Artists Oil Paint Sets

by Clara Wren, Maya Brooks, Tom Ellery

Artists Oil Paint Sets

Oil paint has been the medium of choice for master painters for centuries, prized for its depth, richness, and subtle blending capabilities. Whether you’re creating expressive abstracts or highly detailed realism, the right oil paint can make all the difference.

Each review includes a detailed analysis of texture, blending, coverage, and value — plus real-world verdicts from the perspective of a working artist.

Explore our artist’s reviews below to find the perfect oil paint set for your own studio.

Table of Contents

Michael Harding Artists’ Oil Colour Introductory Set (6 x 40ml)

Reviewer: Clara Wren — Professional Oil Painter
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Summary:

Michael Harding’s oil paints are renowned among professionals for their exceptional pigment load and natural linseed base. The colours in this set — including Ultramarine Blue, Yellow Ochre, and Genuine Crimson Lake — are vivid, consistent, and beautifully blendable.

Verdict:

“If you’re serious about oil painting, this set is an investment worth making. It delivers the richness and permanence that professionals demand — perfect for studio or exhibition work.”

Overview and Key Features

Here is a comprehensive review based on its key features and artist feedback:

Michael Harding oil paints are handmade in the UK, using traditional methods to achieve a quality that aims to replicate the richness and intensity of colors used by the Old Masters.

  • Exceptional Pigment Load: This is the brand’s defining feature. The paints contain an exceptionally high concentration of pure pigment, resulting in brilliant, vibrant, luminous, and powerful colors.
  • Purity: The paints are completely free of fillers, extenders, or driers. This commitment to purity means the colors stay true and vibrant when mixed, resisting the “muddy” effect often seen with paints that contain bulking agents.
  • Consistency (Texture): Artists frequently describe the consistency as silky, creamy, and buttery, but not oily or sloppy. This texture is ideal for both painting thin, fine layers and executing thick, expressive impasto brushstrokes.
  • Binder: The pigments are typically ground in refined, cold-pressed linseed oil (chosen for its neutral acidity). A few select colors, like some of the whites, may be ground in safflower oil.
  • Lightfastness and Permanence: As a professional line, the paints offer excellent lightfastness, ensuring your artwork will endure without fading over time.
  • Tube Size: The 40ml tubes are generous for an introductory set of professional-grade paint, providing ample opportunity to experiment.

 

Typical Included Colors

 

The 6-tube set is a basic, versatile palette designed for learning color mixing:

  • Titanium White No. 1 or No. 2 (Often ground in Safflower Oil for No. 1, Linseed Oil for No. 2)
  • Yellow Lake
  • Scarlet Lake
  • Yellow Ochre Deep
  • Ultramarine Blue
  • Burnt Umber

 

Things to Consider

 

  • Price: Michael Harding is a premium, artist-grade brand. While the introductory set offers good value for the quality, the price is significantly higher than student or even many mid-tier professional brands. The high tinting strength, however, means a little paint goes a long way.
  • Drying Time: Because the paints contain no artificial driers (siccatives), the drying time is purely dependent on the pigment and the oil binder. Some colors (like Earths) will dry quickly, while others (like Cadmiums and some Lakes) will take significantly longer, especially in thick applications. You must be mindful of the “fat over lean” rule.
  • Mixing: While they mix exceptionally well with other Michael Harding paints, some reviewers noted a very slight difference in how they combine with different consistency or lower-pigment-load brands.

 

In summary:

the Michael Harding Introductory Set is a first-class choice for any artist serious about oil painting. It provides a foundational palette of colors in a quality that is renowned worldwide for its high pigment load, buttery feel, and archival excellence. It is highly recommended for artists looking to elevate the vibrancy and permanence of their work.

Michael Harding Artists’ Oil Colour
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Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colour 10-Tube Starter Set (21ml)

Reviewer: Tom Ellery — Semi-Professional Watercolour & Mixed Media Artist
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Summary:

Tom often works across watercolour and oils, and this set bridges both worlds beautifully. Winsor & Newton’s Artist line provides a reliable introduction to professional-grade oils — smooth, blendable, and consistent, with a manageable drying time.

Verdict:

“A well-priced, reliable choice for artists stepping up from student paints. These oils handle like premium pigments without being intimidating.”

 

The Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colour 10-Tube Starter Set (21ml) is generally very well-regarded, particularly as an excellent introduction to professional-grade oil paints.

Here is a summary of key points from reviews and product information:

 

Overall Quality and Performance

 

  • Professional Grade: This set contains Winsor & Newton’s Artists’ Oil Colour line, which is their premium, professional-grade paint, as opposed to their student-grade “Winton” line.
  • High Pigment Load: The Artists’ line is known for its high concentration of high-quality pigment, which results in:
    • Excellent Tinting Strength: The colors maintain their intensity and vibrancy even when mixed with white or mediums.
    • Vibrant Color: The paint is consistently described as bright and vibrant.
  • Handling: The paint has a generally buttery consistency, making it easy to work with using both brushes and palette knives for a variety of techniques, from thin glazes to thick impasto.
  • Permanence & Lightfastness: Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colours are formulated for stability and carry a high degree of lightfastness, meaning the colors are resistant to fading over time.
  • Purity and Reliability: The brand has a long-standing reputation for using high-quality raw materials and strict quality control.

 

The Set Itself (10 x 21ml Tubes)

 

  • Ideal for Beginners/Upgrading: The set is highly recommended for oil painting beginners who want to start with a professional-quality product, or for intermediate painters looking to upgrade from student-grade paints.
  • Palette Selection: The included colors are chosen to provide a good basic mixing palette. While the exact colors can sometimes vary, a typical set includes:

 

    • Winsor Yellow (or similar primary yellow)
    • Alizarin Crimson (or similar cool red)
    • Winsor Blue (Red Shade) (a strong phthalo blue)
    • Winsor Green (Phthalo) (a strong phthalo green)
    • Ultramarine (Green Shade)
    • Yellow Ochre (a warm earth tone)
    • Indian Red (a deep, opaque earth tone)
    • Burnt Umber (a versatile dark brown)
    • Ivory Black
    • Titanium White

 

This selection allows for a very wide range of color mixing.

  • Tube Size: At 21ml per tube, the quantity is a reasonable introductory size to test out the paint, though artists will likely use up the White and Earth tones first.

 

Considerations

 

  • Price: Being a professional-grade paint, it is significantly more expensive than student-grade alternatives like Winsor & Newton’s Winton line. However, the set provides a cost-effective way to acquire a professional palette compared to buying individual tubes.
  • Pigment Concentration: The main difference between this “Artists’ Colour” line and the “Winton” (student) line is the higher concentration of pigment in the Artists’ line. This gives the Artists’ line superior color strength and mixing capabilities.

 

In short, the Winsor & Newton Artists’ Oil Colour 10-Tube Starter Set (21ml) is a highly rated, high-quality, professional-grade set that offers excellent value for someone serious about starting oil painting with top-tier materials or for an experienced artist looking for a reliable core palette.

winsor and newton Artists’ Oil colour
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Daler-Rowney Georgian Oil Colour Set (10 x 38ml)

Reviewer: Maya Brooks — Amateur Acrylic & Beginner Oil Painter
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Summary:

Maya’s first oil set needed to be affordable, forgiving, and easy to clean. The Daler-Rowney Georgian range fits perfectly — the paints are smooth, decently pigmented, and mix well for experiments or small pieces.

Verdict:

“A brilliant first oil paint set for hobbyists. It gives you the feel of traditional oils without the cost or complexity — ideal for learning and exploration.”

 

The Daler-Rowney Georgian Oil Colour Set (10 x 38ml) is widely regarded as an excellent and highly popular choice for beginners, students, and artists looking for a reliable and economical oil paint.

Here is a comprehensive review of the set:

 

Overall Quality and Positioning

 

  • Student/Studio Grade: Georgian Oil Colours are Daler-Rowney’s high-quality student or studio-grade paint range. They are a step below professional-grade paints but a significant step up from many very cheap oil sets.
  • Excellent Value: A major selling point is the combination of good quality with a very affordable price, especially considering the generous 38ml tube size—larger than the standard 21ml tubes often found in starter sets.
  • Consistency: The paint is traditionally triple-milled in England, resulting in a smooth, buttery consistency that is consistent across the entire color range. This uniform texture makes the paint predictable and easy to manage for beginners.
  • Pigmentation: The colors have a decent pigment load for a student range. While they may not have the extreme tinting strength of professional artist colors (which can cost 3-4 times more), they are vibrant and rich enough for most painting applications.

 

Key Features

 

  • Handling: The paint is known for being easy to use straight from the tube. Its smooth, buttery texture is well-suited for both brushwork and impasto techniques with a palette knife, often requiring minimal added medium.
  • Drying Time: Georgian oils are formulated to dry reliably and evenly, typically becoming surface dry in 4 to 5 days, which is a desirable quality for beginners who want to layer their paint without excessively long waits.
  • Lightfastness: All colors in the range are rated as either Permanent (****) or Normally Permanent (***), ensuring good longevity and fade resistance for your finished artwork.
  • Palette Selection: The 10-tube set offers a foundational palette designed for comprehensive color mixing. While the specific colors can vary slightly, a typical selection includes:

 

    • Titanium White
    • Lemon Yellow
    • Cadmium Red (Hue)
    • Crimson Alizarin
    • French Ultramarine
    • Viridian (Hue)
    • Yellow Ochre
    • Burnt Sienna
    • Raw Umber
    • Ivory Black

 

Comparison to Other Starter Paints

 

  • The Georgian line is often compared to Winsor & Newton Winton (their student-grade line). Most reviewers consider them to be in the same quality and price tier—both are excellent choices for a high-quality beginner set. Your choice between the two may simply come down to price or availability.
  • The primary compromise compared to professional paints is the use of “hues” (pigment mixes) for expensive colors like Cadmium, Cobalt, and Cerulean. This is standard for student ranges and is done to keep the cost down while providing a color that mimics the original.

 

Conclusion

 

The Daler-Rowney Georgian Oil Colour 10-Tube Set (38ml) is an outstanding value starter set. It provides generous quantities of reliable, easy-to-handle paint with strong color that will not frustrate a new oil painter. It’s a fantastic foundation set for anyone serious about learning and practicing the medium without the high cost of professional-grade brands.

Daler-Rowney Georgian Oil Colour
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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What’s the difference between student-grade and professional-grade oil paints?
Student-grade paints are cheaper and easier to use but have lower pigment concentration. Professional paints, like Michael Harding or Gamblin, offer richer colour and longer-lasting lightfastness.

2. Which brands make the best oil paints in the UK?
Winsor & Newton, Gamblin, Michael Harding, and Schmincke Mussini are top brands known for quality and reliability.

3. How many colours do I need in a set?
A basic set of 12 colours covers most painting needs. Professionals often expand to 24–48 colours for more precise mixing and special pigments.

4. Which brushes work best?
Use hog bristle or synthetic brushes designed for oils. Round, filbert, and flat shapes are versatile for most techniques.

5. Are oil paints suitable for beginners?
Yes, but beginners may start with student-grade sets to learn mixing and layering without investing heavily.

6. How do I store oil paints?
Keep in a cool, dry place, away from direct sunlight. Ensure tube caps are tightly closed to prevent drying.

7. How long do oil paints last?
Professional oil paints can last decades if stored properly. Tubes may last many years without losing pigment quality.

8. Do oil paints dry quickly or slowly?
Oil paints dry slowly, allowing extended blending time. Drying time varies by pigment and medium.

9. What mediums and solvents are needed?
Common mediums: linseed oil, stand oil, or walnut oil. Solvents: turpentine or odorless mineral spirits for cleaning brushes.

10. Can I use oil paints on any surface?
Best surfaces: primed canvas, oil paper, or boards. Avoid unprimed wood or paper unless sealed.

 

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