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Posted
Haidee-Jo uses a 60/40 mix of refined turpentine and linseed oil from the outset.
She mixes a quantity up in a jar and then pours out a drop or two.
That simplifies matters and her work is excellent. I’ve got one of her original paintings and there’s just a very slight sheen on the surface. - no varnish!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
The Griffin brand are alkyds; Winton is a student grade paint; both from Winsor and Newton. The Griffin alkyds should dry much more quickly than regular oil paints - alkyds are oil paints bound in an alkyd resin: particularly good for underpainting, but also good for taking a picture to completion (I'm told: I've never done it, and have long intended to).
Alan has answered your other questions, and yes, he and I do differ slightly - which just proves the point that there's many ways to start a painting. You did ask about water miscible oils - these are again made by Winsor and Newton, and there are two other brands known to me, Cobra and Grumbacher (I don't know where you'd find the latter in this country, I've very rarely seen them). The purist would say that water-miscibles haven't been around long enough for their performance to be properly evaluated - whereas oils have been around for hundreds of years. I take that seriously, but I'm not sure I'm always painting for a century ahead..... On the other hand, I do find those paints a) under-pigmented, so you have to use more of them for more intense colour, and b) sticky in use - they also have a tendency to stay wet for much longer than I like (although as Alan has said already, there's a big variation in different brands' drying rates).
Like Alan, though, I've seen some good work painted with them - an acquaintance of mine on the Isle of Wight paints with the W & N Artisan brand, and does so very well - his name is Murray Ince: a very enterprising gent, who runs classes, has written books, and appeared in videos promoting the Artisan brand. Murray, I know he won't mind my saying, has health issues which make the involvement of any solvent bad for him: so Alan's and Haidee-Jo's methods would be a problem for him; I don't think mine would - but I admit that my approach now, which is to avoid all solvents, does take a bit of getting used to. And I DO have a bottle of rectified Turpentine to hand in case of - not so much emergencies, but in case of need, where it would just be striving to make a purposeless point to avoid it.
In other words, I'm not above cheating....
Posted
By the way, my own E-book, Oil Paint Basics, is available for a modest sum on the Amazon Kindle store - a bit word-heavy (as you might expect!) or picture-light, but I know many have found it useful.
And I am very keen to find an editor who can help me render it acceptable for publication in book form, i.e. a 'proper' book, not one you have to read on a screen. Applications invited! I am prepared to dip into my cash vaults, when I can find the multiple keys needed to unlock the rusting chains and frighten away the tiger I have guarding them....
Posted
Thanks Robert.
Yes I got this oils a while back. Ahh okay so it's a good Start with the griffin ones? When you say Student paint do you mean it's not as hard core as other oils? You mentioned about the the Griffin oils are good as a base. Can I then use different oils on top? Thank you very much for the info. Interesting about your e book. 🙂
Posted
There’s more pure pigment in artists quality oils, students quality contain more filler and so don’t have the same tinting power. There’s more to it than this, but I’ve kept it short and sweet! I’m sure Robert will elaborate on this in more detail.
However, some students quality oils are better than others, they aren’t all equal by any means.
The oils that I always recommend are Jackson’s Artist oils range (not their professional range which are excellent but more expensive). I wrote a test report in TA several months ago if you can find it , maybe it was longer than that, and I was most impressed with them, and the price.
Another excellent ‘student’ range are Royal Talens Van Gogh oils. There are others also, but these two would be my first choice!
Yes, you can mix and match any make of oil paints on a single painting, obviously not water miscible of course!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
When I paint in oils in a face to face class, I used water soluble oils, with no solvents at all. I use silicon paint shapers instead of brushes, which can be wiped cleaner, but if I did use brushes they could be washed with water.
At home, I have tried mixing water based oils with normal oils and there does not seem to be any problem with it, after all they are both oils. I expect there would be a problem if you were rinsing you brushes in water, but I don’t. If I use a brush, I clean it with Zestit. My method is simple and straight forward, with minimal smell.
I did buy some linseed oil a few years ago, but not found a use for it yet.
However Alan and Robert have a lot more experience than me and favour the long standing, tried and tested methods. But I will let you know if my paint falls of the page.