Oil Color

We set out to make a paint Da Vinci would use. This is it.

In the tradition of the masters, M. Graham artists’ oil color is made with pure walnut oil for its brilliance, clarity, texture, and resistance to fading and yellowing. Working in small batches, we craft oil colors true to the roots of Renaissance painting: delicately free-flowing, solvent-free, and with no fillers or additives.

With the exceptionally high pigment loads in M. Graham artists’ oil colors, your work will naturally feel more alive and vibrant, imbued with rich, lustrous color for years to come.

Filter by color
Bismuth Yellow 019
Hansa Yellow 107
Cadmium Yellow Light 070
Azo Yellow 018
Hansa Yellow Deep 106
Cadmium Yellow 060
Cadmium Yellow Deep 063
Indian Yellow 109
Azo Orange 017
Cadmium Orange 038
Scarlet Pyrrol 176
Azo Coral 015
Cadmium Red Light 050
Naphthol Red 120
Cadmium Red 040
Quinacridone Red 155
Pyrrol Red 154
Cadmium Red Deep 045
Quinacridone Rose 156
Anthraquinone Red 014
Alizarin Crimson 010
Maroon Perylene 113
Quinacridone Violet 158
Mineral Violet 116
Ultramarine Purple 192
Dioxazine Purple 100
Ultramarine Violet 193
Anthraquinone Blue 012
Ultramarine Blue 190
Cobalt Blue 090
Cerulean Blue 080
Manganese Blue Hue 114
Phthalocyanine Blue Red Shade 141
Phthalocyanine Blue 140
Prussian Blue 153
Cobalt Teal 097
Cobalt Turquoise 098
Turquoise 189
Phthalocyanine Green 150
Viridian 195
Emerald Green 103
Phthalocyanine Green Yellow Shade 151
Cobalt Green 095
Permanent Green Light 130
Permanent Green Pale 131
Chromium Oxide Green 086
Green Earth 104
Sap Green (Permanent) 174
Olive Green 125
Azo Green 016
Naples Yellow 121
Chrome Tin Yellow 087
Nickel Azo Yellow 123
Yellow Ochre 200
Raw Sienna 160
Transparent Yellow Iron Oxide 188
Nickel Quinacridone Gold 124
Transparent Orange Iron Oxide 186
Quinacridone Rust 157
Transparent Red Iron Oxide 187
Burnt Sienna 020
Terra Rosa 179
Burnt Umber 030
Raw Umber 170
Van Dyke Brown 194
Ivory Black 110
Mars Black 115
Chroma Black 075
Lamp Black 112
Payne’s Gray 128
Warm White (Unbleached Titanium) 198
Titanium White Sunflower 181
Titanium White 180
Titanium White Rapid Dry 185
Zinc White 205
Walnut/Alkyd Medium

Concentrated Walnut/Alkyd Medium thins the color, accelerates drying, enhances adhesion between layers and increases surface sheen and flexibility while remaining essentially non-yellowing.  Ideally suited for alla-prima and glaze applications.  Walnut/Alkyd Medium is certified nontoxic.

Our walnut/alkyd medium is designed to augment the special nature of our oil color but is also completely compatible with other artists oil colors and mediums.

Size
4 oz  8 oz  32 oz  

Walnut Oil

Walnut oil effectively removes color from artists’ brushes and is a natural vegetable oil that does not evaporate or remove essential oils from the artists’ brushes.  The addition of walnut oil to color will slow drying, enhance flow and increase sheen.

Our walnut oil medium is designed to augment the special nature of our oil color but is also completely compatible with other artists oil colors and mediums.

Size
4 oz  8 oz  32 oz  

Technical Paint Info

Composition and Permanence
The color index name is established and published by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists and The Society of Dyers and Colourists. The color index name is a generic category and does not refer to a specific pigment. While it enables the artist to form a general idea of opacity, transparency and lightfastness, for a pigment in a certain color space, it does not provide definitive information. Many grades of pigment are available from a number of manufactures with a very wide range of physical attributes.

Chemical Name
The chemical name is a brief, commonly used generic type designation of the pigment types composition. in conjunction with the color index name, the chemical name can be used to broaden the artists understanding of the source and nature of the pigment used.

Permanence
The permanence of a color is a measure of the lightfastness of the pigment when dispersed in a vehicle and subjected to conditions which emulate the exposure normally given a fine arts object. Such ratings are generally considered vehicle or media dependent and can vary between media – thus pigment which is suitably lightfast for oil color, might not be lightfast in watercolor. Our ratings utilize a combination of historical data, accelerated testing and data from pigment manufacturers to establish one of the toughest standards among artists colormakers today.

Transparency and Opacity
Each of our colors has been provided a designation indicating relative degrees of transparency to opacity. Please consider these as a guideline because any thin film application, while not necessarily transparent, can be interpreted by the view as such.

Health and Safety
Our colors have been evaluated by a board-certified toxicologist in a manner consistent with current legislation and Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines. Where needed, labels carry specific instructions on safe use and handling as well as information required by the State of California to comply with Proposition 65.

Artists’ colors are preparations of a variety of materials and when handled correctly should not represent a serious hazard to health based on our current knowledge. We do recommend artists use normal safe-handling care and practice when working with our or any manufacturers’ color, including not applying color to the skin, taking care not to ingest the product, not smoking/drinking or eating while working and carefully reading all labels for specific warnings. For more information, please refer to our Safety Data Sheet or write to us at
M. Graham
PO Box 404
Hubbard, OR  97032

ASTM D4236
ASTM is a standard practice for labeling art materials for chronic health hazards. A statement of conformity to this standard appears on each of our labels to assure the artist that our formulations have been independently reviewed by a certified toxicologist and that required cautions and warnings are in place for the artists’ guidance.

Children
Our colors are professional products not intended for use by children under thirteen.

Why Walnut Oil

Centuries after they were painted in walnut oil, works of art by Raphael, Dürer and Da Vinci still retain their luster and richness. Why?

Walnut oil has a unique refractive index. Colors ground in this fine oil are more jewel-like and bright. Using walnut oil allows us to increase the amount of pigment of each color, resulting in paints with the highest possible mass tone and tint strength—and paintings saturated with extraordinary color.

Solvent Free

The Renaissance masters didn’t have to use solvents—and neither do you.

We dedicated ourselves to creating solvent-free artists’ oil colors 25 years ago and we’re proud to stay true to that commitment. Avoiding solvents is better for artists, paintings, students, our employees, and the environment.