One of the most frequent questions I receive is: Which paint brand should I use? Or sometimes, What brand do serious artists use?
Depending on who you ask—teachers, artists, or even shop owners—you might hear all kinds of answers, often pointing toward the most expensive or prestigious brands. Sometimes, there’s a quiet contempt or “hierarchy” around materials, suggesting that your artistic value is tied directly to the price of your paint. You might try painting with one of these highly-recommended brands and be stunned by its pigment strength, and yet still feel somewhere in your gut: Why doesn’t this feel like me?
If you’ve ever felt that disconnection, you are definitely not alone. While I have created many episodes breaking down the technical, rational side of art materials, the truth is that choosing paint isn’t just a technical decision—it’s an act of self-definition. Paint is not only a tool; it is an extension of your artistic personality.
Finding Your Paint Partner
As an artist focused on wildlife, surrealism, mixed media, eco-friendly ideas, and the tropical colours from my Malaysian childhood, I realized I needed a very specific kind of paint partner.
What was funny was that I started discovering that necessary personality not inside the tube, but on the outside. That sense of character comes through the packaging, the labels, and the names, where you can begin to get a sense of who these brands really are. I’ve spent a significant amount of time studying packaging and labels, realizing how much personality each brand quietly reveals through these tiny details, including the names on the tubes.
What the Packaging Tells You: The Personalities of Oil Paints
Once you start noticing the design language, the names, and even the typography, you begin to see how each brand reveals its character long before the paint ever comes out of the tube.
Here are a few examples using oil paints to illustrate the different personalities brands project:
- Old Holland feels like a living museum. It is devoted to traditional, natural, and rare pigments, following recipes that echo the Dutch Masters. Opening their paint can feel like touching a fragment of 17th-century craft.
- Maimeri operates with two distinct voices. One is Puro, dedicated to all clarity and pure pigment. The other voice provides earthier tones—colours that feel like old walls, sun, and stone pressed into paint, carrying a quiet Mediterranean warmth.
- Kusakabe is meticulous and precise—a cool technician on the surface. Yet, beneath this precision lies an aesthetic system rooted in Japanese philosophy. Their colours are not merely named; they are evoked, being technical in structure but quietly poetic in spirit.
- Williamsburg feels carved from the American landscape. It has a bold, rugged energy, carrying a pioneering spirit in how its colours are made. The pigments are unapologetically textured, physical, and earthy—like holding a raw piece of terrain.
- Gamblin speaks the clear, modern language of the contemporary studio. Built for clarity, control, and environmental responsibility, it features transparent formulas and safer materials, designed to support the rhythm of today’s working artist.
- Sennelier embodies the poetic heart of Paris. Known for creamy textures and soft French naming, the brand carries a romantic, light-chasing spirit that still holds the whisper of the Impressionists.
- Winsor & Newton acts as the calm, dependable steward. It is professional, organized, and quietly precise, offering a clean, comprehensive toolkit you can trust for serious, consistent work.
- Michael Harding feels like a reclusive British alchemist—solitary, devoted, and almost monastic about colour. With single pigments and small batches, this paint is shaped by a deep, handcrafted focus, feeling less like buying from a company and more like collaborating with a maker who lives inside the craft.
Choosing What Speaks Your Language
It becomes surprisingly fun to read the stories these brands are telling outside the paint itself.
And honestly, if you don’t feel like analyzing every detail, you can just choose your paint with your gut. Sometimes believing in “love at first sight” is better than following what someone else or the material hierarchy says is “the best” or “good for you”.
This choice is comparable to selecting a handbag. You are naturally drawn to the shape of the tube, the name, the typography, or the colour design on the packaging—and this is not superficial at all; it is part of your daily ritual as an artist. If a brand makes you feel more like yourself when you paint, that alone is a perfectly valid reason to choose it.
Ultimately, there is no single ‘best’ paint brand. There is only the brand that speaks your language. That brand’s personality should quietly align with your own, its colours should feel like they belong in your world, and its structure should fit the way you work. Your materials should be as personal as your art. Choose the brand that makes you excited to paint and reflects who you are as an artist today.
