Watercolorists are particularly sensitive to issues of lightfastness, and for good reason. Even when framed behind glass, watercolors are still vulnerable to fading because the pigments are very exposed to UV radiation and often used in dilute and delicate washes. Since launching QoR we have received many questions on why some of our colors have … Read more
Home>Watercolors > QoR® Watercolor Questions: Labeling and Lightfastness Ratings
About Sarah Sands
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Sarah Sands
From the very beginning, oil painters have used mediums to extend, modify, tweak and transform their paint in one way or another. These have run the gamut from the simple use of solvents when creating an initial wash to much more complex concoctions and recipes that involve the blending of various oils, resins, balsams, and … Read more
Recently we set about testing a variety of solutions for what has been a constant problem: preventing a can of paint from forming a skin, especially when stored for months or even years at a time. Plastic wrap pressed against the surface definitely worked, but also created a mess when being removed, while anti-skinning sprays … Read more
The evidence was undeniable as our eyes swung slowly across the drawdowns that spread out before us. The handful of initial colors ground in every possible combination of oil all pointed to a similar conclusion: there was something here that simply could not be ignored. The clarity of the colors was exceptional and in some … Read more
It’s all about a fear of water, the art of levitation, and the fact that size matters. From there it’s just an issue of context. Down one path are tales of summer pool parties and magic shows; down the other a world of pigment particles coaxed into fluid paint. Considering we are about to pull … Read more
It started innocently enough, the email slipping silently into the queue of our Inbox: “I was just wondering,” wrote the customer, “if there has been any thought of making a range of Munsell Neutral Grays in oil paints, similar to the ones in GOLDEN acrylics? I’m not holding my breath but this would be fantastic.”So … Read more
From the beginning Williamsburg was always known as a ‘painter’s paint.’ Partly it was because the founder of the company, Carl Plansky, was first and foremost a painter by both temperament and training. Everything he made was infused with a painter’s sense of touch and passion for color. The hours spent over a mill or … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE (6/6/23): Please note the statement saying “…the sample ended up doing no better than our standard Williamsburg Titanium White, which contains no drier whatsoever,” was true at the time of publishing, but in 2012, a formula change occurred so the statement needs to be edited for accuracy. Therefore, the statement should now read … Read more
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With a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor, ASTM members often declare that its well-known acronym actually stands for “Awfully Slow and Tedious Method,” and if gauged simply from the standpoint of the time it takes to complete a Standard, one can see their point. The ASTM Standard for Acrylic Dispersion Grounds started 7 years ago, … Read more
It all comes down to stresses and strains of one sort or another. Almost everything about an oil painting will swell and contract, stiffen and flow, in response to the environment or physical handling. To make matters worse, the degree and nature of these changes will themselves change over time as the various materials undergo … Read more
