We are very pleased to announce that Geneva Artists' Oil Color is finally here! I can't wait for you to try it!
You can order a full set of colors here: genevafineart.com/color
Currently we are only shipping within the United States, but will be offering international shipping in the near future.
Comments
I have a few preliminary questions now and probably more to come as they occur to me. Kingston has indicated that the pigment load in these paints is quite substantial which is terrific and if that is true then the paints are quite reasonably priced as he says. I was wondering about the Geneva Paints longevity in the jar. How long will the colors stay fresh in the jars before it starts to go bad? I go through some colors more than others so it is conceivable, in my case, that a color like yellow may be hanging around for more than six months.
Also, I was wondering about the power colors, Cad Red Deep etc.. Are they going to come on line at anytime in the future?
Regarding the longevity in the jar, you should be fine. All our colors have a small amount of clove leaf oil added to help prevent the formation of a skin on top. Skin on top would not really be an issue — as with other paint products, the thin skin could just be discarded and everything underneath would be totally fresh — but the small amount of clove oil we add should prevent it anyhow. The important thing is, obviously, to seal the jar after transferring color to your palette. In the future we will also be selling bottles of clove leaf oil. Someone who opens a particular jar very frequently (a few hundred times) without removing much paint can simply add a few drops of clove leaf oil to the jar, stir it in, and seal it up.
Of course, if you ever do run into any issues, just contact us and let us know.
Regarding "power colors"… yes, we have a few additional colors we're working on.
Will individual colors be available?
Do you have any plans to accept paypal?
Any blog posts or other information about Rosso Corsa (i.e. is this synthetic red iron oxide pigment)?
So happy to finally get my hands on these! I haven't painted in ages -- too much work going on. But I have a vacation at the end of June and I'm already planning a still life.
rgr
We're using Stripe, and we do not currently have any plans to accept PayPal. You can, however, use your PayPal card.
The pigment in Rosso Corsa is closely related to the pigment used for "permanent alizarin crimson", although the color is a bit brighter and it is a very pure red, leaning neither towards purple nor orange. It is not an iron oxide pigment. Synthetic red iron oxide is PR101 in the color index. Rosso Corsa is PR177. We included the color index names on the website, next to the individual color prices.
As for the name: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosso_corsa
@David_Quinn_Carder correct me if I'm wrong but by judging the color of that Alfa Romeo it seems that I may not even have a need for the Power Red anymore.
With our essential palette, you rarely need "power colors". Most paintings don't require anything else. But every once in a while you do run into an exceptional situation where you need a little boost, so that's why we're developing some colors for those situations as well.
I'm very happy to see that the mixture is solvent free. I had previously avoided the old slow dry medium recipe and instead used just walnut oil and clove oil (with M. Graham paints) in order to keep my environment as non-toxic as possible, so I'm thrilled to see that these new geneva paints are also solvent free
If you don't mind saying, what's the primary oil used in the mixture? Linseed?
"Comes prepared and ready to use Geneva Artists' Oil Color has already been mixed with Geneva Medium to just the right consistency, so there is no need to thin it down further before using it. And because every pigment is different, they have each been developed with their own unique medium formulation, so every Geneva color performs wonderfully under the brush — neither too short (buttery) nor too long (stringy), but just right."
Thanks guys. Looking forward to ordering.
Appreciate so much the generous videos and info I've gleaned thus far on how and why to set up a good working space. Once took some lessons from a local artist and she kept me on her back porch-wouldn't let anyone see her studio! Which was part of what I needed to learn. So, very grateful for the abundant sharing found here. Looking forward to starting some lessons very soon.
I'm looking forward to when you can offer shipping to Belgium or Luxembourg.
The solvent free aspect was a major selling point.
A secondary aspect was that I learned practically everything I know about oil painting from this website, from building my own equipment, to how to use it, to mixing colors, to varnishing, everything from A to Z. All for free.
So I bought as a gesture of gratitude, but also knowing that these paints are of extremely high quality, made buying a very easy decision. I look forward to using them, and not having to worry about ventilation.
Thanks Mark!
Keep in mind that you will rarely need power colors if you are painting realism.
You do not need to add oil of cloves or anything else to Geneva oil paint. All the colors even burnt umber dry in 7+ days.
As for maintaining paint fluidity, you don't have to do anything. In the jar, it should last for years if you close the lid tightly, and on the palette, it will dry much slower than on your canvas because it's in big blobs. As with any paint, if you premix colors, you should avoid premixing tiny flat swatches — instead, make sure any color you mix has some "body" to it. If it's a blob, it's not going to dry quickly. Even if the outside begins to dry, which would only happen if you don't mess with it for a week or more, you can just disrupt the blob with your brush and it will all be good and fresh and usable.
So in short, big blobs on the palette will stay wet for a long time. Thin flat brushstrokes on the palette will dry in 7–10 days. To extend the usability on the palette further, you'll need to store the palette in a refrigerator or an airtight box with clove oil or something like that.
Obviously I would prefer "sooner". I have siblings and friends living in the US but I really do not want to trouble them with having to post the parcel to me. But if the "sooner" means a few months, maybe I may have to.
Just wondering what would be the total weight of a full set + 1 extra Tit.White + packaging.
We will be selling empty jars, with our special gasketed lids that maintain an airtight seal even after opening and closing 100's of times. That way if you have a special color that you want to pre-mix, you can do that and store it one of our jars.
We will soon have a web page up that lists formulas (in percentages of each pigment) for various colors, eventually we will cover 100's of colors that you can mix with the Geneva palette.
Until then, you can match them yourself exactly as you would any other color:
http://www.drawmixpaint.com/classes/online/step-6-beginning-to-mix-colors.html
Any plans on releasing your famous canvas stain colour pre-mixed? (perhaps acrylic)
Not that there's any great need, but it would be a nice little convenience item.
It's no biggie, it's easy to mix up with any third-party paints, though I think it would be a nice addition down the track... then people could buy all their paints through the Geneva store.