From the early 18th century, “color men” appeared on the scene to provide artists with ready-made paints. Watercolor painting also became a fashionable pastime among the wealthy. In 1766, William Reeves set up a business supplying watercolor cakes. Reeves’ watercolors were a significant improvement on those of his competitors, since he discovered that the addition of honey to the colors prevented the cakes from cracking in storage. In 1783, the wigmakers Thomas and Richard Rowney abandoned the declining wig trade and began preparing and selling artists’ colors. Constable and Turner were among the famous artists they supplied with materials.
In terms of artist colors, the 18th century was the watershed between the traditional color palette of the Renaissance and the new palette of the modern era. That said, many of the advances in color chemistry that took place in the 19th century were based on research conducted in previous years. Therefore, early 18th century oil painters - painting in the late Baroque, Rococo, or Neo-Classical art styles - were still using the basic color palette of the Renaissance era and there were only two primary new pigments in the 18th century color palette: Prussian blue and cobalt green.