A warm selection of Winsor & Newton Cadmium-Free Artist Oil colours
Jenny Aitken puts Winsor & Newton Cadmium-Free Artists’ Oil Colour to the test. Her conclusion? She can’t tell the difference – the colours are just as vibrant and buttery as those of the cadmium versions she’s used.
Like every oil painter, I love the experience of the medium – its buttery nature and smooth blendability, and the contrast of dilution and opacity.
Oils are such a pleasure to use and experimenting with them in any way is always exciting. As a minimal-palette kind of painter, I was excited to put Winsor & Newton’s Cadmium-Free paints to the test.
I love the vibrancy and potency of these colours so I was interested to see how they held up.
For some reason, I was worried they might smell different to my other oils – I do love the smell of oil paint! I’m glad to tell you, I couldn’t tell the difference.
Sunset from Kinder, Winsor & Newton Cadmium-Free Artists’ Oil Colour, (20x30cm)
Top features
1. Creamy texture
These paints have the heavy-bodied, creamy texture you would expect.
They’re highly pigmented so stretch and dilute beautifully to a rich, transparent glow. I usually use a different brand of oils and find that I normally have to do a fair bit of adjusting to achieve exact colour mixes when I switch. I was therefore pleasantly surprised with these, as mixing remained a relatively easy process.
2. Potent colours
The potency of colour seemed similar across the range, making for the quick colour decisions necessary in my plein-air work. I decided that the best subject for the selection of colours I received would be some of the last flowers from the garden – a mix of purple verbena, vibrant orange and yellow nasturtium and a beautifully cool pink climbing rose.
I love to paint contrejour, as it gives me the chance to use unadulterated, opaque pure colour against subtle, complementary greys – perfect for this test.
3. Easy to clean
As ever, I used only a couple of brushes, wiping and washing in solvent between each mix.
I don’t pre-mix, as I feel I see and understand the colours of a subject better the more I study it; this approach requires quick cleaning and mixing throughout a painting. I actually found these paints easier to clean than others I use.
Where to buy
Winsor & Newton Cadmium-Free Artists' Oil Colour can be purchased from Jackson's Art Supplies by clicking here and from art shops and other online retailers.
How do the cadmium and cadmium-free yellows compare?
In all honesty, I can’t really tell the difference between cadmium and Cadmium-Free.
I dug out my two other Artist-quality cadmium yellow brands to compare the Winsor & Newton Cadmium-Free yellow.
The only real distinction I noticed was a slightly altered hue between all three, which is to be expected. The Cadmium-Free version, on the right-hand side of the picture, has the same strong pigment and vibrancy.
Mixing it with other colours produced predictable results.
These colours were a joy to use and the Cadmium-Free green pale and Cadmium-Free orange work so beautifully together that I don’t think I can bear to be without them!
Demonstration: Last of the Garden Flowers
Last of the Garden Flowers, Winsor & Newton Cadmium-Free Artists’ Oil Colour on board, (40x30cm)
The reference photo for this demonstration
