I was lucky enough to be recently given two high end Michael Harding colours. Cerulean blue and genuine Chinese Vermillion. I have now, sparringly, used both. I don’t think I’m a paint snob. I often buy Jacksons own oil paints for the majority of my pallette, convinced they are the exact same as the more expensive brand equivalents. The brand alone is what ups the price, not the product.

You only need to browse through Michael hardings website to realise that his paints are something beyond cost through branding (not that his brand is not a huge part of his sucess). Long story short…

The Vermillion is fantastic, and it should be. It has both a depth of colour and a luminosity which glows. Its almost the other end, in terms of how to work it, from Hardings Brilliant Pink. With the brilliant pink you seem to get the best from it by either mixing or applying and then pulling off, to leave traces and transparent patches. This Vermillion needs to be left to stand alone. Sit it over a colour, but give it enough body that it dominates them. It is a soloist.

The Cerulean blue is in a different league to the current version I have. I used both today. The glow of the standard version seems so artificial in comparison.