Mediums

rickscool wrote

on 4 Oct 2008 10:51 AM

What mediums do you use? Why. Share with us or ask questions.

rickscool wrote

on 4 Oct 2008 11:18 AM

Linseed oil is made from the seeds of the flax plant. It adds gloss and transparency to paints and is available in several forms. It dries very thoroughly, making it ideal for underpainting and initial layers in a painting. Refined linseed oil is a popular, all-purpose, pale to light yellow oil which dries withing three to five days. Cold-pressed linseed oil dries slightly faster than refined linseed oil and is considered to be the best quality linseed oil.

Stand oil is a thicker processed form of linseed oil, with a slower drying time (about a week to be dry to the touch, though it'll remain tacky for some time). It's ideal for glazing (when mixed with a diluent or solvent such as turpentine) and produces a smooth, enamel-like finish without any visible brushmarks.

Sun-thickened linseed oil is a created by exposing the oil to the sun to create a thick, syrupy, somewhat bleached oil, with similar brushing qualities to stand oil. Pour some oil (about an inch) into a wide dish, cover it with a propped-up lid (i.e. to minimise debris getting in, but so that the air can flow through). Stir every day or so to prevent a skin from forming on the top. How long it takes for the oil to thicken will depend on how hot the climate is where you live. Test the thickness of the oil when it's cool, not when it's still hot from the day's sun. Pour it through a sieve or cloth to remove debris before you bottle the oil.

As linseed oil has a tendency to yellow as it dries, avoid using it in whites, pale colours, and light blues (except in underpaintings or lower layers in an oil painting when painting wet on dry). Stand oil and sun-thickened oil yellows very little.

Sun-bleached linseed oil is created by exposing the oil to the sun but with the container's lid on, so no evaporation occurs. The result is an oil that has less tendency to yellow.

Poppyseed oil is a very pale oil, more transparent and less likely to yellow than linseed oil, so it is often used for whites, pale colours, and blues. It gives oil paint a consistency similar to soft butter. Poppyseed oil takes longer to dry than linseed oil, from five to seven days, making it ideal for working wet on wet. Because it dries slowly and less thoroughly, avoid using poppyseed oil in lower layers of a painting when working wet on dry and when applying paint thickly, as the paint will be liable to crack when it finally dries completely. Poppy seeds naturally contain about 50 per cent oil.

Safflower oil has the same characteristics as poppyseed oil, but dries a bit faster. It's made from safflower seeds. Sunflower oil also has similar characteristics to poppyseed oil. It's made from sunflower seeds.

Walnut oil is a pale yellow-brown oil (when newly made it's a pale oil with a greenish tinge) that has a distinctive smell. As it's a thin oil, it's used to make oil paint more fluid. As it yellows less than linseed oil (but more than safflower oil) it's good for pale colors. Walnut oil dries in four or five days. It's an expensive oil and must be stored correctly otherwise it goes rancid (off). Walnuts naturally contain about 65 per cent oil.

Boiled oils are oils that have been heated and mixed with a dryer to create a faster-drying oil that gives a glossy finish. They tend to yellow and darken with age, so are best limited to lower layers in a painting and darker colours. If you're not sure what effect an oil is going to have, rather take the time to do a test than 'lose' or 'damage' a whole painting.

Synthetic Mediums are alkyd resins such as Liquin made by Winsor Newton. Liquin is a quick-drying medium for oil and alkyd paint. Used as an additive in many forms of artwork, and has a number of uses. Notably, it is used to speed the drying time in oil painting, though it may also be used as a barrier layer to achieve some effects. Painted over the top of etchings, Indian-ink drawings and other line art, it enables the application of colors by tinting with thin glazes of oil paint.

There are too many synthetic and variations of mediums to list here. Below is a link to Blicks mediums pages where you can get a run down on what's available

http://www.dickblick.com/search/?sp_q=mediums&Image1.x=9&Image1.y=4

 Partially attributed to About.com

rickscool wrote

on 16 Oct 2008 4:25 PM

Mediums are a very controversial subject, there seems to be as many different opinions as there are artist!

Artists have different styles and techniques and therefore different medium requirements

Some artists for example swear by Flemish Maroger's, others hate it. I, nor can any other artist tell you which is best for you and you don't always paint in the same manner, impasto, glazing, underpainting, ect. all have different requirements.

A lot of artist want to know what The Old Masters used. Well, so do we all. There has been lots of scientific study into this and still nobody has the answer. Although some think they do. I've read on the internet on a number of websites "Here's what the old Masters used"

Below is one example of a website that proclaimed "Here's what The Old Masters used, or close to it"

These are very good mixes and you might want to give them a try  

BUT, from Italy, to Russia to England. Over a 300 year span, I find it hard to believe there was an Old Masters medium.

If there were 25 Old Masters there were probable 75 different medium mixes they used                                                                                     

For the underpainting (Verdaccio or Grisaille):

    * 1 part Linseed Stand Oil                                                    
    * 1 part Dammar Varnish

    * 5 parts Distilled Turpentine

I call this mixture 1-1-5

For the middle layer:

    * 1 part Linseed Stand Oil

    * 1 part Dammar varnish
    * 4 parts Distilled Turpentine

I call this mixture 1-1-4

For the top or final layers:

    * 1 part Linseed Stand Oil

    * 1 part Dammar varnish

    * 3 parts Distilled Turpentine

I call this mixture 1-1-3.

DanielH wrote

on 17 Oct 2008 4:38 AM

Hi Rick,

I haven't used Damar varnish at all yet. What are the benefits of using it with your mixtures? Is it primarily for it's properties as a siccative (drying agent)? I've been using stand oil for the time being (I've read that it creates one of the most durable paint films) but find that it's thickness causes the paint to drag a bit. Maybe I'll try adding some more turps to the mixture... I used it, mixed with burnt umber, for a grisaille and found that it was dry to the touch the next day, but remains tacky (even after a few days now).

I'm a bit concerned about how much medium to use in the lower layers. I was reading Virgil Elliot's book again last night and he made the point that, especially in the beginning stages of a painting, it's best to use much more pure paint in the lower layers - using a medium for paint consistency & flow purposes only until you've gotten to your fatter layers.

Although researching mediums can be frustrating due to the lack of consistent opinion and inconclusive scientific observations, I find it so fascinating! On John Hagan's website, he describes the artist as being part scientist... Now I'm beginning to understand what he means!

- Dan

rickscool wrote

on 17 Oct 2008 6:08 AM

Hiya Dan, Dammar is a natural resin. You can mix Dammar flakes with turps (1 part Dammar, 4 parts turps) to make your varnish or buy it pre-mixed. One of the biggest benefits of using Dammar is it yellows less than other varnishes and doesn't bloom (turn chaulky) like other varnishes.

Elliot is correct about not using much mediums in your underpainting IF you're adding fat by using linseed, stand, ect. to thin the paint. A touch of turps will thin your paint nicely. Just a touch, you don't want to affect the ability of the tube paints oil to bind the pigment particles.

I like to use Winton Newton's Liquin medium. Liquin is an alkyd so there's no fat over lean problems. I can thin as much as I want without worry about binding problems. I use it in lesser amounts in the other stages of my paintings also. It gives the paint a smoothness and consistency that befits my style of painting. I also use it as a glazing medium.

DanielH wrote

on 17 Oct 2008 7:11 AM

Rick:

Dammar is a natural resin. You can mix Dammar flakes with turps (1 part Dammar, 4 parts turps) to make your varnish or buy it pre-mixed. One of the biggest benefits of using Dammar is it yellows less than other varnishes and doesn't bloom (turn chaulky) like other varnishes.

What would you say is the purpose of using varnish in the lean layers? Is it only used as a drying agent, or is there some other purpose?

Rick:

Elliot is correct about not using much mediums in your underpainting IF you're adding fat by using linseed, stand, ect. to thin the paint. A touch of turps will thin your paint nicely. Just a touch, you don't want to affect the ability of the tube paints oil to bind the pigment particles.

Yeah - he suggests using paints that are ready-prepared with a nice ratio of oil=paint, and, if it still needs modified, add a drop of walnut oil to whites and lighter colors, or linseed oil to darker colors directly to the paint pile on your palette.

Rick:

I like to use Winton Newton's Liquin medium. Liquin is an alkyd so there's no fat over lean problems. I can thin as much as I want without worry about binding problems. I use it in lesser amounts in the other stages of my paintings also. It gives the paint a smoothness and consistency that befits my style of painting. I also use it as a glazing medium.

Yeah, I've got a bottle of this at home. One of my professors at art school liked it and recommended it to us. I've been warned not to add much solvent (if any) to it, as alkyds have a thixotropic effect - the ability to change from liquid to gel, gel to liquid at random when disturbed by the environment - especially if there is too much solvent mixed in. I've used it for glazes too, and I really like it.

DanielH wrote

on 17 Oct 2008 8:24 AM

I think I just answered my own question when I found this:

http://www.trueart.info/resins.htm

There are some other really helpful things on this site, too... The "Statement of Purpose" quote on the homepage is my creed as well!

rickscool wrote

on 17 Oct 2008 8:54 AM

I came here to try to answer your question but see, indeed, you have answered it yourself.

But I have one additional remark to add to the info you found at the above link.

This will be kinda hard to explain so let me paint you a picture! LOL

You are doing an underpainting. It's not completed yet but you leave it and come back to it at a latter time. The underpainting is dry and somewhat dull. You know that recreating the values will be difficult because a wet glossy paint just does not look like a dry dull paint. You don't want to "Oil in" the painting because you don't want to much fat at this stage. So you use Dammar to lightly "wet" the painting so that your old values and new values can be easily matched.

suepainter wrote

on 17 Oct 2008 10:36 AM

Thank you so much for that info. I always had a problem matching values after the painting sat for awhile. I never thought about using dammar varnish, duh! I have tried linseed oil, but that didn't work too well. Thanks for the tip. Sue

DanielH wrote

on 17 Oct 2008 10:46 AM

Ah! Cool... Thanks for the tip, Rick!

DanielH wrote

on 20 Oct 2008 7:51 PM

Well, I've gotten some dammar varnish Rick! I just mixed up a batch of medium - 5 parts distilled turpentine, 1 part dammar varnish, 1 part linseed stand oil. Unfortunately it's too late to start painting now, but I've got it ready to go for the next time.

Regarding your comment about spreading a thin layer of dammar over a dried underpainting (rather than oiling in with linseed) I've also read about people using a spray dammar (retouching varnish) in an aerosol can to quickly add an even layer to unify the surface before they begin again. Personally, I don't have the luxury of a studio so I'll probably stick with the brush. Don't think my wife would appreciate me spraying varnish all over the apartment... Still, it sounds like a handy tool to have.

rickscool wrote

on 20 Oct 2008 9:44 PM

Hi Dan, let me know how that mixture works for you! Ya know what I say, 25 artist, 25 different opinions. But that mix seems to work well for a lot of painters. I know what you mean about the spray varnish. My studio (spare bedroom LOL) has poor ventilation.

mongoose1 wrote

on 21 Oct 2008 7:19 PM

Great info.

So far the medium I like best is the prembala (spelling) which has a consistency similar to maroger with out the lead issues.

I used to use maroger when I lived in New Mexico (my teacher was a huge fan of the stuff) and my painting studio was a spare bedroom far away from the rest of my living space.

Now I live in a very small space, because it's so toxic that I decided not to use it. 

I do plan on playing with both cold wax medium, linseed and some linseed oli (not all mixed though).

rickscool wrote

on 21 Oct 2008 8:51 PM

Hi Mongoose, You say you are going to play with some cold wax medium?

Are you going to do some knife work then? I use a palette knife a lot, really enjoy it. Not truly impasto though, I paint in much thinner layers with the palette knife and with looser paint.

If you go to the discussion "Have your work critiqued by members" in this group I have 2 oils posted there that were done primarily with a palette knife. "Alaska" and "Baja Beach" Have a look.

A little warning though about cold wax medium

 Painters who are using more than 1/3 cold wax medium to 2/3 oil paints should paint on rigid supports or paintings may crack when moved.
 By mixing 1/2 Cold Wax Medium and 1/2 G-Gel, (a galkyd) painters can paint on flexible supports. 

Let know what you learned about your new mixtures!

vivien5 wrote

on 22 Oct 2008 12:47 PM

lots of good info

Stand oil is also brilliant for mixing paint to a treacle like consistency to trickly it from a stick and 'draw' with - fine fluid lines - I love it!