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 across a range, 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. Cold-pressed linseed oil is paler, more stable, and less prone to yellowing than the refined or heat-treated oils used in most paints. The result is a paint that handles beautifully and ages well.

Production is in batches of up to one litre per colour, which means each batch is effectively unique. Colours may be machine ground, hand-milled, or ground by hand with a glass muller depending on the nature of the pigment. This is not artisanal affectation — different pigments genuinely require different grinding approaches to achieve their best colour and handling properties.

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 — and we stock the full mediums range alongside the paints.

The range structure and pricing

Wallace Seymour oil colours run from Series 1 through to Series 8, with a Native Earths range sitting alongside. There is no Series 7 in the current range. Prices per 40ml tube are:

Series 1 — £9.95. The everyday working colours: whites, earth tones, and the workhorse pigments that form the backbone of most palettes. Titanium White, Zinc White, Yellow Ochre, Raw Umber, Burnt Sienna, Ivory Black. These are the colours you will use in quantity.

Series 2 — £14.05. A step up in pigment cost. Alizarin Crimson, Magenta, Ultramarine Blue Deep, Viridian. Still within the range of what most artists would consider their standard palette.

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, with the full-bodied opacity and warmth that characterises well-made cadmium paint.

Native Earths — £17.25. This is one of the most distinctive parts of the Wallace Seymour range. These are colours sourced from specific geological locations and processed through Wallace Seymour's own production — earths in the truest sense of the word. 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 5 — £31.80. The rarer historical pigments begin to appear here, including colours derived from sources and processes that most manufacturers no longer bother with.

Series 6 — £44.90. Colours at this price point reflect either extreme pigment rarity, complex production, or both.

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. These are not everyday painting colours. They are for artists who understand what they are buying and why it matters. Genuine Vermilion also sits at the upper end of the range, as does Mermaid Egg Ironstone, a colour that exists nowhere else in commercial paint production.

The mediums

We stock the full Wallace Seymour oil painting mediums range alongside the colours. The key ones to know are the Fast Drying Oil Glaze Medium — recommended by Wallace Seymour themselves for balancing drying times — the Alkyd Resin Glaze Medium, Refined Linseed Oil, Linseed Stand Oil, Cold Pressed Linseed Oil, Dammar Varnish, and the Beeswax Impasto Paste Medium for textural work. 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 Series 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. From that foundation, the cadmiums and cobalts are the natural next additions.

For artists interested in historical painting techniques or colour research, the Native Earths and the upper series colours are worth exploring specifically for what they offer that nothing else does. Vert Paolo Veronese, Fauve Orange, Adriatica Turquoise — these are not colours you will find on any other manufacturer's chart.

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. There is no reason a beginner cannot start with Wallace Seymour if they want to — better to learn on good paint than to upgrade later.

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. Neither is objectively superior — they suit different approaches and preferences.

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. Earth colours and lead-based whites dry relatively quickly; cadmiums and some blacks dry slowly. This is how oil paint behaved before the standardisation of modern manufacturing, and most artists find they adapt to it quickly. Adding 10 to 20 percent Fast Drying Oil Glaze Medium balances drying times if needed.

Do you stock Wallace Seymour oil paints in 150ml tubes? Yes — selected colours are available in 150ml tubes as well as the standard 40ml size.

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.