Thank you for your report!
We have received your report and it is currently under investigation by a forum moderator.
New to oil paints 🎨 🙀
Welcome to the forum.
Here you can discuss all things art with like-minded artists, join regular painting challenges, ask questions, buy and sell art materials and much more.
Make sure you sign in or register to join the discussions.
Hang on Studio Wall
This is a Studio member-only feature!
Join our Studio membership and save your favourite Painters Online content, from gallery artwork to step-by-step guides, to your own online mood boards. Create your go-to place for inspiration and learning. Plus, members can also enjoy a range of exciting features including monthly art videos and a digital magazine library.
If you are already a Studio member, simply login to your account.
Not a Studio member? Why not try our free 30-day trial - no commitment, no credit card required
Message
Posted
Hello 👋
I have been putting off oil paints for a long as just well out of my comfort zone and I hear it takes long time to dry. However I found a pack I got ages ago and thought I would give it a go. My first layer I used with linseed oil. Then second layer I tried a quicker drying medium. Not sure if I can actually do that? Or need to keep to linseed? Also when they say layers do you start thin first and build up. If anyone has any advice that would be fabulous.
Thank you
Faye 🙂
Posted
Yes, thin at first and then thicker. Certainly, don’t add linseed at the beginning.This is if you are using “layers” and are working on a painting over a length of time. If you are painting “ alla prima” then it will be finished in one session - quite tricky when you lay the paint on here because you have to avoid disturbing the first lot of paint or you end up with mud. All good practice. So….block in with a “ turpsy wash”( paint plus thinner, I use odourless now ), then thicken up the paint ( not much or no thinner at all) and finish with thick paint for highlights. Linseed helps the paint flow but some oils don’t need extra oil. A medium will help the paint dry more quickly, I sometimes use it. Finally, alkyd oils ( or just a tube of alkyd white used with traditional oils) will really speed up drying time but you won’t be able to go back the next day and blend. Why not do a series of small paintings (eg 6”x6”) and try different approaches?
Edited
by Marjorie Firth
Posted
Well Marjorie has answered everything most comprehensively so I won’t repeat anything.
You don’t necessarily need to let each layer dry, you can work into the wet paint… depends on what style of painting you are looking for.
Why not have a browse on tips & techniques, go to oils - there’s loads of WIP projects to get you started on the right footing, everything you’ll need to know.
I’ve got at least a dozen on there, all aimed at the beginner to oil painting.
Posted
Painting a quick-drying medium over Linseed oil - which is itself a 'drying oil' - will almost inevitably lead to one of two things, and possibly both. A) the final layer will crack; or B) if it doesn't actually crack, the upper layer will shrink - in both cases because the bottom layer will still be drying out when the top layer is, basically, dry.
There are many ways to start an oil painting - some use Turpentine, or low-odour thinners (don't be misled by 'low odour': they may not smell, but that doesn't make them much safer to inhale) to achieve that 'turpsy wash' to which Marjorie refers; others go straight in with paint more or less free of added oil, and build the picture up as they go, as I think Alan probably does, rather than work in defined layers. And many more combine several techniques and vary them according to what they want to achieve; how they feel on the day; what they think might work in given circumstances. You can use a LITTLE oil throughout* but don't use any other thinner on top. Linseed oil doesn't take that long to dry if used only when it's needed: it's the paint itself that causes the drying delay (which some of us welcome): eg, Cadmium paints and Titanium White are notoriously slow-drying, and there's not much you can do about that, other than avoiding added oil.
The one thing to avoid, particularly on flexible stretched canvas, is applying an oil-rich layer of paint - usually described as 'fat' - and then going over it with solvent-thinned paint - usually described as 'lean'. If I still used solvents in the first layer, I'd put them away and out of sight for succeeding layers, and just use Linseed oil. Liquin is OK in earlier layers - but not if used extensively over areas of thick paint with added oil.
*The reason many use solvents in oil painting is that it breaks down the paint and makes it easier to manipulate and flow - nothing wrong with that in your first layers, although one might question the need, since you're going to paint over it. In the upper layers, solvent-heavy paint over oily paint is a problem - depending on many factors. So most people who use solvent throughout the painting will mix it with an oil, or buy 'oil painting medium', in which it's ready-mixed, or Liquin fine detail. BUT - you can make your paint much more malleable, and easier to apply, without using any solvent at all - just mash it with your palette knife and work as much oil into it (and it won't be much) as is needed to make it just drip off the brush.
So - dozens of ways of doing this, just don't, if you work in layers, use turpsy paint over oily (which I've always found to be a damn' sight more helpful as a guide than 'don't paint fat over lean').
Posted
Wow! Thank you very much Robert. Ahh okay one board I've used linseed as the base with the oil paint. Then waited for it to dry, then went in with Liquin and found that dried the next evening. However this is all before I even looked into knowing about oil. Just delved in as usual. I do find with my abstracts I love just going straight in and thick paint and thought you build up with oils. I have to admit it's made me feel a little sick with the smells where as my acrylics are non toxic. 🙃 oh I see I didn't realise you can just paint straight from the tube. But I find it looks quite dry. Oh well lots of experimenting to do.😊 thank you so much I really appreciate your input Robert !
Posted
Basically - if the medium you're using is making you feel ill - ditch it. Liquin doesn't really make me feel ill, but I hate it and don't use it, because the stink just turns me right off. Others can manage it with no problem, but - I can't: and I want to enjoy my painting, not suffer from it. Some have an adverse reaction to genuine Turpentine - whereas I don't: but I still think it's best avoided - having had several goes of bronchitis, I know I have a bit of a problem in that direction, and so avoid anything I know will irritate my lungs. On the whole, I only use Linseed oil, or sun-thickened "bodied" oil in oil painting - those, plus Walnut oil, really are all you need to paint in oils: study and apply those, by all means add a little genuine Turps if you need to, but try to avoid it: never take to an added ingredient in oil paint because someone tells you that you should: the simpler the better - paint, and Linseed oil, in moderation, is usually the best way to go. And don't, whatever you do, yield to the advice to add dammar varnish to your painting medium: because when anyone comes to clean it, they'll remove the dammar and any paint with which it's bonded.
Posted
Ahh okay that's great to know thank you. I will have another go with linseed oil. Then last layer I can go thicker without linseed? I find the oils paint have quite a strong smell to or I am just a sensitive bean. When I have finished a painting in oil. How long do I need to wait to dry before a varnish? Can you recommend a good varnish? Thank you Robert you are a hero. 🙂
Posted
Probably not Dammar varnish Faye, as it does have a tendency to yellow slightly over the years. You do need to wait around six months or even longer - but you don’t have to varnish at all, many professional artists don’t!
Robert and I differ slightly on our opinions regarding adding various mediums during the painting process…
In the initial stages, I use just a touch of MH refined turpentine, but there are other makes out there. I dip my brush into it and then more or less wipe it off on kitchen roll or a cloth - it’s just enough to help me loosen up the paint, I find that in the main, not always, the paint is too thick and unmanageable straight from the tube… this differs widely between brands.
I’ll then, during the final stage or layers, introduce just a touch of say linseed or stand oil to the paint, again in moderation.
You could do with buying Vibrant Oils by Haidee-Jo-Summers. It’s a great book for both beginners and particularly those starting off in oils, I know Robert will agree with my suggestion.
It’s full of great illustrations and information, you’ll find everything you need in it.
Amazon have it of course, I bought mine directly from HJ and she signed it. It’s also available on this website if you go to ‘stores’ or something like that.
Posted
Brilliant thank you Alan. Oh vibrant colours like the sound of that. I'll get that book. Oh lovely I bet your kept that book then 😏. Thank you very much for info. Just a couple mote questions. Have you used water based oils? And do you need to wipe your brush with cloth each time before going to another oil colour. Thank you Alan. Much appreciated two hero's this morning 🙂
Posted
It’s Vibrant Oils, you’ll love it!
No I haven’t and don’t intend to either, but I have seen some excellent work done with them. There was an interesting article in TA a while back now… or was it LP? The author did produce some superb landscapes.
Yes in the main, but it all depends… I like to achieve a certain degree of uniformity throughout my paintings, so a bit of a previous colour mixed in doesn’t necessarily do any harm.
If you aren’t sure, clean your brush, but I don’t worry too much on this score!
Just to add, regarding mediums, I pour just a drop or two of the refined turpentine info a jar lid… I’m not pouring out half a gallon of the stuff - you do need to have good ventilation though, I always have my studio windows open a touch.
Edited
by Alan Bickley