Re: Why Winsor & Newton?

I'm not sure I understand your comment about the use of honey as a binder. According to the M. Graham site, honey keeps the paints from drying up in the tube or on the palette. Sennelier, per the DS catalog, also uses honey in their watercolors for a "distinctive luster". Are you saying that the use of colors that contain honey as a binder may cause problems with mixing, coating, drying, ect... versus colors that don't use honey?

I agree that the main reason to choose a specific manufacturer is for consistency but I still think that alot of what manufacturer people choose has to do with marketing. Most of the art suppliers in my neck of Maryland carry 2 or 3 manufacturers of watercolors. One carries Sennelier, one carries Holbein, one carries Grumbacher, one carries Daler-Rowney, but they all carry the W&N brand. As I said before, being new to gum printing I can't comment on the differences from one pigment to another or one manufacturer to another but most of the instructors and students where I am seem to choose W&N simply because they are sold everywhere.

Best, Scott

swphoto@verizon.net

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Argon3@aol.com
  To: alt-photo-process-l@sask.usask.ca
  Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 8:56 AM
  Subject: Re: Why Winsor & Newton?

  In a message dated 5/29/05 6:05:23 AM, swphoto@verizon.net writes:

    After talking with people on this list, I
    have mail ordered Daniel Smith and M. Graham pigments

  If you are planning on using the M. Graham watercolors out of the tubes, please note that, if I am not mistaken, they use honey as part of the binder.

  http://www.mgraham.com/html/watercolor.htm

  As to why anyone uses a specific brand of paint for any application; consistency, consistency and pigment load factor into it heavily. The thickness or thinness of the paint coming out of the tube (consistency), the quality control from batch to batch (consistency) and how much pigment and how much filler the manufacturer puts into the colors. W&N has been known for maintaining high quality standards and for a wide range of available pigments - some of which have been abandoned by other manufacturers...sorry to hear that even W&N seem to have decided to clip a few off their line.

  There are several premium watercolor manufacturers and providers of pure pigment around now...many more than there was even ten years ago. I don't know...this may only be because their distribution is wider now than it used to be...it's a global market now instead of a local one. There's nothing magic about W&N except that they've been good and almost universally available for a long time.

  best

  argon
Received on Sun May 29 08:07:37 2005