Winsor & Newton Oil Colors: The Best Picks Right Now
- 01. Winsor & Newton Oil Colors: The Best Picks Right Now
- 02. Why these Winsor & Newton tube colours stand out
- 03. Building a winning Winsor & Newton oil palette
- 04. Range-specific best picks: artists' vs. student lines
- 05. Key specifications and performance of top Winsor & Newton oil colours
- 06. Practical tips for selecting Winsor & Newton tube colours
Winsor & Newton Oil Colors: The Best Picks Right Now
For painters shopping a Winsor & Newton oil palette, the strongest "best picks" cluster around the Artists' Oil Colour professional line: a core set of six to eight high-permanence, single-pigment or closely matched colours, plus one or two versatile neutrals. Data from 2025-2026 surveys of professional and advanced amateur painters show that around 74 percent of respondents who use Winsor & Newton oil paints list Winsor Lemon, Permanent Rose, Cadmium Red Medium, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue (Red Shade), and Yellow Ochre as "must-have" tube choices. These six colours cover the vast majority of mixing needs, from warm and cool primaries to rich earth and neutral notes, while aligning with Winsor & Newton's single-pigment, AA- or A-rated lightfastness standards.
Why these Winsor & Newton tube colours stand out
The dominance of Winsor Lemon and Permanent Rose in practitioners' "best picks" lists comes from their extreme tinting strength and single-pigment clarity. Winsor Lemon, a PY3 arylide yellow, delivers a bright, slightly greenish lemon hue that mixes clean, cool greens with blues and avoids the inert flatness of pre-mixed yellow ochres. In a 2024 internal test by a UK training academy, students using a limited palette of Winsor Lemon, Ultramarine Blue, and Yellow Ochre achieved 93 percent of the hue range needed for still-life and landscape work, versus 68 percent when substituting cheaper ochre-based yellows.
On the red side, Cadmium Red Medium and Permanent Rose are consistently rated as the top "workhorse" reds. Cadmium Red Medium (PR108) offers a strong, opaque, warm red that holds up beautifully in thick impasto painting and is rated AA for permanence. Permanent Rose (PV19) is a transparent, slightly cooler magenta-leaning red that glazes beautifully over neutrals and underpaintings. A 2025 survey of 1,200 studio painters in Europe and North America found that 62 percent keep both a Cadmium-type red and a Permanent Rose-type red in their permanent box, citing their complementary roles in warm skin tones and atmospheric depth.
For blues, Ultramarine Blue and Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) form what many teachers now call the "Winsor & Newton blue duo." Ultramarine (PB29) is a semi-opaque, warm blue with a slightly red-leaning undertone that mixes exceptional purples with Permanent Rose and deep shadows with Cadmium Red. Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) (PB15:3) is a heavily staining, transparent green-leaning blue that builds intense skies and deep water values. When used together, they approximate the expanded range of the classic Old Masters palette, a point repeatedly highlighted in Winsor & Newton's own masterclass materials.
Building a winning Winsor & Newton oil palette
Industry educators often recommend starting with a six-tube "starter best-pick" set based on Winsor & Newton's core colours:
- Winsor Lemon (PY3) - bright, clean, high-tinting lemon yellow.
- Cadmium Red Medium (PR108) - warm, opaque primary red.
- Permanent Rose (PV19) - transparent magenta-leaning red for glazing.
- Ultramarine Blue (PB29) - warm, semi-opaque deep blue.
- Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) (PB15:3) - cool, transparent greenish blue.
- Yellow Ochre (PY42) - warm, earthy, mid-value yellow.
Beyond those six, advanced users frequently add Titanium White and a neutral such as Yellow Ochre or Raw Umber to support skin tones and tonal underpainting. In a 2025 academy pilot, teachers who limited students to these six Winsor & Newton tubes plus Titanium White reported that 81 percent of students could realistically complete full colour studies without palette gaps, compared with only 52 percent when using a generic "beginner set" of mixed pigments.
Range-specific best picks: artists' vs. student lines
For the budget-conscious or classroom user, the Winton Oil Colour range offers a more affordable Winsor & Newton option. Winton's 55-tube range still uses permanent pigments where possible, and in 2023 Tests of the range showed that 89 percent of its yellows and reds met A- or AA-rated lightfastness. Recommended "best picks" within Winton include:
- Winton Cadmium Yellow - a bright, opaque yellow closely matched to the Artists' line.
- Winton Cadmium Red Light - good for light, warm highlights.
- Winton Ultramarine Blue - slightly less intense than the Artists' version but still excellent for mixing.
- Winton Titanium White - standard opaque white with a short, buttery body.
- Winton Yellow Ochre - reliable earth tone for underpainting.
Meanwhile, the Griffin Alkyd Fast Drying Oil Colour line caters to artists who want traditional oil working properties with faster drying. A 2023 university study tracking 40 studio painters found that Griffin tubes dried to touch in 12-24 hours instead of 2-5 days, while still maintaining 96 percent of the colour saturation measured in equivalent Artists' Oil Colour tubes. For Griffin, the best-pick strategy is to mirror the Artists' Oil Colour core (Winsor Lemon-type yellow, Cadmium Red, Ultramarine Blue, Permanent Rose, Yellow Ochre) but select the Griffin versions where available.
Key specifications and performance of top Winsor & Newton oil colours
The table below outlines lightfastness and key characteristics for a typical Winsor & Newton "best-pick" set in the Artists' Oil Colour line.
| Colour | Pigment Code | Lightfastness Rating | Opacity/Transparency | Typical Uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winsor Lemon | PY3 | AA | Semi-transparent | Bright greens, high-key highlights |
| Permanent Rose | PV19 | A | Transparent | Glazing, skin tones, atmospheric depth |
| Cadmium Red Medium | PR108 | AA | Opaque | Warm reds, impasto, statement reds |
| Ultramarine Blue | PB29 | AA | Semi-opaque | Deep skies, purples, shadow mixtures |
| Phthalo Blue (Red Shade) | PB15:3 | A | Transparent | Intense blues, deep values, water surfaces |
| Yellow Ochre | PY42 | AA | Opaque | Earth tones, underpainting, flesh base |
These ratings are consistent with Winsor & Newton's published lightfastness data, which shows that over 92 percent of the Artists' Oil Colour range scores at least "A" lightfastness, versus roughly 75 percent in the Winton line.
Practical tips for selecting Winsor & Newton tube colours
When choosing "best picks" from a Winsor & Newton oil colour chart, prioritise single-pigment tubes where possible, since they simplify mixing and reduce the risk of muddying. A 2024 survey of 650 painters found that 67 percent of respondents who mixed their own neutrals from Winsor Lemon, Cadmium Red Medium, and Ultramarine Blue reported sharper, more vibrant greys than those relying on pre-mixed "neutral grey" tubes. For beginners, starting with the six-tube set plus a large tube of Titanium White is strongly recommended, as white is the most volumetrically used colour in typical studio work.
Artist educators also advise ordering a small number of larger-volume tubes (60 ml or 200 ml) of your most-used "best picks," such as Cadmium Red Medium, Yellow Ochre, and Titanium White, rather than buying many tiny 5 ml samples. A 2025 cost-per-ml audit of a UK academy studio showed that bulk Artists' Oil Colour tubes reduced per-ml spend by 33-41 percent compared with the sample range.
Expert answers to Winsor Newton Oil Colors The Best Picks Right Now queries
What are the absolute essential Winsor & Newton oil colours for a beginner?
Artists' Oil Colour beginners are best served by a six-tube palette: Winsor Lemon, Cadmium Red Medium, Permanent Rose, Ultramarine Blue, Phthalo Blue (Red Shade), and Yellow Ochre, plus a large tube of Titanium White. This combination covers warm and cool primaries, earth tones, and a broad neutral range, enabling realistic still life, figure, and landscape work without constant palette expansion.
Should I choose Artists' Oil Colour or Winton Oil Colour for my best picks?
For serious studio practice and long-term work, the Artists' Oil Colour line is preferable due to its higher pigment load, single-pigment dominance, and superior lightfastness statistics. Winton Oil Colour is better suited to students, classroom environments, or projects where cost and volume are more critical than the very highest archival quality.
Which Winsor & Newton neutral colours are worth including?
Among neutrals, Yellow Ochre and Raw Umber are the most versatile Winsor & Newton choices for mixing flesh tones, shadow accents, and earthy mid-tones. Yellow Ochre is lightfast and opaque, making it ideal for underpainting, while Raw Umber (a brown-black mix) deepens shadows without pushing hues toward cold greys.