<p><em><strong>As mentioned in the comments, an absolute ranking of brands would be primarily opinion-based, as there are as many preferences and requirements of oil paints as there are artists.<br />
However, a lot can be said about the quality of oil paints, and the range is sufficiently large to allow for a general objective positioning of brands within that spectrum.</strong></em></p>
<hr />
<p><strong>QUALITY DIFFERENCES</strong></p>
<p>Oil paints are suspensions of pigments in oil, sometimes in conjunction with small amounts of other ingredients - fillers, waxes, resins - that change their characteristics.</p>
<p>Both oil and pigment have vastly varying differences in quality, and, together with their ratio, determine the level of quality of the paint.<br />
Higher lightfastness of both the oil and the pigment, and higher opacity and colour retention of the pigments, are the characteristics of an oil paint of good quality. In addition, the artist will generally need less higher quality paint to acquire a same amount of colour luminance.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Oils</strong><br />
The type and purity of the oil influences the drying time, the clarity of the colours, and the lightfastness of the paint.<br />
<strong>Linseed oil is the most common oil used in manufactured paints. Poppy oil is sometimes used as a replacement: it is more expensive, but also more lightfast and transparent.</strong></p>
</li>
<li><p><strong>Pigments</strong><br />
The quality of the pigment - its particle size, origin, and purity - are important for the quality of the paint: they are decisive for the permanence, brilliance, and stability of the colour.
A higher ratio of pigment, referred to as pigmentation, will increase the opacity and intensity of the paint, although making the paint relatively thicker and faster-drying.
Especially in lower ranking oil paints, pigments are often replaced by chemical alternatives - although in some cases they have achieved better painting characteristics than their antecedents, or even surpassed them.</p>
</li>
<li><p>A famous example of a high quality pigment that is almost always replaced by a synthetic substitute is <em>ultramarine</em>: traditionally, this is made from the semi-precious gemstone <em>lapis lazuli</em> (found '<em>across the sea</em>' from Italy, or '<em>ultra marina</em>') that is ground very finely. Hence, the oil paints containing it are expensive.</p>
</li>
<li><p><strong>Additives</strong><br />
Other substances may be added to the paint to change its properties, like drying-time, UV-resistance, and glossiness. See <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_additive" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a> for an overview.<br />
On the other hand, in economy paints, fillers may be used that improve the consistency of the paint, while suppressing the costs.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><strong>RANKING</strong></p>
<p>Keeping the above information in mind, the vast differences in quality of oil paints are obvious. With that knowledge, looking through the information on their websites will allow you to decide what you are willing to pay for what level of quality, based on your personal preferences and style.<br />
Some brands (like <em>Winsor &amp; Newton</em>) offer multiple series in multiple ranges, whereas other names (like <em>Old Holland</em>), are exclusively producing paints of a specific level.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>At the top of highly qualitative oil paints, brands like <em>Old Holland</em>, <em>Holbein</em>, <em>Schmincke Mussini</em>, <em>Sennelier</em>, <em>Blockx</em>, <em>Michael Harding</em>, and <em>Williamsburg</em>, all of which are at least more than a century old (excepting the last one), have established an excellent reputation among professionals.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Mid-range we find brands like <em>Gamblin</em>, and some of the <em>Winsor &amp; Newton</em> series.</p>
</li>
<li><p>At economy level, <em>Royal Talens' Rembrandt</em>, <em>Winsor &amp; Newton's Winton</em>, <em>Royal Talens' Van Gogh</em>, and <em>Grumbacher</em> have been helping out students and hobbyists around the world.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Generally speaking, the higher the price, the higher the quality</strong>. The generality of this rule is more applicable here in the field of (oil) paints, than in many other. Do note that this only really applies to well-established brands as sold in respectable art stores.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-06T17:13:05.523Z
Good answer, but I have to disagree with the first sentence.  You pay for what you get but you don't necessarily get what you pay for.  i.e., "better" will cost more but costing more won't necessarily mean better.  :-)
fixer1234
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-06T17:15:57.457Z
@fixer1234 Yeah, I think that is quite a controversial statement, but as I hint at in my answer I really feel it's a good rule of thumb in the oil paint world, especially when it comes to well-established brands. I do certainly agree it's quite terrible advice in general, ironically especially when it comes to brands.
Joachim
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-15T14:05:09.977Z
2021-04-07T09:33:54.007Z
2021-04-07T09:33:54.007Z
Joachim
<p>There is no standard quality ranking for artist oil paints, however, generally, they are sold as Professional, Artist or Student grade with different brands having their own names. Price also is usually an indicator.</p>

<p>I think it is more useful to think of paint in terms of purity rather than quality.</p>

<p>The top end manufacturers are pigment makers firstly, the rarer the material and the more complex the manufacturing process the more expensive the pigment and thus the paint. (See Lapis lazuli, rose madder, mummy brown for examples). The most expensive paint contains one expensive pigment with oil added. A cheaper paint in the same range will be exactly the same quality only with a pigment that is easier to produce.</p>

<p>Budget paints will have two or more cheap pigments (and possibly filler) mixed together to resemble a single pigment.  </p>

<p>The oil is basically a medium to get the pigment from the tube to the canvas, cure, harden and then leave the pigments in as pure a condition as possible. Different oils are used, the most common is heat-treated linseed, I have also used walnut oil and safflower oil. The different oils have different effects on drying time, consistency, and finish, but this is a good thing as it provides flexibility and creativity which in my opinion is the essence of oil painting. </p>

<p>I have read that safflower oil separates in the tube and that linseed oil goes hard over time. I would say that that is just a common problem that relates to ageing or poor storage.</p>

<p>You can find a list of popular brands looking online, if you are a student you could start with something like Monte Mart, Maries, or if you had a bit more money to spend you could look at the Winsor and Newton Winton range.</p>

<p>If you are serious and want to keep going you will probably be able to answer your own question by that time and discover brands like: Blockx, Michael Harding, M.Graham, Sennelier... I use M.Graham and Art Spectrum. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-14T10:36:37.473Z
2019-06-14T10:36:37.473Z
Jon Welch
<p>Though there may be no definite answer other than your own experimentation, consider the pigment composition. Check a tube of oil paint and note how many different pigments are included; as a coarse rule of thumbs, the lesser the better.</p>
<p>Also light fasting (how fast the paint will fade over time) plays an important role.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-06T13:03:14.763Z
2021-04-07T05:30:09.350Z
2021-04-07T05:30:09.350Z
iris
<p>Is there a standard quality ranking for oil paints?<br>
How do specific oils relate to the quality of oil paints?<br>
Can anyone provide a top five or top ten of brands?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-14T08:09:11.713Z
The last part of your question (top 5 or top 10 brands) is an opinion based question which may or may not match your own view. As for quality of oils, depending on the style of your artwork, some oils of "lower quality" might be better for your piece. This kind of question does not fit well within the StackExchange format.
Chris Rogers
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-04-07T16:53:22.013Z
Responding to _standard_: any pigment-based product (so not only paints but also e.g. pastels & color pencils), can have a defining property called lightfastness. This means how permanent, how resistant to erosive effects the pigment tends to be. While other properties, like how creamy, how opaque are relative compared to other products, lightfastness can be measured absolutely, compared against time. Note that lightfastness can vastly differ per pigment, so comparing lightfastness is possible only between similar colors of different brands, or rather, how lightfast the entire set tends to be.
Levente
<material-selection><oil-paint>
Quality ranking of oil paint brands
ClMend
# Quality ranking of oil paint brands

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-12)

Is there a standard quality ranking for oil paints?  
How do specific oils relate to the quality of oil paints?  
Can anyone provide a top five or top ten of brands?

**Tags:** material-selection, oil-paint

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The last part of your question (top 5 or top 10 brands) is an opinion based question which may or may not match your own view. As for quality of oils, depending on the style of your artwork, some oils of "lower quality" might be better for your piece. This kind of question does not fit well within the StackExchange format.  
> **username_2**: Responding to _standard_: any pigment-based product (so not only paints but also e.g. pastels & color pencils), can have a defining property called lightfastness. This means how permanent, how resistant to erosive effects the pigment tends to be. While other properties, like how creamy, how opaque are relative compared to other products, lightfastness can be measured absolutely, compared against time. Note that lightfastness can vastly differ per pigment, so comparing lightfastness is possible only between similar colors of different brands, or rather, how lightfast the entire set tends to be.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-06-15. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

***As mentioned in the comments, an absolute ranking of brands would be primarily opinion-based, as there are as many preferences and requirements of oil paints as there are artists.  
However, a lot can be said about the quality of oil paints, and the range is sufficiently large to allow for a general objective positioning of brands within that spectrum.***

---

**QUALITY DIFFERENCES**

Oil paints are suspensions of pigments in oil, sometimes in conjunction with small amounts of other ingredients - fillers, waxes, resins - that change their characteristics.

Both oil and pigment have vastly varying differences in quality, and, together with their ratio, determine the level of quality of the paint.  
Higher lightfastness of both the oil and the pigment, and higher opacity and colour retention of the pigments, are the characteristics of an oil paint of good quality. In addition, the artist will generally need less higher quality paint to acquire a same amount of colour luminance.

* **Oils**  
  The type and purity of the oil influences the drying time, the clarity of the colours, and the lightfastness of the paint.  
  **Linseed oil is the most common oil used in manufactured paints. Poppy oil is sometimes used as a replacement: it is more expensive, but also more lightfast and transparent.**
* **Pigments**  
  The quality of the pigment - its particle size, origin, and purity - are important for the quality of the paint: they are decisive for the permanence, brilliance, and stability of the colour.
  A higher ratio of pigment, referred to as pigmentation, will increase the opacity and intensity of the paint, although making the paint relatively thicker and faster-drying.
  Especially in lower ranking oil paints, pigments are often replaced by chemical alternatives - although in some cases they have achieved better painting characteristics than their antecedents, or even surpassed them.
* A famous example of a high quality pigment that is almost always replaced by a synthetic substitute is *ultramarine*: traditionally, this is made from the semi-precious gemstone *lapis lazuli* (found '*across the sea*' from Italy, or '*ultra marina*') that is ground very finely. Hence, the oil paints containing it are expensive.
* **Additives**  
  Other substances may be added to the paint to change its properties, like drying-time, UV-resistance, and glossiness. See [here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_additive) for an overview.  
  On the other hand, in economy paints, fillers may be used that improve the consistency of the paint, while suppressing the costs.

---

**RANKING**

Keeping the above information in mind, the vast differences in quality of oil paints are obvious. With that knowledge, looking through the information on their websites will allow you to decide what you are willing to pay for what level of quality, based on your personal preferences and style.  
Some brands (like *Winsor & Newton*) offer multiple series in multiple ranges, whereas other names (like *Old Holland*), are exclusively producing paints of a specific level.

* At the top of highly qualitative oil paints, brands like *Old Holland*, *Holbein*, *Schmincke Mussini*, *Sennelier*, *Blockx*, *Michael Harding*, and *Williamsburg*, all of which are at least more than a century old (excepting the last one), have established an excellent reputation among professionals.
* Mid-range we find brands like *Gamblin*, and some of the *Winsor & Newton* series.
* At economy level, *Royal Talens' Rembrandt*, *Winsor & Newton's Winton*, *Royal Talens' Van Gogh*, and *Grumbacher* have been helping out students and hobbyists around the world.

**Generally speaking, the higher the price, the higher the quality**. The generality of this rule is more applicable here in the field of (oil) paints, than in many other. Do note that this only really applies to well-established brands as sold in respectable art stores.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Good answer, but I have to disagree with the first sentence.  You pay for what you get but you don't necessarily get what you pay for.  i.e., "better" will cost more but costing more won't necessarily mean better.  :-)  
> **username_3**: @username_4 Yeah, I think that is quite a controversial statement, but as I hint at in my answer I really feel it's a good rule of thumb in the oil paint world, especially when it comes to well-established brands. I do certainly agree it's quite terrible advice in general, ironically especially when it comes to brands.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-06-14. Score: 7

There is no standard quality ranking for artist oil paints, however, generally, they are sold as Professional, Artist or Student grade with different brands having their own names. Price also is usually an indicator.

I think it is more useful to think of paint in terms of purity rather than quality.

The top end manufacturers are pigment makers firstly, the rarer the material and the more complex the manufacturing process the more expensive the pigment and thus the paint. (See Lapis lazuli, rose madder, mummy brown for examples). The most expensive paint contains one expensive pigment with oil added. A cheaper paint in the same range will be exactly the same quality only with a pigment that is easier to produce.

Budget paints will have two or more cheap pigments (and possibly filler) mixed together to resemble a single pigment.

The oil is basically a medium to get the pigment from the tube to the canvas, cure, harden and then leave the pigments in as pure a condition as possible. Different oils are used, the most common is heat-treated linseed, I have also used walnut oil and safflower oil. The different oils have different effects on drying time, consistency, and finish, but this is a good thing as it provides flexibility and creativity which in my opinion is the essence of oil painting.

I have read that safflower oil separates in the tube and that linseed oil goes hard over time. I would say that that is just a common problem that relates to ageing or poor storage.

You can find a list of popular brands looking online, if you are a student you could start with something like Monte Mart, Maries, or if you had a bit more money to spend you could look at the Winsor and Newton Winton range.

If you are serious and want to keep going you will probably be able to answer your own question by that time and discover brands like: Blockx, Michael Harding, M.Graham, Sennelier... I use M.Graham and Art Spectrum.


---

### Answer by username_6 on 2021-04-06. Score: 1

Though there may be no definite answer other than your own experimentation, consider the pigment composition. Check a tube of oil paint and note how many different pigments are included; as a coarse rule of thumbs, the lesser the better.

Also light fasting (how fast the paint will fade over time) plays an important role.


---

