If you have read about Wallace Seymour oils and want to try them but are not sure where to start, this guide is for you. The range is smaller and more focused than mainstream oil paint brands, and some of the colour names are unfamiliar — which can make it hard to know which tubes to pick up first.
How the series pricing works
Series 1 and 2 — from £9.95 per 40ml tube. These cover the core working palette: earth colours, standard yellows, blacks, whites, and the more widely available mineral pigments. Series 1 and 2 is where most painters should begin.
Series 3 and above — from £16.20 per 40ml tube. These include the genuine cadmiums, cobalts, and the rarest or most expensive historical pigments. Introduce them selectively as your practice develops.
The colours to start with
Whites. Titanium White is the standard opaque white for most mixing and coverage work. Flake White — the traditional lead white favoured by Old Master painters for its buttery handling — is also available.
Yellows. Nickel Titanium Yellow is a warm, slightly earthy yellow with beautiful transparency — one of the most distinctive and versatile colours in the range. For a cooler, purer yellow, the cadmium yellows in Series 3 are magnificent.
Reds. Plumpton Iron Red is a warm, earthy red-brown derived from local Yorkshire iron earth — one of the most characteristic Wallace Seymour colours and not available elsewhere. It is a Series 1 colour and an essential early purchase.
Blues. French Ultramarine is a warm, rich blue indispensable for most oil painters. Prussian Blue offers a cooler, greener blue for mixing.
Earth colours. This is where Wallace Seymour truly distinguishes itself. Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, and Yellow Ochre are all available in Series 1 and 2 and are of exceptional quality. If you are going to try one category of Wallace Seymour colour before any other, make it the earths.
Blacks. Ivory Black is the standard warm black for most oil painters. Mars Black is a cooler, denser black with faster drying time.
A recommended first palette
Titanium White, Nickel Titanium Yellow, Plumpton Iron Red, French Ultramarine, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Yellow Ochre, Ivory Black. From those eight colours you can mix a very wide range of tones and temperatures, and you will immediately experience what makes Wallace Seymour different.
Introducing Wallace Seymour into an existing palette
Many painters come to Wallace Seymour not as a complete palette replacement but as a way of introducing specific colours into a practice that already uses other brands. Wallace Seymour oils are fully compatible with oils from any other manufacturer and mix cleanly alongside them. The most natural entry points are the earth colours and the specialist historical pigments.
What to use alongside the paints
Wallace Seymour produce their own oil painting mediums formulated to work with the paints and available at Craft and Canvas alongside the colour range. The most useful for most painters is the Fast Drying Oil Glaze Medium, which can be added at 10 to 20% to bring slower-drying colours into balance and to create rich, transparent glazes.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I start if I only want to buy two or three tubes? The earth colours are the best introduction — Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, and Yellow Ochre from Series 1 and 2 demonstrate the quality of the hand-milling process most clearly. Plumpton Iron Red is the most distinctively Wallace Seymour colour in the range and is a Series 1 price — a very good first buy.
Are the Series 3 cadmiums worth the extra cost? If cadmiums are part of your regular palette, yes — unambiguously. The genuine cadmium pigments in the Wallace Seymour range are among the finest available in any artist oil brand.
Can I use Wallace Seymour oils on canvas boards? Yes. We stock a range of canvas boards and stretched canvases at Craft and Canvas that are pre-primed and perfectly suitable for oil painting.
Browse the full Wallace Seymour collection at Craft and Canvas, Hebden Bridge — oil paints, mediums, and more. Come in and we will help you put together the right palette.
