Information on paints
På SvenskaThis text is about Swedish online shops with artist materials. It is probably not interesting for visitors from other countries, or this problem is more general and applies to you as well.
Swedish online stores that sell watercolor paint are bad at describing what they sell. Feel free to share your experiences where you live. Is it possible to get sensible information about a certain color from your online shops, or are they as bad as they are in Sweden?
When I buy a color that I haven’t used before, I need to know something about it before I decide to put it in the basket. Which pigment is included is of course completely decisive, but the properties of the paint such as granulation, transparency and how much it adheres to the paper are also important information. If the color has a history, this is nice to have described, maybe even some tips on the area of use and mixing possibilities.
Swedish webshops are usually bad at providing such information. Some have no description at all, but the only information is a painted color sample, sometimes a bad one.
Could you imagine buying any other product online without a description of the item? A camera, frying pan or a book with a picture as the only description, probably not. That online shops can sell artist materials without mentioning anything about the product’s properties only works if we still buy the goods. The next time you buy paint online, call or email and ask what pigment the paint is made of, and whether it is opaque or transparent, it might speed up the webshop’s begun improvement.
I have gone through the major online shops and searched for this information. Hope this can be useful information for you.
The ratings only apply to how well the colors are described, nothing else.
Best
Hammarö Ramverkstad – https://hammaroram.se/
They have the following range of colours: Daniel Smith, Kuretake Gansai Tambi, Sennelier, ShinHan and Winsor & Newton. All colors are described, for Kuretake Gansai Tambi only the pigments included (that’s the most important thing) are described, all other colors have a good description with basic information.
WESTERS ART – https://www.westersart.se/
The first store that had Daniel Smith’s colors in Sweden, I think, at least it was the first one that I found and bought from. Daniel Smith is also the only color in their limited range, All the colors are described with all the necessary information, in addition, each color is followed by a nice text on how to use this particular color. (The texts are admittedly “borrowed” and translated from the manufacturer, but are still welcome.)
I guess they’re OK
FÄRG – https://www.farg.nu/
Daniel Smith, Kremer, Sennelier, St. Petersburg and Winsor & Newton are a decent range of paint, it’s very nice that they have Kremer watercolor paint, the only shop in Sweden (I think) that has these good colors. Most colors have a description of transparency, lightfastness and pigment, but some colors lack a description. Some colors are described more extensively. Some descriptions are in English.
IB WAHLSTRÖM – https://www.ibwahlstrom.se/
IB Wahlström has a decent range of watercolors: Schminke, Rembrandt, Rosa Gallery, Gansai Tambi, Winsor Newton and W&N Cotman. Rosa Gallery is described only with pigment, light fastness and transparency. It’s a little sparse but always something. As for W&N, the descriptions is scattered quite a bit. Some are in English, some have many aspects described while some have none. Some have tables of symbols, others do not. W&N Cotman, Schminke and Rembrandt completely lack descriptions.
ZINKVVIT – https://www.zinkvit.se/
Daniel Smith’s colors are well described, the text is taken directly from the manufacturer’s website and is in English. No other colors have any description. For Golden QoR there is a description of properties if you look up the correct image of the color. Luka’s colors are described with pigments in the image. The shop has the following colors: Daniel Smith, Golden QoR, Lukas, Schmincke, Van Gogh (Talens) and Winsor & Newton.
Not so good
PANDURO (and Kreatima) – https://panduro.com/
Daniel Smith, Rembrandt (Talents), Schmincke, Van Gogh (Talents) and Winsor & Newton. Only Daniel Smith’s colors have a description and a very simple one at that.
Poor
ARTISTICA – https://artistica.nu/
The following brands are available at Artistica: Winsor & Newton, ROSA Gallery, Schmincke, Daniel Smith and Aquafine (Daler-Rowney). No color is described.
ART OF VEDA – https://www.artofveda.com/
They have Winsor & Newton, W&N Cotman, Van Gogh (Talens) and St. Petersburg. None of the colors have any description.
FÄRGPALETTEN – https://shop.fargpaletten.se/
They have these brands available: Van Gogh, Rembrandt (both from Talens), ROSA Gallery and Daniel Smith. None of the colors have any description.
PEN STORE – https://penstore.se/
ShinHan, Schmincke and Winsor & Newton. All colors have no description.
BOESNER – https://www.boesner.se/
Schmincke, Winsor & Newton, Lukas, Van Gogh (Talens) and their own colors Aquarell Studio. None of the colors are described.
SKAPAMER – https://www.skapamer.se/
A gigantic range of paints: ShinHan, W&N Cotman, Winsor & Newton, Van Gogh (Talens), ShinHan, W&N Cotman, Lukas, Rembrandt (Talens), Aquafine (Daler-Rowney), Sennelier, Daler-Rowney and Lukas Studio, but no description of any color.
Very bad
MATTON – https://www.mattonbutiken.se/
They only have Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith and St. Petersburg and all colors lack description. Also, painted color samples are missing so it’s really a guessing game to buy paint from Matton, but the prices are good.
KONSTNÄRERNAS CENTRALKÖP – https://konstnarernas.se/
Winsor & Newton, Kuretake, W&N Cotman and Rosa Gallery. The colors are shown in the list, the only description is a very small painted color sample, for some just a picture of the watercolor pan.
