Wallace Seymour oil paints: an independent stockist's review
Most oil painters in the UK will be familiar with the usual names — Winsor & Newton Artists', Daler-Rowney Georgian, Michael Harding, Old Holland. Wallace Seymour is less frequently mentioned in that company, not because it belongs any lower in the ranking, but because the company does almost no advertising and sells exclusively through independent retailers. We stock the full Wallace Seymour oil paint range at Craft and Canvas — Series 1 through Series 8, the Native Earths, and the complete mediums range — available in our Hebden Bridge shop and online at craftandcanvas.co.uk. This post explains exactly what makes them worth your attention.
What makes Wallace Seymour oil paints different
Wallace Seymour was founded in 2011 by Rebecca Wallace and Pip Seymour, both practising artists with decades of experience in the art materials industry. The guiding principle from the start was straightforward: make paint the way it used to be made, without the compromises that large-scale industrial production requires.
That means no fillers, no extenders, and no drying agents added to any colour. Most commercial oil paints include one or more of these — they reduce cost, create uniform consistency, and speed up drying times. They also dilute the pigment load and can compromise the long-term stability of a paint film. Wallace Seymour refuses all of them.
Each colour is ground into English cold-pressed linseed oil from a single estate farm — a level of sourcing specificity that is almost unheard of in commercial paint production. Production is in batches of up to one litre per colour. Colours may be machine ground, hand-milled, or ground by hand with a glass muller depending on the nature of the pigment.
Because there are no drying agents, drying times vary according to the pigment rather than being artificially standardised. Wallace Seymour recommend a 10 to 20 percent addition of their Fast Drying Oil Glaze Medium if you want to balance drying times across your palette.
The range structure and pricing
Wallace Seymour oil colours run from Series 1 through to Series 8, with a Native Earths range sitting alongside. Prices per 40ml tube:
Series 1 — £9.95. The everyday working colours: whites, earth tones, and the workhorse pigments that form the backbone of most palettes. Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Ivory Black.
Series 2 — £14.05. Alizarin Crimson, Magenta, Ultramarine Blue Deep, Viridian.
Series 3 — £16.20. Cadmium colours begin here — Cadmium Red Light, Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Orange. The cadmiums are among the most rewarding colours to use in oil and Wallace Seymour's are exceptional.
Native Earths — £17.25. Colours sourced from specific geological locations and processed through Wallace Seymour's own production. The handling and tonal quality of native earth pigments is unlike anything you will find in a synthetic substitute.
Series 4 — £27.60. Cobalt Blue, Cobalt Violet, Cerulean. The cobalt pigments are expensive because the raw material is expensive, but the colour — particularly Cobalt Blue — has a quality and transparency that no synthetic substitute quite matches.
Series 8 — £87.10. This is where you find Lapis Lazuli — genuine ultramarine derived from the semi-precious stone — alongside other pigments of exceptional rarity. Genuine Vermilion also sits at the upper end of the range.
The mediums
We stock the full Wallace Seymour oil painting mediums range alongside the colours — the Fast Drying Oil Glaze Medium, Alkyd Resin Glaze Medium, Refined Linseed Oil, Linseed Stand Oil, Cold Pressed Linseed Oil, Dammar Varnish, and the Beeswax Impasto Paste Medium. Varnishes are available in gloss, satin, and matt finishes.
Where to start
If you are coming to Wallace Seymour for the first time, the Series 1 and 2 colours are the sensible entry point. A working palette built from Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Ivory Black from Series 1, with Ultramarine Blue Deep and Alizarin Crimson from Series 2, gives you everything you need to paint and costs well under £100.
Frequently asked questions
Are Wallace Seymour oil paints suitable for beginners? They are suitable for any artist who wants to work with genuinely high-quality materials. The Series 1 colours are £9.95 per tube, which is competitive with other professional-grade oil paints.
How do Wallace Seymour oil paints compare to Winsor & Newton Artists'? Both are professional-grade ranges made with quality pigments. Wallace Seymour uses no fillers or drying agents, which produces a higher pigment load and more variable drying times. Winsor & Newton Artists' is more standardised in consistency and drying behaviour.
Why do Wallace Seymour oil paints dry at different rates? Because there are no drying agents in the paint, drying time is determined entirely by the pigment. Adding 10 to 20 percent Fast Drying Oil Glaze Medium balances drying times if needed.
Where can I buy Wallace Seymour oil paints? We stock the full range at Craft and Canvas, both in our Hebden Bridge shop at 3 Carlton Street and online at craftandcanvas.co.uk. Wallace Seymour do not sell direct to artists, so independent retailers like us are the only way to buy.
We stock the full Wallace Seymour range — oil paints, mediums, and more — at Craft and Canvas, Hebden Bridge.