FAQ

Each Geneva color is made with high-grade pigment and artist-grade linseed oil, with a high pigment load. Our slow-dry medium is already mixed in, so the paint is ready to use straight from the tube. We add no driers and no solvents. The medium includes fresh, pure clove oil, which slows drying (see the clove oil questions below). Each product page lists the pigment code(s) for that color.

• Titanium White: PW6
• Bismuth Yellow: PY184
• Cadmium Yellow: PY35
• Cadmium Red: PR108
• Pyrrole Rubine: PR264
• Permanent Alizarin Crimson: PR177
• Dioxazine Purple: PV23
• French Ultramarine: PB29
• Phthalo Blue: PB15:4
• Phthalo Green: PG7
• Sap Green: PB60 + PY150
• Burnt Umber: PBr7
• Geneva Black: PB29 + PBr7 (a neutral black mixed from our French Ultramarine and Burnt Umber pigments)

Every Geneva color is rated Lightfastness I (Excellent), the highest category, based on the ASTM D4302 rating of each pigment. For colors made from more than one pigment, the rating is that of the least lightfast pigment, and every one of them is I.

Linseed oil, in every color, including Titanium White. Many brands make their whites with poppy or safflower oil. We use artist-grade linseed oil because it forms a stronger paint film.

No. Geneva paint is solvent-free and has medium pre-mixed into it, but it is traditional artists' oil paint and should be treated as such.

Yes. The Geneva palette was developed to work on its own, but you can mix it with other brands of artists' oil paint.

We add no driers to the paint or to the medium mixed into it, and the medium is formulated to slow drying. That is on purpose: Geneva paint was made for artists who work alla prima (wet-in-wet) and want to keep blending and adjusting over several days. All our colors dry at a similar rate, so you aren't racing fast-drying colors such as burnt umber.

Most colors stay wet on the canvas for about 7 to 10 days at 70°F (21°C), or about 36 hours at 100°F (38°C). Burnt Umber, which is naturally a very fast-drying pigment, stays wet for about 5 to 8 days. Typical burnt umbers from other brands dry in about ten hours. Drying time also depends on how thickly you paint and on room temperature.

Geneva paint is designed mainly for wet-in-wet painting. If you work in many thin layers and need each one dry within a day, the slow drying may not suit that method, and a faster-drying paint may be a better fit for those layers. You can also use Geneva alongside other brands.

Yes. Our slow-dry medium includes clove oil, an essential oil that slows the drying of oil paint. Mark Carder, Geneva's founder, has used clove oil in his paintings since 1987.

No. Clove oil is recommended by Ralph Mayer, one of the most respected authorities on artists' materials, in his classic book The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques. It evaporates completely in about a week at 70°F, leaving no residue in the paint film. Mark has used clove oil in his paintings since 1987, and that year he consulted the conservator John Bertalan, who saw no problems with it.

Yes. Clove oil is an essential oil that evaporates completely from the paint film and leaves no residue. Mark Carder has used it in his own paintings since 1987, and that year he consulted conservator John Bertalan, who saw no problems with it. Ralph Mayer's classic The Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques also recommends clove oil as a drying retardant. We use only very fresh, pure clove oil in Geneva paint.

Yes. Geneva paint is made with artist-grade linseed oil, which forms a strong film, and it has been thoroughly tested to form a durable long-term paint film. Our whites are made with linseed oil, not the weaker-film poppy or safflower oils. The clove oil in our medium evaporates out of the film as the paint dries.

No. Geneva Artists' Oil Color comes with our slow-dry medium already mixed in, so it is ready to use straight from the tube. You don't need to add any medium, oil, or solvent.

Wait until the painting has dried for about a couple of months, well beyond dry to the touch, before applying a final varnish. Mark Carder recommends a gloss varnish, such as Winsor & Newton Artists' Gloss Varnish, because it keeps darks rich. If you keep the painting in a very warm place above about 85°F (29°C), you can varnish after roughly three weeks; in a cold place, allow about twice as long. Don't use varnish, not even retouch varnish, if you still plan to paint more layers. Instead, oil out matte areas with a little refined linseed oil, and varnish only when the painting is finished.

Yes, we ship internationally. Some products, such as flammable items, may have shipping restrictions to certain countries. If a product you want isn't available to ship to your country, please contact us at support@genevafineart.com and we'll do our best to find a way to get it to you.

Geneva paint keeps in the tube as long as other quality artists' oil paints. Keep the cap on tight and store tubes at room temperature, and your paint will stay fresh and ready to use for years.

Geneva Artists' Oil Color is solvent-free and contains no driers, so you get no toxic fumes from solvents or driers while you paint. Like all artists' pigments, some colors need care: our Cadmium Red and Cadmium Yellow contain cadmium and carry a California Proposition 65 warning. Follow normal studio hygiene (don't eat while painting, and wash your hands afterward). Geneva Foundation Canvas Stain is a separate product. It contains artist-grade odorless mineral spirits, so use it only with adequate ventilation.

Geneva Fine Art Supplies makes it. Every tube is 100% made by us in the USA.

Geneva was founded by Mark Carder, the painter and teacher behind DrawMixPaint. See About Us for our story.

No. Geneva Artists' Oil Color is in production and for sale at genevafineart.com, in 50 ml and 100 ml tubes and as the Essential Palette sets.

Directly from us at genevafineart.com.

Those are excellent paints, and the main differences are in the design. Most brands sell paint without medium, and drying times vary from pigment to pigment. Geneva comes with a slow-dry medium already mixed in, contains no driers, and all colors dry at a similar slow rate (about 5 to 10 days). Geneva is sold in 50 ml and 100 ml tubes, while many artist-grade lines use 37 to 40 ml tubes. Our range is deliberately small and built around a limited palette for color mixing. Geneva is the better fit for wet-in-wet, alla prima painters. If you rely on fast drying for layered work, a conventional paint may suit you better.

Yes, especially for learning color mixing. The five-color Essential Palette (Titanium White, Bismuth Yellow, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Umber and French Ultramarine) can mix the vast majority of colors you see. The paint is ready to use, so you don't need to add medium. Mark Carder's free lessons at DrawMixPaint.com are designed around this palette.

It is a five-color limited palette: Titanium White, Bismuth Yellow, Permanent Alizarin Crimson, Burnt Umber and French Ultramarine. It comes in 50 ml or 100 ml tubes, discounted 10% from the price of the individual tubes.

Yes. Watch this video on color-matching en plein air or from a screen (such as a computer monitor or tablet).

Yes.

No. For matching colors from printed photos, we recommend laminating the photo and checking your colors by applying paint directly to the photograph. Detailed instructions are at drawmixpaint.com.