Michael Harding Refined Safflower Oil

Michael Harding Refined Safflower Oil

What happens when an artist can’t find the paints he dreams of? He makes his own. That’s exactly what Michael Harding did back in 1982.
Inspired by the rich, glowing hues in Rembrandt’s paintings, Harding set out to create oil paints that would match the depth, vibrancy, and texture of the Old Masters. The result? Michael Harding Artists Oil Colour – world-renowned for its unmatched quality, handcrafted excellence, and pigment-rich intensity.

Now you can explore Michael Harding’s growing range of oil paints, watercolours, mediums, and varnishes – all created with the same passion for quality.

Used by leading institutions like the Royal College of Art and loved by artists like David Hockney, these paints are more than just materials – they’re a return to the heart of painting.

With Michael Harding paint like the masters - your brush deserves this!

About this product:

• Refined Safflower Oil is bright, clean, and one of the highest in colour for oil;
  
• Safflower oil is a pale, slow-drying oil that can be used to brighten and thin oil paints;
  
• As it is a paler yellow than linseed oil, paler pigments (whites and pale blues especially) maintain their brightness when mixed with safflower oil;
  
• Paints thinned with this product should not be used under faster drying layers;
  
• Safflower oil possesses properties similar to those of poppy oil. However, it forms a more flexible paint film than poppy oil and so is more suited to painting on flexible supports like stretched canvasses;
  
• It is also well suited as a glazing oil;
  
• Safflower Oil is popular for grinding whites and light-coloured pigments.