Williamsburg

Originating from the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, Williamsburg now makes over one hundred seventy artist quality oil colors in New Berlin, NY. Each color is milled in small batches to bring out the best qualities of the pigment used.

Williamsburg Handmade Oils are made by Golden Artist Colors, also known for QoR Modern Watercolors.

8-color Introductory Color Sets

8-color Introductory Color Sets Williamsburg

Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors has one of the most extensive lines of professional grade, quality oil paints. As a painter's paint, there are many things that make Williamsburg colors unique, such as milling each pigment to its own unique standard to develop the richest expression of color and undertone. Some colors feel slightly gritty; others extremely smooth. This approach preserves the range of texture oil paints had in the past. For artists seeking a convenient way to experience some of the color families within Williamsburg, they have assembled introductory sets containing eight colors in 11ml tubes, plus a 37ml tube of Titanium White. These value priced sets each include a great selection of colors that are representative of the Williamsburg paintmaking philosophy.

Alkyd Resin Williamsburg

Made from a slow-drying pure alkyd resin with the consistency of a thick Stand Oil. Dries to a glossy, flexible, and enamel-like film. Useful in making other mediums or added directly into oil paints to modify transparency and flow.

Beeswax Block Williamsburg

Beeswax makes varnishes and paints appear matte. In encaustic painting, it is used as the binding medium. It can be blended with oils, resins and diluents for use in oil painting media. A small addition to oil paint is said to slow drying and reduce yellowing, as well as improve the stability of paint and make it more suitable for impasto effects. It may also be used as a final varnish and employed in temperas.

Cold Pressed Linseed Oil

Cold Pressed Linseed Oil Williamsburg

Genuine, cold-pressed linseed extracted through pressure alone. It is less processed than alkali-refined linseed oil. It works well as a binding component for painting mediums and for production of oil colors.

Damar Crystals Williamsburg

Damar crystals can be dissolved in turpentine to make damar varnish. The crystals must be soaked in pure gum turpentine to produce traditional damar varnish, used on finished paintings as a transparent, removable high-gloss protective coating. Also useful as an ingredient in medium recipes.

Extender Medium

Extender Medium Williamsburg

This extender medium is used to extend paint without compromising original consistency. It is recommended to be used as an additive, at a maximum blending ratio of 1:1 paint to medium. It consists of marble dust and barium sulfate in linseed oil, so there is an increased tendency to yellow.

Handmade Oil Colors

Handmade Oil Colors Williamsburg

Made in small batches, Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors are recognized for being richly pigmented and dense. Each color is treated individually, with each pigment ground to the nature of that specific color, bringing out the beauty and preserving the wider range of differences that were common in the past. The line of colors is guided by tradition with a recognition for modern organic pigments. Most colors are considered to have excellent lightfastness, with the exception of Alizarin Crimson and Van Dyke Brown.

Lead Oil Ground

Lead Oil Ground Williamsburg

A traditional ground made from pure lead carbonate and enough marble dust for the desired amount of tooth and absorbency. A heavy, thick formulation.

Linseed Oil Williamsburg

A drying oil pressed from flax seeds, this genuine linseed oil forms a good, tough and resilient film.

Neutral Gray Oil Colors Set

Neutral Gray Oil Colors Set Williamsburg

The Williamsburg Neutral Gray Set, including N2, N4, N6 and N8 colors, allows artists to create full value grisaille paintings with its range from black to white. Color can then be conveniently applied to the grisaille, either full strength or as desaturated color after mixing with these grays, giving artists more control of color value throughout the painting. Williamsburg Artist Oil colors each have an assigned value that can either be maintained when that color is mixed with the corresponding value of neutral gray or shifted to a lighter or darker value.

Rabbit Skin Glue

Rabbit Skin Glue Williamsburg

Genuine rabbit skin glue. A traditional ground for oil painting. Contains no hoof or hide.

Stand Oil Williamsburg

A polymerized, heavy-body linseed oil. The oil is heated in the absence of oxygen creating a honey-like consistency. It provides good leveling with an enamel-like sheen.

Titanium Oil Ground

Titanium Oil Ground Williamsburg

A high quality oil ground that contains no lead. This soft, fine white ground is made of titanium white, marble dust and linseed oil for flexibility. It is so heavy it can be cut in half with turpentine.

Wax Medium Williamsburg

A mixture of pure beeswax, damar resin and refined linseed oil, this wax medium adds texture, body and translucency to oil paints. It can be used for glazing and impasto techniques. It does not include any paraffin or microcrystallines.

Basic Painting Sets

Basic Painting Sets Williamsburg Special Order Only

Made in small batches, Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors are recognized for being richly pigmented and dense. Each color is treated individually, with each pigment ground to the nature of that specific color, bringing out the beauty and preserving the wider range of differences that were common in the past. They are guided by a painter's eye toward tradition, as well as a recognition for the modern organic pigments.

Beeswax Pellets

Beeswax Pellets Williamsburg Warehouse Only

Beeswax makes varnishes and paints appear matte. In encaustic painting, it is used as the binding medium. It can be blended with oils, resins and diluents for use in oil painting media. A small addition to oil paint is said to slow drying and reduce yellowing, as well as improve the stability of paint and make it more suitable for impasto effects. It may also be used as a final varnish and employed in temperas.

Native Italian Earths Set

Native Italian Earths Set Williamsburg Special Order Only

This set features Italian earth colors that are made with the same pigments made famous by the painters of the Italian Renaissance and used by conservators. They are clean, vibrant and translucent. Unlike synthetic iron oxides, they feature authentic pigments from different regions of Italy, so no two natural earths are ever alike.

Safflower Oil Colors

Safflower Oil Colors Williamsburg Special Order Only

Williamsburg presents a series of whites and transparent colors milled in safflower oil. These colors will retain their brilliance and clarity for a much longer period of time than their linseed oil versions. Colors ground in safflower oil will take longer to dry and produce weaker films and therefore, are not recommended for underpainting or foundation layers of a painting.

Select Iridescents Oil Color Set

Select Iridescents Oil Color Set Williamsburg Special Order Only

Made in small batches, Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors are recognized for being richly pigmented and dense. Each color is treated individually, with each pigment ground to the nature of that specific color, bringing out the beauty and preserving the wider range of differences that were common in the past. They are guided by a painter's eye toward tradition, as well as a recognition for the modern organic pigments. This set includes six 40ml tubes of iridescent pale gold, iridescent copper, iridescent silver, iridescent pearl white, iridescent pewter and iridescent bronze.

Selected French Earth Oil Colors Set

Selected French Earth Oil Colors Set Williamsburg Special Order Only

This set features natural earth colors made with pigments from regions of France with historical importance. Natural earths provide a type of texture, physical presence and subtlety of color that synthetic iron oxides simply cannot provide.