Natural
Earth pigments
Ochres, umbers, siennas. Slightly variable tone batch to batch, a softer note and excellent permanence. For a quiet effect.
Colour atelier
Paint that holds its tone
Pigments and mixed shades for painting. Small batches, measured lightfastness, honest pigment load.
2026 batch · mixed in Austria · colour card on request
From pigment to tube
Four steps decide whether the paint holds its tone. None of them can be rushed.
- 01
Choosing the pigment
Every pigment has its own lightfastness and covering power. We only take those that do not fade in testing — with cheap substitutes the difference shows months later on the wall.
- 02
Milling and dispersion
The pigment is ground and dispersed in the binder. The finer and more even the dispersion, the richer the tone and the less the colour shifts as it dries.
- 03
Binder and fillers
The pigment-to-binder ratio decides coverage. Budget ranges pad it with fillers — it looks the same in the tube and covers half as well on canvas.
- 04
Batch control
From each batch we draw a sample, draw it down on a card and compare it against the reference. The tone must not drift between batches.
Selected shades
We test every batch for lightfastness and coverage before we offer it. What fails, we do not sell.
Artist range
Higher pigment load, no fillers, measured lightfastness. For work meant to last.
Studio range
Lower pigment concentration at a lower price. For sketches, practice and large areas.
Glaze or cover
Same paint, different thinning. Depending on whether the ground should show through or disappear.
Glazing coat
A translucent layer the ground shows through. For shading and depth of tone.
- Paint : thinner
- 1 : 3
- Number of coats
- 2–3
- Touch dry
- 20 min
- Tool
- soft brush
Covering coat
Full coverage. Applied thicker and in two coats so brush marks do not read through.
- Paint : thinner
- 4 : 1
- Number of coats
- 2
- Touch dry
- 60 min
- Tool
- flat brush
Drying times assume 20 °C and normal humidity. In cold or damp conditions they can double — never lay a second coat over a first that is still wet.
Natural and synthetic
Two pigment sources, two behaviours. Neither is better — they differ.
Synthetic
Modern pigments
Phthalocyanines, quinacridones. Exactly repeatable tone, higher saturation and tinting strength. For clean, bright colour.
Guides
On thinning, mixing shades, and what we learned along the way.
What are powder paints and why work with them?
You receive the pigment dry and decide its concentration, use and intensity yourself — that control is the whole point.
How to mix powder pigment correctly
Mixing is simple, but the method decides how the colour turns out. Wet the pigment well and work slowly.
Transparent or opaque? Controlling how a pigment behaves
The same colour can be a soft translucent layer or a bold opaque surface. Concentration and application decide.