The
History of
Williamsburg Art Materials
In
the mid 1980s I began making paint for myself and my friends.
I had always been interested in pigments, oils, mediums,
and old-world recipes, and I enjoyed experimenting with
traditional materials. Wherever I traveled I would research
the history of painting and the relationship between painters
and paintmakers. In France I bought colors from the houses
that had made paints for Monet, Matisse, and Cezanne.
I analyzed their paint to see how fine or coarse the grind
was and to determine where they found their pigments and
oils. With this same passion, I now search for the most
beautiful raw materials in the world, importing pigments
from dozens of countries.
Getting
the proper pigment is just the beginning. So much of the
quality of oil paint is in the grinding. Each color is ground
to enhance the beauty and luminosity specific to that particular
pigment. Some of our paint will feel slightly gritty; some,
extremely smooth. Our Cerulean Blue will have a beautiful,
velvet, light-absorbing surface with an extremely strong
covering power; our siennas will often be chunky or gritty
to allow light to travel through the vehicle, exposing rich
golden or mahogany undertones instead of just heavy, dull
browns.
Our
pigment is ground in pure, premium, alkali-refined and PH-
balanced linseed oil and made in batches no larger than
five gallons at a time. This gives us total control over
the product, much like the late nineteenth-century French
colormakers. All the materials are handmeasured, and every
ounce of paint is scrutinized. The paint is packed in 40
ml and 150 ml non-reactive aluminum tubes. Larger quantities
of paint are packed in aluminum cans. We use only the purest
materials.
Williamsburg
oil colors are used by the world,s finest artists. You can
see them in recent acquisitions at the Metropolitan Museum
of Art and MOMA in New York, the National Gallery of Art
in Washington, and the Beaubourg in Paris.
We
give technical advice to artists, museums, and conservators
throughout the world and welcome your questions and comments.
We look forward to having you experience the pleasure of
using our paint. We are very proud of it.
Sincerely,
- Carl
Plansky
President
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Carl
Plansky
The Tube
Filling Process
The Finished
Products
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