Comments about John Howard Sanden Pro-Mix Portrait Artists' Oil Colors:

The colors are great but the paint quality is terrible, which I should have known from the low price. I've foolishly gone through 3-4 sets of these and all of them have tons of oil leaking out in the beginning, then the rest of the paint dries up in the tube. Sometimes it just gets supe thick and unworkable, while others get completel dry and solid hard. I have lots of brands of paint, some tubes a decade old and have never had even a similar problem with any other brand. My suggestion is to buy one set then mix and tube your own using quality paint.

Comments about John Howard Sanden Pro-Mix Portrait Artists' Oil Colors:

Some reviewers have remarked about the amount of oil coming out of the tubes when opened. This is not a sign of a low-quality product but merely a separation of pigment and oil, perhaps from long-term storage of tubes in warehouses. Standing the tubes on end will help the oil and pigment recombine or you can simply scrape away the excess oil before painting. Lower quality oil paints contain binders and fillers to prevent the separation and extend shelf life giving many the erroneous impression that separation is a sign of poor quality control -- it's actually the opposite; a sign of good quality paint with no fillers or binders.

Having said all that I love this set! It makes painting so convenient and color mixing is a breeze. I highly recommend this set of convenience mixes but for those who are interested, Sanden gives the mix formulas in his book so you can mix your own from stiffer, filler and binder laden paints.

Comments about John Howard Sanden Pro-Mix Portrait Artists' Oil Colors:

I find that these colours are really useful for getting the right tones and temperatures for skin, be it for portraits or the nude but you still need to have a knowledge of colour in order to use the right pure colour with the pro-mix colour. It isn't painting by numbers, that's for sure! However, I've found that, while some colours are thoroughly mixed with the oil and have a really thick consistency, others are somewhat runny. It would be good if perhaps more attention was paid to quality control.
To conclude, though, I have to say that the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages and for anyone having difficulties with colour mixing, like me, these paints are a boon.

Comments about John Howard Sanden Pro-Mix Portrait Artists' Oil Colors:

I bought this set with the brushes, which made it a pretty good deal. I own Sanden's book that describes how to use these paints and I completed the chart of colors that comes with the set. That was very helpful.

HOWEVER, most of the tubes dump a lot of oil, even after several uses. The paint is much too runny and of very low quality due to the poor mixing of oil and paint.

I have benefited from learning Sanden's system, but would never buy these paints again. Even now, with a good half or more remaining, I mix my own colors to get a usuable consistency.

Comments about John Howard Sanden Pro-Mix Portrait Artists' Oil Colors:

I highly recommend this product for artists who are serious about doing portraits. I'm an artist, but I've always been intimated to do portraits because I didn't know how mix colors for flesh tones, and more important, how mix a color that is in shadow. I always used black paint, and it killed the color. John Howard Sanden has taken the mystery out mixing colors for flesh tones. I learned you don't use black. Instead, you might use a dark blue or dark brown with a combination of colors from the standard palate. But with his Pro-Mix oil colors, you can go directly and use a color like "Dark 1 or Dark 2". He explains further how his Pro-Mix colors are mixed from the standard colors. He has done the work for you in creating this range of flesh colors and saves you time. Furthermore, a chart comes with the package. This chart is an exercise in mixing color for flesh tones. John Howard Sanden teaches you how each color is mixed from the standard colors. You can get that same color time and time again. The chart then becomes a reference guide. I'm am so excited to have purchased the Pro-Mix colors and I'm grateful to Mr. Sanden for creating these flesh tones and making it easier to paint portraits. I have starting painting portraits again and loving it.

Comments about John Howard Sanden Pro-Mix Portrait Artists' Oil Colors:

I just received the set of Sanden Portrait colors. I opened the light 1, light 2 and dark 1 for use on a painting I have in progress. The light 1 tube just dumped a pile of oil with the first bit of paint. The other two weren't as bad, but still too thin for my taste.

The colors however are fantastic. I am trying to learn Sanden's system and I really don't think I can do it without these paints. I am going to try mixing a bit of Liquin Impasto to thicken up the mix.

I think it is worth the effort to learn to use this system, but the quality of the paints leaves a little to be desired.
I hasten to add that I am not a pro. Painting for me is strictly a habby.