Hello Ladies, how's the flower arranging this week?
My cote d'arms shipment arrived recently on the same day as my deluxe ceramic dimple palette- so an evening of old school painting commenced!
For those who do not know, Cote d'arms and citadels first line of paints are one and the same! Made by the same company, same formula, same colors and even the same dinky little pots. The same company makes p3 paints too- yay them!
When I discovered this little fact recently I immediately jumped online and ordered a set- since these where the paints I remember from before my huge mini hiatus- I vividly remember the smell and properties as if it was yesterday.
Well, the first three bottles smelt different - an almost alcohol tinged smell, but the black is exactly the scent I associate with The Monster paint set!
I was hurled back through time on the giddy wings of my nostrils to 1983.
Man, our clothes sucked.
The paints are brilliant- I highly recommend them, both on value and pigment. The deadly nightshade, blazing orange, titalating pink and goblin green are fabulous colors. The nice thing is a lot of the colors are toned down from the garish shades citadel switched to in the 1990s- and the cool/warm versions of colors are more exaggerated- so with the goblin green you get a pleasantly muted bluer green- perfect as a cool partner to the warm citadel camo green. The blazing orange is more akin to that which you see classic John blanche figured get their skin and sun shields- cooler and a little more towards the magenta hue than citadels current Chinese made brand.
It's shamefully cheaper for me to buy a big batch of cote d'arms and ship it 12,000 miles than it is to buy a smaller equivalent of citadel here, which will surprise no one.
I painted a classic masked citadel wizard based on one in a Colin Dixon diorama and I have to declare my love for the paint. Matching classic paint jobs is now so much easier now I have the same paints!
New pics when I get some time- I am blogging this on a bus between meetings. (sigh)
I can recommend these paints to, they are brilliant. But my all time favorite paints are the old Ral Partha paints, 3/4 oz, great pots and fantastic paints. Unfortunately discontinued ;(
ReplyDeleteI agree- a lot of the discontinued citadel colors were unfortunately better than the new formulas. I still have a prize pot of the original formula of chestnut ink- easily my favorite from the old expert set. I only use it on the most prized of minis to avoid using it up. It gives a perfect mahogany hue to wood and looks great on leather satchels and bags. The old yellow paints, though...not so great!
ReplyDeleteYup - Have to agree I have several CDA paints and inks still in service after many many years. An I too have some of the inks that I always go back to (and have a special reserve of) - The flesh wash is such a wonderful tone for bringing out yellows. The P3 paints are also awesome. I attended a masterclass this summer with Mathieu Fontaine and they are the only paints he recommended.
ReplyDeleteDave - check your email!
I spotted some ral partha paints on the us ebay- run and you may catch them!
ReplyDeleteI swear by Windsor and newton inks for that retro feel- as these where the ones commonly available at the time of the 1980's era white dwarf-before citadel inks and they produce a striking depth and contrast- and several brown shades that make everything richer when you glaze.
I have a policy of not getting into anything I cannot replace, so though tempted by discontinued paints online, I won't bid.
Does anyone remember those screw top miniature paints?