Carl Plansky did not start out making paint as a commercial enterprise, but as part of a centuries-old tradition of the artist-craftsman. He got his first paint mill in 1985 from Milton Resnick. Resnick used the mill for making voluminous amounts of oil paint used in his work. The arduous task of making his own paint, however, took its toll in time and energy, so he eventually gave the mill to Carl in return for having paint made for him.

The mill gave Carl freedom to play with materials on a larger scale than is usually available to studio artists. Like medieval alchemists, he moved about machinery and mixtures in his Brooklyn studio with his beloved dog Bessie trailing behind and grand opera music blaring from his stereo. He mixed oils, resins, and waxes to make mediums of different consistencies and glosses. He created a paint that was dense and richly pigmented. He liked it, as did friends who found (to their delight) that they knew not only someone who made paint, but made it incredibly well.

In 1986, after selling or trading pint and quart size cans of paint to artists like Susanna Coffey, Bill Jensen, and Michael Goldberg, as well as Resnick, Carl realized that he had created a groundswell of interest in what he dubbed Williamsburg Oil Paints. Having studied at the New York Studio School and worked at David Davis Fine Art Materials and Torch Art Supply, Carl had cultivated a huge number of friends in the New York artist community. The groundswell eventually became legend and color after color appeared in the line.

What set Williamsburg apart from many other oil paints on the market was Carl himself. Complex mixes with surprise undertones, like Courbet Green, came out of his studio, out of the plan or accident of painting. Carl never stopped painting and, as the business grew beyond a one-person operation, he trained his paint makers to make paint like artists. This is the tradition at Williamsburg Handmade Oil Colors, and we are dedicated to continuing Carl's legacy.

Carl Plansky, the founder of Williamsburg Artist Materials died on October 10th 2009. He was 58.