Water Mixable Oils

Use them like ordinary oils only with water instead of linseed and turps. Wash your brushes in warm soapy water as you would with acrylics, they have the ease of acrylics but some the lovely qualities of oil. They dry lke ordinary oil so you can work into them , come back the next day and play around. Oil purists are not impressed with them. Personally I think they are great I hate the smell of turps and it makes me wheeze, so these work for me. Have fun.

I started painting using traditional oils but decided to switch to water-mixable ones because the turps was affecting my eyes. Unfortunately I just couldn't get on with them. I felt they didn't have the same feel to me. But I know of some others who switched from traditional to water-mixable ones without any bother.

I never really understood those who say they don't paint in oil because they can't stand the smell of turps, because there's no need whatsoever to USE turps - personally, I do: I quite like the whiff. But only in a very well ventilated room. Anyway, there are alternatives. Which is not what you asked about... There are a few books on water miscible oils - take a look at the Jackson's website, also go to Winsor and Newton, who make them - they have booklets and online ideas. My friend Murray Ince specializes in them, and did write a book; I think it may be sold out, but Google him anyway - he actually sells the Artisan range and might be able to give you some advice. Also look up www.thepaintinganddrawingchannel.com, (I think that's right, but if the link doesn't work try varying the .com for a .co.uk. Have you ever used oils before? If not, it may not be overly helpful to tell you that water miscible oils work like the "real thing". In short, you don't use the normal range of solvents or mediums (turpentine, low-odour thinners, or refined linseed oil) but specially modified solvents and mediums which are sold for the purpose. Use anything else and you won't get the advantages of these oils, which can be cleaned up with water and with which water can be mixed rather than solvent. Don't mix them with any "straight" oil paint - both will still work as oil, but you'll again lose the ability to wash up and mix with water. Apply the rule of "start lean and finish fat" - in other words, use more oil in the last stages than in the first, more solvent (water in this case) in the early stages than the last. The reason why regular oil painters aren't so keen on them, as North Light suggests, is that they lack the colour intensity and subtlety of regular oil paint - they compare fairly well with most student ranges (which many professional artists use, by the way) but not with the top end products - which are much more expensive, and there's an obvious clue in the price. If you're comparing them with your acrylics, you would probably rough-in your subject in much the same way, with thin paint reduced with water or whatever thinner they sell, and build up with thicker paint. The big difference is likely to be the degree of gloss you'll observe, and the very much longer time it takes for the paint to dry between stages - some hate that, some love it, some find ways of mitigating it, chiefly by the use of oils and thinners that dry a little more quickly: you'll have to look at the range available. The brands available are Artisan, Grumbacher - not often seen over here - and Holbein Duo, plus a few others - Jacksons have their own brand, for instance: while I don't normally worry about using the same media as the paint brand - eg, would mix Cryla with Winsor and Newton mediums in acrylic - I'd be inclined, just to be on the safe side, to use Artisan mediums with Artisan paints, for example. If there's anything else, just ask - but as with everything else, you'll learn more by using them than you will from any other source. http://www.isleofwightlandscapes.net http://www.wightpaint.blogspot.co.uk