3 Review(s)

Winsor & Newton Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colours are magnificently designed to look and work just like traditional oil paint. The key difference between Artisan and conventional oils is its ability to thin and clean up with water. Artists using conventional oil colour will require the use of solvents such as turpentine or white spirit (mineral spirits), Artisan on the other hand can be thinned with water for painting and all brushes and equipment cleaned up with soap and water only; the use of hazardous solvents is not necessary. As a result, artists can enjoy a safer painting environment making it ideal for artists who share a workspace, schools or painting at home.Like traditional oil colour, Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour is made from linseed oil and safflower oil. The only difference is the linseed oil and safflower oil used in Artisan have been modified so that they will mix and clean up with water. The depth of colour, buttery consistency, light fastness, opacity/transparency, performance and drying times of Artisan, allow artists to use this range for all oil colour techniques.A wide variety of pigments are used in Artisan to provide all the characteristics expected from a Winsor & Newton oil colour. High pigment strength provides good covering power, which is the ability of a pigment to either go a long way or cover previous layers. Single pigments provide brilliance of colour and clean colour mixing. There are 25 single pigment colours in the range.As with conventional oil colours, the paint film will be touch dry in 2 -12 days, but different colours will dry at different rates due to the varying reaction of each pigment when mixed with oil. Winsor & Newton formulate each colour individually to optimise the overall drying rates of Artisan, helping artists to avoid the problems of slow drying under layers.