artist oil paint clours

[Wayne Jones]

Hi, I'm a budding artist. I'm taking a landscape oil painting course and
there are many confusing colours for the tubes of oil paints.

Does anyone have an illustration , or know of a web site, which shows the
colour for each of the various artist's colours such as cobalt blue,
alizarin crimson, prussian blue, burnt sienna, burnt umber, raw umber,
yellow ochre etc etc

thanks

Wayne Jones in Ottawa, Canada

Ps: Yes, that's how we Canucks spell the word 'colour' (grin)

[Pat Strong]

Wayne Jones wrote:

Most of the colors you just named are named for the mineral or pigment that is
used (or was traditionally used) to make them. They are somewhat standard
though they vary some by manufacturer, and if you go to the artists' paint
store, you can get a brochure from each of them with pretty good renditions of
the colors. Most of us who have painted for a while, know the difference
between a burnt and a raw umber.... the pigments were processed differently
back in the day. Anything you find online will be affected by the monitor and
your settings. There is no way to be sure that the colors you see on your
screen are very like the actual color in the tubes.

A really good book you should check out, if you are serious about learning
about oil color, is The Artist's Handbook. It is the standard, as far as I am
concerned. You will find out the old master formulas as well has get some
info on the latest developments in artist's media, if you get the latest
edition. It is updated every year or so, but an old one is just as
interesting as a new one if you are not interested in interference colors or
such.

Happy painting!

Pat