During a 2011 interview with the British newspaper The Guardian, contemporary British painter George Thomas Shaw described Payne’s Gray as “the color of English rain” (1). This simple characterization delineates the essence of a color that nearly every painter knows. And yet, most artists could not tell you who William Payne was or what pigments … Read more
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Archive | History

Imagine if you will, the scene: the artist in their studio, clothing covered in paint, standing above, next to or on top of canvas laid upon the floor, fully animated and wild broad gestures halted by short deliberate movements; using their whole body to fill the enormity of the painting surface and capturing the physical … Read more

We hope Just Paint has been a valuable resource for artists, educators, material scientists and conservators to allow us to share our research and insights on the range of products we produce. I am seizing this space to extend a personal thank you to all of you who have supported our products over all these decades. … Read more
Genuine Indian Yellow was prized for its transparency, depth of color and mixing properties with notable applications in landscape painting. Its origin was and is still, a curiosity. Recently, a 19th c. sample of Indian Yellow pigment was generously donated to Golden Artist Colors by Brian Baade, Paintings Conservator and Assistant Professor of Art Conservation … Read more
Is there a best orientation for stretching fabric and does this really make much of a difference for primed and painted canvas? Well, the general consensus is that the weft should be in the shortest dimension since it is the most reactive. But what is the weft, how can one recognize weave directions and what … Read more
Golden Artist Colors is a company that has a very clear goal of making the best artist paints possible! In a time when so many companies see how far they can reduce quality before a consumer notices, GOLDEN continues to resist this trend and make improvements wherever possible regardless of cost. Artists and conservators place … Read more
The use of Zinc Oxide in oils has been the focus of a lot of attention lately, especially around its potential to cause an increased rate and degree of embrittlement, cracking, and cleavage of oil paint films. Passionate positions have been staked out on all sides, while various studies have been cited and pored over, … Read more

Ultramarine Blue stands, and has stood for a while, in fact for years, decades, centuries, as a pillar unbroken, unmovable, not fazed by its position or status. Ultramarine Blue has enjoyed a prominent position in palettes that span from sixth and seventh century A.D. into the contemporary palette of our new QoR® Watercolor line. Such … Read more
Historically, wood panels were used for paintings long before the adoption of flexible fabric supports. Most of the earliest icons still intact from the 2nd and 3rd century as well as a large portion of the Renaissance paintings were created on solid wood panels. Many of Raphael’s paintings for example are painted on primed wood … Read more
When Sam died unexpectedly, on March 11, 1997, at the age of 82, the art world lost an extraordinary friend. Sam described his work as just simply “making tools” for artists, but those who knew him understood a great deal more went on within this inventor, entrepreneur and paint maker. He had an incredible creative … Read more