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Amanda, with all due respect for product reviews (no doubt they're very helpful in assessing mass market items) note how the WC review neither includes brands I mentioned (with the exception of M.Graham and Grumbacher) nor offers a wide enough sampling to be truly useful. Two brands have the greatest number of reviews, Gamblin with 13 and M.Graham with 10, which seems testimony to their availability, since both are distributed widely. Gamblin advertises heavily, which no doubt contributes to their edge over Graham.
WC's participation is comprised largely of beginners and hobbyists who pleasantly and agreeably solve troublesome issues of materials and methods by voting democratically. I note the paints sampled received an average, enthusiastic three and a half stars (none less than three) . . . which makes me wonder if a WC average reviewer's criteria for judging the quality of paint are knowledgeably based and objective. In questions of materials and methods (which are always conditional and subjective by degrees) it truly is necessary to know who's lying to you?
David Rourke is a serious, knowledgeable, professional artist who makes it a habit to sort facts from fiction when discussing painting materials and methods. You can usually call Robert Doak and speak with him personally, on the phone. He is no-nonsense, opinionated and direct; some find him abrasive and forbidding, but he has a lifetime invested in making good paint, and he is very experienced and knowledgeable. He is sincere and unquestionably honest.
You can't go wrong with Michael Harding paint.
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