Jun 10
Evolution of the Paint Tube
We at Winsor & Newton pride ourselves on adapting to progress and instigating change in our industry. In this series, we are highlighting items from our extensive archive to showcase our proudest innovations. First up: we review the evolution of the paint tube.
Artist Pierre-Auguste Renoir is quoted as saying that, "Without paint in tubes there would have been…nothing of what the journalists were later to call Impressionists." Winsor & Newton’s own William Winsor patented a particular iteration of the tube which significantly impacted upon artists’ use of colour.
These revolutionary artists including Claude Monet headed outside to paint ‘en plein air’ in order to ‘capture the snapshot’, thus celebrating the everyday and changing the art world forever. The portability of paint tubes was integral to such practices.
The metal paint tube was first invented by American oil painter John Goffe Rand as a way of transporting paints to use outside. The tubes were in fact syringes which were used to squeeze out paint and preserved the paint for a longer time, allowing artists increased flexibility and the possibility of a larger palette as colours took longer to perish.
Upon hearing of this stunning innovation William Winsor immediately sought the patent as Winsor & Newton were the only colourmen producing moist water colour. Once the patent was secured, William Winsor added one essential improvement to this design: the all-important screw cap. Thusly, the paint tube we know and love was born.
In the photo above, you can track the journey from the traditional bladders to the introduction of the syringe tube in 1840 to the Tube Cap introduced in 1904.
Originals and Translations
Whether the work is an abstraction or representation, analog or digital, my creative process is the same and encourages cross-pollination between all four. Although I use digital processes and printing to make limited edition 'translations' of my paintings, each piece is first completed as an original using traditional media.
Water makes inks and pigments bleed, blend, and run amok. My process encourages this irreverent behavior. First I flood water and pigment across a horizontal unprimed canvas. I add shapes and lines with paint and ink. Unpredicted and unbalanced elements appear and the painting process, a continuous realignment and re-balancing, begins. The idea is to coax line, color, and shape 'accidents' into associations that no longer appear to be accidental, and yet are removed from contrivance.
The process unfolds, layer-upon-layer, wash-upon-wash, until disparate elements reach a kind of equilibrium. The painting is finished when the shapes, and the ideas they represent, become one.
I pull the shapes from nature, observations of light, the constructs of western abstraction, and the geometry of Asian color fields and line styles. The ideas come from the wonderful nexus of science, art, joy, empathy, and the unknown.
Art in the Neighborhood
ArtSpan’s Art-in-Neighborhoods program serves the city of San Francisco by connecting communities with local artists while activating spaces with vibrant, locally-made artwork. ArtSpan partners with local businesses and building owners to bring art studios, art exhibitions, and art events to businesses, dormant storefronts, and empty spaces. Local artists who are ArtSpan members are given the opportunity to create, display, promote, and sell their artwork in these diverse venues. All aspects of the program allow otherwise unused walls, spaces, or properties to become creative arenas for celebrating local arts.
