gamblin or michael harding, I still can't decide
I've been going back and forth for years on this and it's ridiculous. For the figure work I do, the flesh tones especially, I want paint that stays where I put it and doesn't go dead when it dries. Michael Harding makes the most beautiful Naples yellow I've ever used, the texture is like butter straight from the tube. But I keep ordering Gamblin for the studio because it's half the price and honestly the consistency is more reliable batch to batch.
Today I had both open on the table. Squinting at two identical piles of titanium white like a lunatic. My husband came in and said "just pick one, Camille." He doesn't understand this is not a practical decision, it's a spiritual one.
What do you use and why. But don't tell me Williamsburg unless you want me to argue with you.
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i have had this exact same crisis but with ultramarine. harding is like... the high end of everything, the texture is genuinely obscene, but i can't justify it for the amount i burn through. gamblin is the practical choice and i resent that it's the practical choice lol.
the thing that finally settled it for me was mixing. harding pigments are so specific that if you switch brands mid-painting you can feel it immediately. gamblin is more forgiving if you're hopping around. so now harding is my "i'm doing something i care about" paint and gamblin is my "this is a commission and i need it to behave" paint. both get used, just for different kinds of peace of mind.
the mixing thing is SO real and nobody talks about it enough. i had this moment where i was working on a portrait and ran out of harding raw umber mid-session, grabbed my gamblin to finish, and the whole left side of the face just... sat differently. not bad necessarily but you could FEEL the switch. drove me insane.
now i keep harding for the key colors i can't compromise on and gamble (lol) on gamblin for everything else. it's a system. kind of hate that i have a system about paint but here we are 😭
The system. I have a system too and I also hate that I have one. But you're right, Harding for the irreplaceable ones, Gamblin for the workhorse colors. I keep telling myself it's pragmatic but really it's just being too attached to that Harding Naples yellow to give it up entirely.
Also, the raw umber story, that left side of the face sitting different. I know exactly what you mean. It's subtle but it's there and once you see it you can't unsee it.
You've put your finger on it exactly. The mixing thing is real, Harding pigments have such a distinct character that switching brands feels like changing languages mid-sentence. Gamblin is more anonymous, and that's what makes it work for knocking things out.
I do the same hierarchy you do. Harding for the paintings I'm not sure I can pull off. Gamblin for the ones I already know how to do. The expensive paint makes me pay attention, you know? Can't waste it on something half-hearted.