CONCERNING OIL PAINTING
Recommended colors:
You can get away with having 4 colors and white
transparent earth red oxide (Gamblin 1980 is fine)
*Pyrrole Red PR-254 (Winsor & Newton "Bright Red")
*Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue
*Cad Yellow Lt (Gamblin or Gamblin 1980 is fine)
WHITE (Gamblin Quick Dry)
Personally, I tend to have: transparent red oxide, 1980 cadmium orange, 1980 cobalt purple, cobalt blue (Gamblin), Utrecht Viridian, Emerald Green (Gamblin), 1980 cad yellow light , mixed yellow ochre (transparent earth red oxide and cad yellow light), or Utrecht Yellow Ochre, and White (Gamblin quick dry).
Brushes to get started for smaller general purpose
FILBERTS in 2,4,6,8,10
Raphael D'Artigny, Princeton Refine, or Rosemary and Co Ultimate long handle (most affordable). Robert Simmons Signet (very stiff and indestructable - good for drawing and blocking in or thick application).
Surfaces/Supports
For studies and smaller work try 8x10, 9x12 or 10x 10. If you want, prime with some acrylic paint - medium value -any fun color you want. You could use canvas pads taped to a board, gessoed boards "gessobord", painting paper, or you can gesso thicker paper you already own.
If you want to paint large on canvas, I recommend polyester canvas. Fredrix Red Lion 520. When I stretch my canvas I go corner to corner - not middle to middle.
Medium and brush wash = linseed oil
Containers for linseed oil and Turpenoid natural
Paper Towels
At the end of my painting session, I use turpenoid natural. If I want to completely wash my brushes I use Murphey's or Dr. Bronners with a scrubbing bowl Cleaning Brush Scrubber Bowl
USE PAINT WITH LINSEED OIL AS ITS BINDER/VEHICLE
Pigment bound in linseed oil dries the fastest and forms the strongest paint layer. Walnut oil has been shown to yellow just as much as linseed oil, is a slower dryer and forms a weaker bond. Some paint makers are using safflower oil in their paints because it yellows less than linseed oil, however, it has been shown to be unstable as it is only a semi drying oil . Semi-drying oils do not polymerize completely, resulting in “weeping” paint. (read this)
Most brands use linseed oil as the binder: Rublev, Michael Harding, Williamsburg, Rembrandt, some Winsor and Newton (check on their website), Gamblin, some Utrecht (Utrecht oil colors that are safflower oil free) and Winton. The most accurate way to find out what is in the paint is on the paint manufacture website, not DickBlick.
Understand your pigments
Get to know the tinting strength of all of your colors by mixing equal parts with your white. While you're at it get to know their drying times too.
About Pyrrole Red
Originally developed for the automotive industry to make Ferrari Red. Meant to be used thinly with an airbrush. Has a very slow drying time. I recommend getting it from a larger paint company that uses driers. Try Winsor and Newton's "bright red" or perhaps Chroma's archival oils pyrrole red that has alkyd in it. Small paint companies such as Vasari and RGH make small batches and don't use driers. It will take over a month to dry on its own from these companies!!
Stay away from Zinc oxide white (PW 4) oil paint-even in small amounts!.
It will cause your paint to flake off. Make sure your oil paint does NOT contain zinc oxide !! https://justpaint.org/update-on-zinc/.
If using oil primed linen, make sure that it does not contain zinc!!
Rules about oil painting if you're painting in layers:
Become conscious of drying rates. Forget the fat over lean rule. Instead, think about faster drying under slower drying. The major factor that influences drying rate is the pigment. If you're using alkyds or driers, that will hasten drying as well. Alkyds are faster drying and should not be considered a "fat" but rather a faster dryer and should be under the slower dryers. Some pigments are fast dryers and some are slow. Test out your paints to find out. I can tell you that the cadmiums are very slow dryers, titanium white on its own is very slow drying. The natural and synthetic earths are fast.
Be conscious of particle concentration. When linseed oil alone cures, unless applied very thinly, it needs particles in-between it. The paint from the tube is at the cPVC. If you want a transparent layer with body, then you need to use transparent particles. You could use a mixture of Williamsburg extender medium and Galkyd Gel.
Helpful websites for oil painting:
http://www.artiscreation.com , https://paintingbestpractices.com (check out their files), https://www.facebook.com/groups/paintingbestpractices, www.facebook.com/NaturalPigmentsllc. (check out their videos on YouTube), JustPaint.org, www.Gamblincolors.com
Do not use OMS (gamsol etc.) regularly. Never leave it out uncovered. To wash your brushes in between colors while painting, use linseed oil in a brush wash container.
If you want to have a washy fast drying underpainting, do it in acrylics.
Recommended colors:
You can get away with having 4 colors and white
transparent earth red oxide (Gamblin 1980 is fine)
*Pyrrole Red PR-254 (Winsor & Newton "Bright Red")
*Ultramarine Blue or Cobalt Blue
*Cad Yellow Lt (Gamblin or Gamblin 1980 is fine)
WHITE (Gamblin Quick Dry)
Personally, I tend to have: transparent red oxide, 1980 cadmium orange, 1980 cobalt purple, cobalt blue (Gamblin), Utrecht Viridian, Emerald Green (Gamblin), 1980 cad yellow light , mixed yellow ochre (transparent earth red oxide and cad yellow light), or Utrecht Yellow Ochre, and White (Gamblin quick dry).
Brushes to get started for smaller general purpose
FILBERTS in 2,4,6,8,10
Raphael D'Artigny, Princeton Refine, or Rosemary and Co Ultimate long handle (most affordable). Robert Simmons Signet (very stiff and indestructable - good for drawing and blocking in or thick application).
Surfaces/Supports
For studies and smaller work try 8x10, 9x12 or 10x 10. If you want, prime with some acrylic paint - medium value -any fun color you want. You could use canvas pads taped to a board, gessoed boards "gessobord", painting paper, or you can gesso thicker paper you already own.
If you want to paint large on canvas, I recommend polyester canvas. Fredrix Red Lion 520. When I stretch my canvas I go corner to corner - not middle to middle.
Medium and brush wash = linseed oil
Containers for linseed oil and Turpenoid natural
Paper Towels
At the end of my painting session, I use turpenoid natural. If I want to completely wash my brushes I use Murphey's or Dr. Bronners with a scrubbing bowl Cleaning Brush Scrubber Bowl
USE PAINT WITH LINSEED OIL AS ITS BINDER/VEHICLE
Pigment bound in linseed oil dries the fastest and forms the strongest paint layer. Walnut oil has been shown to yellow just as much as linseed oil, is a slower dryer and forms a weaker bond. Some paint makers are using safflower oil in their paints because it yellows less than linseed oil, however, it has been shown to be unstable as it is only a semi drying oil . Semi-drying oils do not polymerize completely, resulting in “weeping” paint. (read this)
Most brands use linseed oil as the binder: Rublev, Michael Harding, Williamsburg, Rembrandt, some Winsor and Newton (check on their website), Gamblin, some Utrecht (Utrecht oil colors that are safflower oil free) and Winton. The most accurate way to find out what is in the paint is on the paint manufacture website, not DickBlick.
Understand your pigments
Get to know the tinting strength of all of your colors by mixing equal parts with your white. While you're at it get to know their drying times too.
About Pyrrole Red
Originally developed for the automotive industry to make Ferrari Red. Meant to be used thinly with an airbrush. Has a very slow drying time. I recommend getting it from a larger paint company that uses driers. Try Winsor and Newton's "bright red" or perhaps Chroma's archival oils pyrrole red that has alkyd in it. Small paint companies such as Vasari and RGH make small batches and don't use driers. It will take over a month to dry on its own from these companies!!
Stay away from Zinc oxide white (PW 4) oil paint-even in small amounts!.
It will cause your paint to flake off. Make sure your oil paint does NOT contain zinc oxide !! https://justpaint.org/update-on-zinc/.
If using oil primed linen, make sure that it does not contain zinc!!
Rules about oil painting if you're painting in layers:
Become conscious of drying rates. Forget the fat over lean rule. Instead, think about faster drying under slower drying. The major factor that influences drying rate is the pigment. If you're using alkyds or driers, that will hasten drying as well. Alkyds are faster drying and should not be considered a "fat" but rather a faster dryer and should be under the slower dryers. Some pigments are fast dryers and some are slow. Test out your paints to find out. I can tell you that the cadmiums are very slow dryers, titanium white on its own is very slow drying. The natural and synthetic earths are fast.
Be conscious of particle concentration. When linseed oil alone cures, unless applied very thinly, it needs particles in-between it. The paint from the tube is at the cPVC. If you want a transparent layer with body, then you need to use transparent particles. You could use a mixture of Williamsburg extender medium and Galkyd Gel.
Helpful websites for oil painting:
http://www.artiscreation.com , https://paintingbestpractices.com (check out their files), https://www.facebook.com/groups/paintingbestpractices, www.facebook.com/NaturalPigmentsllc. (check out their videos on YouTube), JustPaint.org, www.Gamblincolors.com
Do not use OMS (gamsol etc.) regularly. Never leave it out uncovered. To wash your brushes in between colors while painting, use linseed oil in a brush wash container.
If you want to have a washy fast drying underpainting, do it in acrylics.