When you pick up a tube of Langridge paint, you’re holding more than colour—you’re taking part in a story that began in 1992 with a single artist who refused to compromise. Back then, Australian painter David Coles couldn’t find oil colours that honoured pigment the way the old European master paint-makers did, so he set up a tiny workspace in Melbourne and started grinding his own hues by hand. No business plan, no investors—just an obsession with turning earth into pure, permanent colour.

As you squeeze out a ribbon of paint, you inherit the results of thousands of hours spent hunched over triple-roll mills, guided by centuries-old craft lore Coles absorbed while working at the legendary Cornelissen & Son art store in London. There he breathed in the resin-rich aroma that still clings to his imagination: rows of glass jars labelled gamboge, terre-verte, gum elemi—whispers of alchemy that persuaded him colour could be both science and sorcery.
That reverence for tradition didn’t stop Langridge from pushing forward. Free from the constraints of a centuries-old brand, the company built an innovative palette forged from the newest pigment discoveries—Nickel Azo, Quinacridone, Indanthrone, RTZ Orange—each chosen because it opens fresh chromatic territory for you to explore. In 2024 Langridge channelled that same philosophy into Australia’s first professional-grade fluid acrylics, proving that modern mediums can still deliver the intensity and handling artists crave.

Yet the heart of Langridge remains in the oil studio, where Coles insists on making paint the “old” way: small batches, no extenders, no fillers, just the purest oils married to pigment at the perfect grind. When you mix these colours, you’ll notice how cleanly they combine; that’s thanks to the range’s 62 single-pigment paints—an intentional choice that gives you unrivalled control over hue, value and opacity. The remaining 18 mixed colours offer unique spaces no solitary pigment can occupy, letting you leap quickly to tones that might take dozens of brush-tests to achieve on your own.
From the first squeeze, you feel the buttery resistance that signals maximum pigment load. Drag the paint across canvas and you’ll see why word-of-mouth carried Langridge from Melbourne studios to those in New York, Berlin and London long before any big marketing campaign. Artists recognised the difference instantly: colour that holds its shape under the knife, that stays true as you thin it with medium, that retains its electric vibration even after it dries.

Beautiful oil paint rolling off the triple mill ready for the artist to create.

Working with Langridge also invites you to join a thoughtful conversation about safer, smarter ways of painting. Coles has always questioned the status quo—reducing toxicity wherever possible, introducing low-odour solvents, and offering clear guidance on responsible studio practice—so you can focus on expression without compromising your health or the environment.
As you layer glazes or build thick impasto passages, remember that every hue in the tube began as raw pigment—sometimes as old as civilisation—transformed by relentless curiosity and the “certain madness” Coles cheerfully admits never lets him go. That same restless energy now drives ongoing research at Langridge’s Yarraville factory, where modern Australian light—searing and high-contrast—inspires entirely new colours designed to sing on today’s canvases.

Ultimately, when you choose Langridge, you’re not just buying paint; you’re accepting an invitation to stand in that “golden chain” of artisans stretching back to the Renaissance, and to push it one link further. You bring your own moments of serendipity, wrong turns, discoveries and obsessions to the easel, and the materials are ready to keep pace. So, load your brush, trust the richness beneath your fingertips, and let each stroke carry forward a legacy born from obsession—and perfected for artists like you.

Popular Langridge Collections to explore on the Parkers Website

Langridge Artist Oil

Langridge Professional Fluid Acrylics

Langridge Dry Pigment

Langridge Mediums