When creating their Artists’ Oil Colours, Gamblin were mindful, not only of how an artist works, but also of an artist’s working environment. Gamblin Artists’ Oils have the best qualities of traditionally made oils paints, combined with the latest technical innovations, to give the ultimate working properties. The Artists’ Oil range spans from historically accurate paints to modern, synthetically derived hues.

Gamblin Artists’ Oil paints are made with the finest grades of pigments available and are completely non-toxic. Most of the oils in the range are made with alkali-refined linseed oil binder and the others with a safflower oil binder. Compared with cold press linseed oil (a traditional oil paint binder), alkali-refined linseed oil yellows significantly less whilst also creating a strong, flexible paint film. Not only are both the vegetable oils used in Gamblin Artists’ Oils completely non-toxic, but they are commonly used in health and beauty products, so their safety for use in paints is of no concern.

No solvents are needed to paint with Gamblin Artists’ Oil Colours; they can be thinned with small amounts of Gamblin Refined Linseed Oil. Brushes dirty with the oils can be cleaned by simply wiping away excess paint, working with a little Gamblin Refined Linseed Oil, and then rinsing with a brush cleaner or water and soap.

The Gamblin Artists’ Oil Colour range is made up of two different types of paints: the ‘mineral inorganic colour’ selection and the ‘modern organic colour’ selection.

Mineral Inorganic Colours

The Gamblin ‘mineral inorganic colours’ are made from metals such as cadmium, cobalt, iron and are similar to the colours used by Impressionist, Classical and Renaissance painters. These oil colours have high pigment load and low oil absorption. The colours easily grey-down in mixtures and are excellent for painting natural colours and light. The ‘mineral inorganic colour’ selection is composed of mainly opaque paints with a few semi-transparent and transparent colours.

Modern Organic Colours

The Gamblin ‘modern organic colours’ are made from organic carbon based pigments and are similar to those used by 20th century artists. Most of these paint pigments are available in a warm and cool version (e.g. Phthalo Green, Phthalo Emerald). Gamblin organic colours are the best choice for high key painting and bright tints. The ‘modern organic colour’ selection is composed of mainly transparent paints with some semi-transparent colours

While most ranges of oil paint contain two or three whites, Gamblin produce ten: nine from their Artist Oil Range plus one FastMatte White Alkyd Oil Paint. For more information about the different white paints produced by Gamblin, please see our comparison article on the Jackson’s Blog.