Since they were first produced in 1982, Michael Harding oil paints have earned a reputation for being among the finest oil paints available to artists today. Michael Harding’s past as an artist, and his love of the Old Masters, inspired him to create oil paints that are free from fillers, extenders, and driers – allowing the unique characteristics of each pigment to shine through.
Tubes of Michael Harding oil colour, from 1982 to present day (left to right). The first tubes were under the name ‘Tunbridge Wells Artist Paints’.
We invited Michael Harding to join us in the Jackson’s studio and share his expertise. In part one , he discusses his journey as a paint-maker, and how the materials of the Old Masters have inspired him.
In part two of our conversation, he shares some of his favourite pigments, and tells us why the fat-over-lean rule is so important in oil painting.
In part three, Michael Harding talks about his new range of acrylic primers for oil painting, and the highly anticipated release of his watercolour range.
You can find the whole range of Michael Harding colours here.
I love this beautiful story as much as I love
his oil colors.
Great paints, but sounds like a tall story!
Dear Sasha,
If you would like to be specific about
the detail you doubt I am sure I can
clarify.
Michael
Hi it’s nice to see an artists developing his
own colours which are rich and vibrant
Thank you, Michael for your time and expertise. I’m
particularly looking to forward to trying the watercolours.
My favourite ‘mass produced’ paints. However it seems
obvious that Michael Harding adds a small amount of wax
to his paints, which gives them a matt appearance. I think
people should know this before buying as it is not to
everyone’s taste. Also his paints are like most commercial
paints as they are soft and buttery. Apart from the stack
lead they don’t have the ‘ropey’ attributes of hand made
paints, so very unlike Rembrandt in that sense.
Hi Sarah
I use them and find they vary in softness depending on the pigment, but that they so tend towards soft, so that you don’t need to add any mediums to get them to flow well, if you don’t want to. I find most colours to be glossy, not matt. I understand that some colours such as Ultramarine Blue require 2% warm wax added, or something like that, to not separate in the tube. Each pigment has different requirements.
Learnt more in 15 mins than in years. Thank you. Going to handle
the tubes now to see if I get the weight ratio. It will solve a lot of
problems.