy painting!

mixed media with art spectrum

One of the joys of being an artist comes from experimenting!  Here are some mixed media experiments by artist John Burge, using Art Spectrum products (click to see larger images).

A mixture of Art Spectrum Watercolour, Colourfix, sand and eggshells.

Watercolour with gladwrap and watercolour with rock salt on Colourfix paper.

Please note that adding different media may have an impact on the longevity of your artwork.
Happy painting!

NEW! Gouache Primary Mixing Set

The colours in this set have been chosen for use in colour mixing theory and practice. The three primary colours (sometimes referred to as 'process colours') are made from pigments that produce a range of clean, bright secondary colours. For example, Primary Blue and Primary Yellow can produce beautiful greens ranging from cool and dark to warm and light. The Black and White in the set can be used to mix a range of greys for tonal values, as well as to modify the primary colours. This set contains one 15ml tube each of Primary Blue, Primary Yellow, Primary Red, Black and White.

For more information on our Gouache, please visit our website.

september - special offer!

Purchase any three 40ml tubes of Art Spectrum Oil Colours and receive a free 40ml tube of quick-drying Glazing Gel. Glazing Gel increases the transparency of oil paints. It is thicker and more gel-like than Liquol (also an alkyd resin medium), allowing the artist to paint with a light impasto while retaining textural brush strokes.  It may also be used (like Liquol) for thin, transparent glazes.

Apologies to international artists - this particular offer is only valid at participating retailers within Australia (ask at your local art store!).
This offer will continue throughout September, or until stocks run out.
For more details please go to: september offer

Congratulations to our winners!

Congratulations to our lucky competition winners! They have each won an Art Spectrum Artists' Watercolour Pad.
Be sure to check back here on September 1 to see our next special offer to artists (within Australia).

The competition winners are as follows:
B. Heiss of Orbost, VIC
D. Drilling of Coromandel Valley, SA
A. Timbs of Brightwaters, NSW
Y. Court of Terang, VIC
M. MacPherson of Belconnen, ACT,
A. Read of Cawarral, QLD
J. Hyland of Geelong, VIC
S. Cusack of Tarragindi, QLD
P. Liosatos of Shailer Park, QLD
P. and J. Edwards
L. McDermott of Bundoora, VIC
V. Riggs of Bathurst, NSW
L. Corbett of Goonellabah, NSW
F. Wallace of Palmerston, NT
L. Jupp of Perth, WA
M. Mitton of Keith, SA
R. Warman of St Andrews Beach, VIC
B. Whiteley of Wattle Grove, TAS
E. Diprose of Carters Ridge, QLD
D. Harris of Duncraig, WA

Your prizes will be sent out to you as soon as possible. We hope you enjoy using your lovely new watercolour paper.

Liquid Spectrum - label artwork

You may have noticed the wonderful labels for our Liquid Spectrum Inks. They are by Australian artist John Burge. We thought you might enjoy a closer look at them. And, of course, John used Liquid Spectrum to create these images ...

You can find out more about Liquid Spectrum Artists' Ink here

NEW! Colourfix Suede

A new, softer version of Colourfix paper. Like the orginal Colourfix, Colourfix Suede is an archival quality surface suitable for use with pastels, charcoal, pencils, inks, acrylics, gouache and watercolours. Silverpoint artists might also like to experiment with white Colourfix Suede.

The paper's surface is less abrasive than regular Colourfix but is still able to hold multiple layers of pastel with its softer tooth. The base paper is a 500gsm hot press watercolour paper that provides a rigid support for painting.

Available in 8 colours and two sizes: White Suede, Black Suede, Jacaranda, Kangaroo Grey, Brown Paper Bag, Tasman Sky, Kalangadoo and Outback Blush. Assorted packs also available. Sizes: 19" x 27" and 14" by 18".

shoes for the moscow circus

What book about Australian craftsmanship would be complete without a chapter on Art Spectrum paints??

"Shoes for the Moscow Circus is an atmospheric, lyrical look behind the scenes of a number of Australian trades and industries, many of which are fast disappearing in the modern world. Arts writer Leta Keens, with photographer Oliver Strewe, visited more than 25 factories and workshops - including an umbrella maker and a cricket ball factory, a taxidermist and a bicycle maker, a tannery and a doll's hospital - and discovered far more than simply the history and processes involved in these trades."

Above is one of the beautiful photos Oliver Strewe took at our factory. It shows our oil paint after the milling process - ready to go into tubes and onto your canvas!

thoughts about art

'I know that to paint the sea really well, you need to look at it every hour of every day in the same place so that you can understand its way in that particular spot.' (Monet)

'Painting is easy when you don't know how but very difficult when you do.' (Degas)

'Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.' (Picasso)

replacements for 'fugitive' colours - watercolour

The Art Spectrum watercolour range consists largely of beautiful traditional pigments, but we have also included lightfast, permanent replacements for fugitive colours such as Alizarin Crimson - now called 'Permanent Crimson, Alizarin Hue'. ('Fugitive' colours may look fine at first, but will gradually fade to dullness over time).

Here's a small extract from Pip Seymour's review of Art Spectrum colours, where he discusses these 'hues' (from the English magazine The Artist).

'We often dismiss this pigment group simply because they are modern and "synthetic". However, I would urge you to think again, especially when working with the Art Spectrum watercolours. I found that I could make all the colour mixing and dilutions into subtle washes required but noticed that the colour strength is superior and the colour brilliance exceptional. Their Rose Madder (permanent hue) has the same soft edge as the traditional pigment, but as a paint it seems to carry the colour a long, long way, making large scale washes with minimal paint. The fact that their version of Rose Madder is durable and lightfast is another plus and a significant improvement to natural rose madder pigment. In a similar fashion, Art Spectrum have provided a permanent replacement for Alizarin Crimson, the bete noir of watercolour painters! The whole range begs exploration ...'

P. Seymour (author of The Artist's Handbook)

Please see our watercolour page at artspectrum.com for details on the lightfastness and permanence ratings of our watercolour range. Please note that improved (formerly fugitive) colours are all clearly marked with the term 'hue'.
Happy painting!