When Golden Artist Colors acquired this vibrant legacy, it also inherited a particular challenge: for a handful of colors there were several master color swatches to chose from, each representing a slight variation in the underlying recipe over time. Carl's unexpected death caught the company in mid-stride, and left Golden with the task of choosing among these standards with the utmost care. To understand the original intent and history behind each color, we examined swatches and actual tubes of paint dating from 1992 to today. Artists with long histories of using Williamsburg Oils were consulted, as well as notes and written descriptions dating back to Williamsburg's earliest days. Lastly, we had access to the current paintmakers, other employees, and people intimately connected to their business and paintmaking operations in the past.

After sifting through all this input, we had to make some difficult choices guided by the question central to everything Williamsburg stands for: is it beautiful?

What follows is less a chronicling of where colors were changed as where some of them have alighted amidst the myriad shades of their incarnation. Inevitably these are judgment calls, but ones undertaken in the spirit of listening and looking at a history of choices informed by the passions of the painters and paintmakers at the heart of Williamsburg. By settling on these, we hope to establish master standards you can depend on. We also understand that we are stewards of colors that have flowed through so many hands over the years, in so many expressive ways, so we invite you to tell us what you think - both where we have hit the balance just right, and where we might have strayed. Changes are inevitable, and were part of the very fabric of Williamsburg from the beginning, as too was the willingness to listen.

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Please note that the adjustments to the following colors will take time, so it might be several months before you would notice any potential shift from the stock you have on hand.

Alizarin Yellow (PY 42, PY83)
Usually a very warm translucent tone, this color occasionally acquired a greener, denser masstone depending on the ratio of synthetic iron oxide and diarylide yellow used in the recipe. We based our version on a sample that displayed the color at its warmest and most beautiful.

Alizarin Orange (PR 177, PY 83)
Initially based on Alizarin Crimson, it changed in the 90s to a more durable mixture of Permanent Crimson and Indian Yellow. Over the years the color had a tendency to lean one way or another as pigment sourcing changed, but ultimately all the variations circled around a ruddy warm masstone that could break into bright notes of deep sunlit yellows. Not an easy feat to capture, but we feel that we succeeded.

Montserrat Orange (PW6, PW4 ,PO73 , PY83, PV19)
Reportedly inspired by the gown Montserrat Caballe wore on her opening night at the Metropolitan Opera, Cadmium Orange was at the center of this complex mixture until being replaced by Permanent Orange many years ago. We thought it essential not to lose touch with that original source of inspiration, so we scoured not just older paint swatches and wet samples, but even photographs of Montserrat herself, in hope of recapturing some of that vibrancy.

Persian Rose (PV19, PO 73, PW 6, PW 4)
Long associated with Williamsburg, this unique blend was originally made with Cadmium Orange to provide a pronounced warmth to the underlying tone. The color was adjusted over the years as different pigments were tried in place of the Cadmium. With this version, we were able to better approximate the original by using a shade of Permanent Orange that more closely matched its Cadmium cousin.

Dianthus Pink (PW6, PV19)
Taking its cue from the flower of the same name, and inspired by Rembrandt's "Lady with a Pink", the desire was always to avoid a generic bubble-gum shade. As with many mixtures that rely on organic pigments, this underwent subtle changes as sourcing for the underlying Quinacridones shifted over time. We tweaked the current recipe to match an older example we thought was particularly nice.

Permanent Green (PY3, PG7)
Like trying to balance a long stick, just a slight tilt one way or another can send this color into a different key altogether. The trick is preserving enough richness and depth to call the eye while avoiding the more strident greens that come easily with Phthalos. We believe we found that balance and invite you to let us know.

Cadmium Green (PY37, PG1)
While a seemingly simple and traditional mixture of Cadmium Yellow and Viridian Green, getting the blend 'just right' can take some finesse. Ideally, it should have a soft tone that sits back. We matched this version to a particularly nice one from several years ago.

King's Blue (PB29, PB15:3, PW6, PW4)
How soft or sharp this color appears depends entirely on the balance between the warm ultramarine and cooler phthalo at the heart of this blend. We have seen samples on both sides of that divide and tried to strike just the right note in adopting this version as our standard.

Sevres Blue (PB15:3, PW6, PW4)
Not content to simply match one of the variations we had on record, we researched the famous blue of Sevres porcelain to hold true to the original inspiration. In the end, we think this comes close to the bright, warm, sky blue Carl had in mind.

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Changes to the Labels

From the beginning handpainted bands of color and handwritten labels were part of Williamsburg's distinctive look and represented the personal care and attention paid to each tube. As the visibility of the company increased, however, so did the need to create a label that provided the type of information people expect while meeting both ASTM standards and oversea regulations. These issues were long recognized by Williamsburg and last year, prior to Golden's involvement with the company, new labels were created that initiated several positive changes. Each color now had its own unique information, complete with pigment identification and lightfastness rating, while color names could be printed in several languages, a requirement when selling the paint outside the United States. Unfortunately, these improvements made writing out the individual names of the colors as each tube was picked and packed too complicated and prone to errors.

Despite all these necessary changes, the cherished bands of colors will continue to be hand-painted and carefully wrapped around each tube after being hand-filled and individually inspected. The only change here is not of our doing but current regulations that prohibits the use of cadmium or lead on packaging. For any of these colors, we created close matches from other colors within our line.

You may notice a couple of other changes as well…

ASTM Lightfastness Ratings: In preparing new labels all information was carefully re-checked and adjusted to match the most recent ASTM standards. As a result, a handful of colors are now rated as Lightfastness II, which is still considered permanent, while some others are listed as Not Applicable (N/A). This latter is required whenever Lightfastness Ratings have not been obtained according to ASTM test protocol. In those cases, we rely on the manufacturer's data and our own testing to select the most durable pigments available.

Size: Because of the variability inherent in hand-filling tubes, we carefully examined the process and analyzed the range of volumes that could be expected from a large sample of filled tubes. As a result, we are changing the reported size on the label from 40ml to 37ml, believing this is a more realistic and reliable measure. However, as this new size begins to appear on our labels, it is important to note that we have not changed the process in any way, and the same tubes are being filled to the same levels as before. We simply want to better represent the natural range that was always present.