Michael Harding : Oil Paint : 40ml : Genuine Naples Yellow Dark S6

Michael Harding paints are made by hand, using techniques which date back to the days of the Old Masters. Harding will not claim that his paints will turn you into a great painter, but he does promise they will have a profound effect on your work. Your colors will be stronger and richer, and you will find the texture of the paint incomparable. You will love working with them.

This is a darker counterpart of the two Lead Antimoniate (Genuine Naples Light & Dark), which is closer to the shade offered by makers in more recent times before all manufacturers, except Michael Harding, decided to replace the genuine pigment with not very accurate substitute blends. A classic shade, good for low flesh undertones.

Lead Antimoniate, in genuine versions, appears to have been used as a pigment since the 5th century B.C. and has been manufactured since the 1400’s. Being one of the most relied-upon colors and in constant demand, Michael Harding is one of a few colormen left making the genuine article. I continue to do so because its warm, dense, almost ochre yellow cannot be mimicked, as portraitists and figure painters will attest. It is more powerful and yet more muted than its equivalents among the Cadmium range. Its handling characteristics are incomparable. Because it tends to react when parsed with steel rollers, Michael Harding still grind it with stone.

This is a 40ml tube of Michael Harding Oil Paint in Genuine Naples Yellow Dark.