My Beauty Best Teacher

Weeks after completing an oil painting, hair cracks begin to form on the paint layer. The dry paint may begin to flake off or become powdery to the touch. The upper layers seem to become brittle and dull. The reason for a cracking oil painting can go back to improper preparation.

Why Cracks Appear in Oil Paint

Reasons for a Cracking Oil Painting Rachel Shirley

I believe oils are the most robust and durable of all art mediums and little attention is required. But a cracking oil painting is a problem the artist most fears. The cause of cracking often goes back to poor practices in oil painting and associated materials. How can the artist prevent cracks appearing in an oil painting?

Oil Painting Do’s and Don’ts

Investing a lot of time in an oil painting deserves the best art materials, or the time will be wasted. The following advice will help prevent the frustration of a cracking oil painting.

As with anything, never use a substitute product for the one that is designed for oil painting. For instance, avoid using household emulsions or cheap primers to prepare the painting support. Some of these may not provide a sufficient barrier against the absorbent properties of the canvas or board. The result of this is that the still-absorbent support will suck the oil vehicle from the paint, causing it to brittle, and cracking may result. Stick to a recommended oil painting primer, such as Winsor & Newton or Daler Rowney, although a good quality acrylic primer is fine for oil sketches or quick studies.

Do not use mediums and solvents designed for household or industrial use in place of those specifically designed for oil painting. They can affect the permanence of the pigments. Turps, paint strippers and household varnishes will also ruin art brushes and emit powerful odours. Stick to artist’s agents such as Sansador or artist oil painting varnishes.

Never combine mediums with varying drying rates, such as stand oil (which dries slowly) with alkyd mediums (which dry quickly) in the same painting. This will cause stresses in the painting layer as it dries and inevitable cracking. Stick to the same medium in any one painting.

What is the Fat Over Lean Rule?

When working in layers such as when glazing with oil colours, introduce a little more oil medium into your oil paints. This practice merely entails mixing a little oil with the pigment before applying it to the painting. Known as “fat over lean” or “flexible or inflexible,” this practice provides flexibility to the upper layers of paint and will prevent it from cracking.

Linseed oil is most commonly used for fat over lean, but other oils are suitable, such as stand oil, safflower oil or oil of spike lavender. However, it is best to stick to the same oil medium for each painting as this will prevent conflicting drying rates in the paint.

Proper Use Of Oil Painting Products

Always read the manufacturers’ instructions properly, as some art products might require special preparations. Items such as rabbit skin glue or oil primers often need to be used in a specific way.
Never varnish an oil painting until it is thoroughly dry. Oil paint that is not quite dry could adhere to the varnish layer and cause it to “move” with the varnish as it dries and contracts, causing the oil paint to crack. Further problems may present themselves in the future when it comes to removing the varnish for cleaning, as some of the oil paint may come off with it the varnish.

Art Materials to Prevent Cracking in Oil Paint

Linseed oil click to buy from Amazon

It is essential to use proper artist products for oil painting rather than those designed for industrial use. Linseed oil, Sansador, Stand oil or Turpenoid are suitable for thinning the paint and cleaning the brushes. Similarly using proper artist primer for sizing will prevent the absorbent painting support form sucking the oil from the oil paint. Artist’s gesso or acrylic polymer primer is most often used.

Any oily art medium can be used for the fat over lean rule to prevent the upper glazes of oil paint from cracking but linseed oil is most often applied. Artist varnishes are available for any finish from matt to gloss, so long as the oil paint is thoroughly dry (after six months or so). With this in mind, oil paint is a very forgiving medium, and few artists have encountered cracking in their oil painting, even with short cuts.

Links Relating to Oil Painting Practices

• Advice on oil painting materials
• Advice on buying oil painting mediums
• Advice on oil painting varnishes
• Oil painting materials shop
• Books on oil painting

The surface of a freshly completed oil painting will often dazzle the eyes with deep, saturated colours and a glossy finish. A week or so later, however, the wet look has gone and dull patches begin to appear on the oil painting. Colours lose their vibrancy, particularly dark pigments. How can the artist put right an oil painting that has become dull or patchy?

A Sinking Oil Painting

A Glossy Finish to Oil Painting Rachel Shirley

The artist may feel disheartened when dull patches begin to form on the oil paint surface. Parts of the painting remain glossy, as though just painted, but others become matt, creating an unpleasant patchy finish to the oil painting. What is the cause of dull patches on an oil painting and what can be done?

Known as “sinking,” a patchy oil painting is often due to the oil in the paint being sucked into an absorbent painting surface beneath. The following practices will cause sinking.

• Painting straight onto an unsealed surface, which may be canvas, wood, board or paper.
• Using cheap industrial or household primers to prepare the painting surface.
• Not sizing the painting surface properly, such as over-thinning the primer or gesso, or spreading it too sparingly over the painting surface.
• Using too much solvents with the oil paint mix, such as when applying glazes or oil washes.

Some pigments will dry with a more glossy finish than others. Dark colours, such as burnt umber and ultramarine often dry matt. Crimsons, such as permanent rose often retain their gloss when dry, which may account for a patchy oil painting.

The Best Sealant for Oil Painting

The artist need not worry if the painting surface has been properly sealed (or sized). This might be a gesso size, rabbit skin glue or (what I most often use and would recommend) artists’ primer, or acrylic polymer primer. This is sometimes labelled “gesso,” which is confusing, but acrylic polymer primer is a white water-based paint that dries water resistant, providing a tough, waterproof seal onto which the oil paint can sit. Applying the primer with a wide brush and allowing it dry before applying a second coat is all that is required. The great thing is, the paint brushes can be washed in warm soapy water afterwards without having to use solvents.

Oiling Out Dull Patches in an Oil Painting

However, if the fault lies with an absorbent painting surface or insufficient sizing, the artist may “oil out” the painting by a simple process:

1. Firstly, allow the oil painting to dry thoroughly. This will take at least six months.
2. Dribble a little linseed oil onto a dry, clean, soft cloth.
3. Gently apply the linseed oil onto the dull areas by using soft strokes. This will help nourish the parched area with fresh oil.
4. Allow the oil on the painting to dry for a few days.
5. If the dry patch returns, repeat the process.
6. Several applications might sometimes be necessary, particularly if the painting support is very absorbent.

How to Nourish an Oil Painting

Linseed oil click to buy from Amazon

In most cases, a patchy oil painting will be corrected by the application of artists’ varnish, which will reinstate the oil painting’s previous wet, vibrant look. Many artists consider the varnishing process to be the final touches to an oil painting, but oiling out as described above will nourish the painting prior to varnishing.

Which Oil Painting Varnish

Most artists use gloss varnish for oil painting. This will certainly rid of the dull patches. But if the artist does not wish for a high gloss, as is often the case with abstract art or contemporary art, matt varnish or even satin (a finish somewhere between gloss and matt) can be used. In both cases, the patchy appearance of an oil painting will disappear once the varnish has been applied.

Advice on Oil Painting Remedies

• Using oil painting mediums
• Advice on oil painting varnishes
• Oil Painting books
• Oil painting art materials

The prospective artist may purchase an oil painting kit that contains smelly solvents that could cause irritation to the nostrils or skin. This may put off artists who suffer allergic conditions. However, there is a way of practicing oil paint that is friendly to the environment as well as the skin.

Odourless Oil Painting Mediums
 

Oil Painting with Water Soluble Oils Rachel Shirley

Several options are available to the artist who is loath to powerful odours. Although oil painters are known to use Turpentine or white spirits to produce oil washes or to clean the brushes, such industrial cleaners should be dispensed with, as they strip the natural oils from the art brushes and make the room an unpleasant place. Low odour art mediums that are kinder to the environment as well as the skin are more suitable, such as:

• Low odour artist’s white spirits.
• Turpenoid.
• Sansador.

Lathering oil painting brushes in neat washing up liquid or soap after cleaning in artist’s spirits will prolong the life of the brushes.

Water Soluble Oil Paints

Another option is to use watermixable oil paints. Winsor and Newton’s Artisan or Royal Talens’ Van Gough H2Oil are two examples of oil paint that is soluble in water. The properties of watersoluble oils are the same as traditional oil paint, the difference being that the oil medium has been modified so that it breaks down in water. This may make some oil painting purist shudder at the thought of oil and water mixing, but watermixable oils are widely used and are effective.

Water Mixable Oil Thinners

Artisan has a range of forty colors and its own versions of oil mediums to suit. Of course water can be used with Artisan to produce washes, but should be added gradually or the paint might bubble. But because water evaporates quite quickly, the watermixable oil paint is prone to thickening rather too quickly on application, making manipulation a little tricky. To overcome this problem, Artisan’s water mixable oil thinner provides a more oily consistency to the oil paint, making oil painting more like its traditional counterpart.

Water Mixable Oil Mediums



Water Soluble Oils click to buy from Amazon

 It is wise not to use traditional oil and watermixable oils in the same painting, as the differing drying rates could cause stresses in the painting. For this reason, Artisan has developed watermixable equivalents to the traditional oil mediums. For modifying the oil paint, water mixable linseed oil, water mixable safflower oil, water mixable stand oil and water mixable impasto medium have been developed. Some of these mediums will retard the drying time of the oil and add a glossy finish, others will accelerate the drying time.

Varnishes for Water Mixable Oils

Specialised varnishes have been developed for water soluble oils. Again, Artisan varnishes contain no irritants and are odour free, as the varnish is watersoluble. Gloss, matt and satin finishes are available. The varnishing brushes can be cleaned in warm soapy water afterwards.

Odour Free Oil Colors

The artist who suffers allergies or who dislike the high odours of oil mediums may try traditional oils with low odour artists’ spirits, but water mixable oils are a popular choice for artists who wishes to avoid traditional oils altogether.

• Oil Painting Mediums
• Alkyd oils and Liquin
• Books on oil painting
• Oil painting materials

Confronting art techniques for oil painting for the first time may overwhelm the beginner on the diversity on offer. Fine art painting books would suggest that oil painting requires complex practices and materials, but this is not necessarily the case. The beginner may enjoy simple oil painting techniques with effective results, and which will give the fledgling artist satisfaction.

Basic Oil Painting Techniques

The Key Techniques for Oil Painting Rachel Shirley

The beginner in oil painting may begin with all prima, which simply describes a painting completed in one session and therefore in one paint layer. Quick oil painting sketches of landscapes or skies, for example, are typically completed in alla prima. Such a technique requires the application of neat oil paint straight onto the painting surface.

Oil painting impasto complements alla prima, in that impasto describes a thick paint layer, and one which may enhance the painting with brisk brush marks or other textures within the paint. Thick paint or impasto can be manipulated with wide bristle brushes, palette knives or other mark making instruments.

Oil Painting Glazing

In opposition to the two oil painting techniques just described, glazing with oils describes the completion of a oil painting by the application of several layers of oil paint and over several sessions. Each layer or “glaze” will be translucent in appearance in order to modify the colour beneath, to enrich the colour or to alter its tone. The paint will usually be thinned with either linseed oil or an alkyd medium such as Liquin. Many old masters practiced glazing, applying in as much of ten or more before satisfied with the result.

Sgraffito Oil Painting

Sgraffito provides special paint effects by adding textures to the oil paint. Any mark making implement can be used, from old combs and toothbrushes to pencils. By applying a conflicting colour beneath the painting, this colour will be revealed when the upper layer is etched off, introducing an element of movement and energy to the oil painting.

Simple Oil Painting Techniques

click to buy from Amazon

Links on Oil Painting Techniques

• Build confidence in oil painting
• Alla prima oil painting
• Impasto oil painting
• Glazing with oil paints
• Sgraffito with oil paints
• Wet into wet oil painting
• Oil painting in monochrome
• Oil Painting books for beginners

Matt or Gloss Varnish? Rachel Shirley

Shiny and Matt Oil Paint

Oil by its nature is shiny. Pale colours, particularly titanium white are often blended with sunflower oil, as it is non-yellowing. Most other colours are blended with linseed oil. The high finish of oil paint gives a lustrous and rich finish to oil paint, particularly suited to detailed work and traditional oil painting. When wet the oil painting is particularly shiny. But the artist may notice some oil pigments dry more matt than others, resulting in a patchy appearance.

Although in some cases, this may be due to the oil paint sinking into an absorbent painting support, this is more often caused by the individual nature of the pigments and how they are blended with the oil. However, once coated with varnish, the oil painting will have equal gloss.

How to Get a Matt Oil Painting

The artist may obtain a matt finish to an oil painting in three ways:

• Adding an alkyd medium such as Liquin to the oil paint.
• Using alkyds in place of oils.
• Using a matt varnish once the painting is dry.

Using an alkyd based medium such as Liquin alters the properties of the oil paint by accelerating the drying time of the paint and giving a matt finish once dry. The alkyd medium should be added to the oil paint by a ratio of about one part to four before applying it to the painting.

Using Alkyds Instead of Oils

The artist may also consider using alkyd paints instead of oil which offer the same properties as traditional oils, but with a quick drying non-lustrous finish. A misnomer, alkyd oils, as they are sometime known, is not really a type of oil paint at all, as the vehicle is a special alkyd resin. It must be borne in mind, that a matt varnish should be applied to an alkyd painting to retain the matt look.

Matt Varnish for Oils

The third option, using a matt varnish for oil painting is the most common option.

click to buy from Amazon

• Types of oil painting mediums
• Types of oil painting varnishes
• Alkyd paints and Liquin
• Wet-into-wet demonstration with oil mediums
• Oil painting varnishes
• Oil painting mediums

The beginner in oil painting does not need lots of oil painting materials or to spend lots of money. In fact, great oil paintings can be completed by the use of a minimal amount and cheap oil painting equipment. All that is required is careful preparation and shrewd shopping.


Art Equipment for Oil Painting

Many artists use numerous oil painting tubes, which is fine, but the beginner can obtain any colour by merely three primary colours and white. Additional colours will come in handy if the artist does not wish to keep mixing colours to obtain a particular blue or red. Earth colours are also great for adding atmosphere and for monochromatic painting.

Primary Colours

The true primary colours are not any red, yellow and blue, but are the colours found in printing ink, which are magenta, cyan and yellow. The true primary colours do not exist in pigment, for a little impurity will always exist, but a close approximation can be achieved. Personally, I have found permanent rose, pthalo blue and cadmium yellow (pale) to be close to the mark, and include them within my painting palette.

Cheap Oil Paints

Briefly, oil paint is graded into two types: artist quality and student quality. The artist quality include organic pigments, which make them more costly. Personally, I have found student quality to be perfectly suited to any oil painting and I have used them extensively. However, I always stick to a recommended brand such as Winsor & Newton or Daler Rowney.

Recommended Oil Painting Pigments

I use the following pigments for my paintings without the need for lots of other pigments:

• A large tube of titanium white
• Permanent rose
• Cadmium red
• Pthalo blue
• Ultramarine
• Cadmium yellow (pale)
• Lemon yellow
• Viridian green
• Burnt sienna
• Burnt umber

Oil Painting Brushes

It is important to have good quality sable brushes for detail and blending. Avoid cheap brushes that have no springiness to the hairs. Round sizes 1, 3, 6 and 10 will suit most oil painting purposes. Bristle brushes can be purchased from DIY stores, but cheap ones that moult onto the painting must be avoided. Flat or round sizes 6, 9 and large is ideal for covering large areas and impasto techniques.

Oil Painting Surfaces

Wood, canvas, card and even paper make suitable surfaces for oil painting so long as they have been sealed with an acrylic primer or gesso size. I use acrylic polymer primer, a water based paint that dries water resistant, that can be purchased from art stores. A two coat application is all that is required, and because it is water based, is odour free and brushes can be washed in warm soapy water. Cheap ready stretched and primed canvas and art boards can also be obtained with shrewd shopping.

Painting Mediums

click to buy from Amazon

Household turps must never be used for oil painting for their powerful odours and harshness to the brushes. Low odour artists white spirits or Sansador or Turpenoid is better. Linseed oil is useful for thinning the paint and adding lustre to the colours. Exploration with other artists's mediums will result in interesting effects. Impasto medium is an alkyd based medium that can be added to oil paint to add bulk for impasto techniques. Liquin is a quick drying alternative to linseed oil, and leaves a matt finish.

Other Art Equipment

Tool boxes with tiered drawers are ideal for storing oil paints and brushes, and can be purchased cheaply from DIY stores. A table easel or drawing board will make oil painting easier. And any non porous item is ideal to use as a palette. A china plate, varnished wood, or even cling film stretched over a surface.

The measures described will make oil painting easier, cheaper and more convenient. Further advice on oil painting materials and step by step oil painting demonstrations can be found on my websites on oil painting.

Useful Links on Oil Painting Materials

• Advice on oil painting brushes
• Advice on buying oil paints
• Types of gessoes for oil painting
• Advice on buying easels
• Advice on oil painting mediums
• Oil painting materials shop
• Books on oil painting

In an attempt to copy the old masters, the artist may temper vibrant colors in the belief that an oil painting should look sombre. In other cases, the artist may strive for vibrant paintings and instead finds garish colors. How can the artist paint vibrant oil paintings?

Oil Painting with Bright Colors Rachel Shirley

The traditional view of an oil painting is often one that contains lots of earth colors. The prospective artist may therefore purchase a set of oil paints dominated with lots of browns and neutrals. The following may also cause a dull painting.

• Darkening colors with black. For example, adding black to green for foliage or black to flesh tint for shaded areas of portraits. Black and any bright color often results in dirty colors.
• Tempering vivid colors with neutrals in the belief they are always too bright.
• Painting alla prima can sometimes result in an oil painting that lacks depth of color once the painting is dry.
• Over-mixing oil pigments, causing the color mixture to lose its life
• Using too many colors in a mix, such as more than three.

An unsuitable frame may make an oil painting look cheap and amateurish. A thin gold frame or black plastic strip does any painting little justice. A wide rustic wooden frame will compliment a landscape or portrait painting.

Paint like the Old Masters

Many beginners believe that the essence of an oil painting lies with the old masters, which are noted for heavily shaded areas, known as chiaroscuro. Early oil painters were restricted in the colors they could use, as blue pigment (lapis lazuli) was costly to produce, which is why early paintings appear subdued. In other cases, bright pigments dulled with time.

Egg Tempera Techniques

Furthermore, the precursor to oil colors was egg tempera, which is essentially ground pigment mixed with egg yolk. Mixing colors was almost impossible, as each color had to be blended separately before applying onto the panel. This meant many of pigments were necessary for painting.

The Best Oil Colors

click to buy from Amazon

Thankfully, times have changed and oil color manufacturing processes means that these restrictions are taken away. The artist may use any color at his disposal and mix the colors on the palette or the painting. In this respect, less oil pigments are necessary. Some artists will strive to emulate the old masters, having lots of earth colors within his palette. However, such a practice may not be suitable for producing vibrant oil paintings.

Colors that Cause a Dull Painting

Many oil painting sets contain unnecessary oil colors, which is why I purchase the tubes separately. Except for adding bulk to paint or mixing neutrals, I have found the following oil colors often lie redundant within my painting kit and many cause dull color mixtures:

Earth colors: Raw sienna, raw umber, yellow ochre (overrated in my view), brown ochre, cadmium brown, sepia, Vandyke brown.

Other unnecessary oil colors: Cadmium orange, flesh tint, sap green, olive green, lamp black, cadmium orange, paynes grey, Naples yellow and flesh tint.

These colors however, may prove invaluable in a watercolour or pastel kit. In oil pigment terms, the only earth colors I include in my color mixes are burnt sienna, a lovely golden brown, and burnt umber, ideal for creating rich warm darks.

How to Create Depth of Color in Oil Painting

Colors often appear dulled when an oil painting is dry. Varnishing it will bring out the saturated appearance of the colors again. But an oil painting that appears flat could benefit from glazing, a technique where a thin layer of oil paint is applied over a paint layer. Glazing adds depth and richness to oil painting, but more than four glazes are probably unnecessary.

Proper understanding of the color theory will prove invaluable for producing vibrant color mixes in paintings. I always include the three primaries within my palette. In printing terms, these are yellow, cyan and magenta. In oil pigments, I have found cadmium yellow (pale), pthalo blue and permanent rose pretty close. Ultramarine, cadmium red, viridian and lemon yellow are also useful.

External Links Relating to Issues of Dull Paintings

Further strategies for creating vivid oil paintings more in depth can be found on the following links.

• Build confidence in oil painting
• Primary color theory
• How to avoid dirty color mixes
• How to glaze with oil colors
• How to paint light and shadows
• How to mix greens
• Demonstrationon on painting shadows

Smooth Effects for Oils Rachel Shirley

• Using hog hair or bristle brushes are more likely to leave brush strokes or troughs on the oil painting, due to the nature of the stiff bristles’ scratchy effect on the oil paint.
• Trying to blend a thin layer of oil paint is often difficult due to the transparent nature of the paint layer which will have varying thicknesses. This will be made worse if the underlying paint is of a contrasting colour, for example when painting blue paint over an orange paint layer or imprimatura.
• Working in impasto, or applying the oil paint too thickly will leave unwanted brush marks on the paint layer, particularly when using impasto medium.
• Trying to create smooth effects with oil paint could be made harder when applying the paint onto a rough surface, such as dried impasto, or coarse canvas.

How to Glaze Oil Paint for Smooth Finishes

Applying oil paint glazes is one of the best ways of achieving an ultra smooth finish. Simply apply the first layer of oil paint onto a smooth painting surface such as primed MDF or panel. Treat the paint as through it were going to be the last, even though it will never be perfect. Blend the paint as much as possible, brush out any ridges, troughs and patchy areas. Use a soft sable brush for this purpose.
Allow the paint to become touch dry over a few days. Apply the second coat with a little linseed oil. This adheres to the fat over lean rule, which adds flexibility to the upper layers of oil paint to prevent it cracking. Adding linseed oil also adds transparency to the paint which will add depth to the colour and reduce the appearance of imperfections to the under-layer.

click to buy from Amazon

Like glazing, repeat the process once the first paint layer is dry. This dabbing technique is great for smoothing areas on portraits, underwater scenes, skies and other large areas of colour. Creating a smooth colour gradation in painting can be achieved by gradually shifting the colour mix in the glaze as you go along.

How to Blend Oil Paint Smoothly

A smooth paint layer is ideal for achieving superealism to an oil painting, such as large expanses of skies, seas or to create smooth effects on portraits. Old master applied the oil paint in transparent form or as a glaze, in order to reduce the imperfections beneath and to add depth to the colour. I often find two glazes enough, although more can be applied. Glazes can be applied via a soft brush or dabbed on with a soft rag. A little linseed oil should be added with each paint layer in order to add flexibility to the upper layer.

External Links on Related Oil Painting Techniques

• How to apply oil painting glazes
• Advice on painting with alkyd paints
• Advice on buying art brushes for oils
• Oil painting mediums
• Books on oil painting for the beginner

The artist who ventures into oil painting impasto may paste the oil paint on thickly for impressionist skies or landscapes, using up lots of costly oil paint. The result is that there is little of the paint left in the tubes for another painting. How can oil painting be made cheap when using impasto?

Textured Painting Techniques

Producing an oil painting with impasto paint can work out expensive if the artist is wasteful with oil paint. This can be a problem if using a palette knife or wide bristle brushes for relief effects. The following practices could make impasto techniques costly.

• Using exclusively artist quality oil paints and applying liberal amounts over the oil painting to produce relief effects.
• Depositing liberal amounts of oil paint onto the artist’s palette and then simply disposing of the residue at the end of the painting session.
• Putting too much oil paint on the palette in relation to the size of the oil painting. For instance, if the impasto work is small.

How to make Thick Paint Go Further with Impasto

Few artists wish to worry about how much paint to use when working in impasto, for impasto techniques are all about freedom of expression with paint. A great technique when working in alla prima, impasto can suggest energy and give vibrancy to large expanses of an oil painting, such as skies, water, seascapes, mountains and even backgrounds to still life and portraiture. But how can the artist make the oil paint go further with impasto? Here are some tips on making applying impasto paint effectively.

• Avoid depositing large amounts of a pigment onto the palette in the first instance, for surplus paint cannot be placed back in the tube. It is better to squeeze out a little at a time rather than one big splodge.
• Don’t dispose of the left over oil paint on the palette at the end of the painting session, for the medley of colours can be mixed to make lovely neutrals for a future painting. Place a Tupperware lid over the palette and seal with cling film. If placed in a cool place, the paints will remain workable for up to a week.
• Again, don’t throw away old oil paints, regardless of how garish the colour; they can be used to create bulk to an existing mix or used to mix neutrals.
• Allow some of the oil paints to thicken on the palette over a day or two. This will result in a thick, pasty consistency, ideal for impasto.
• A large impasto painting may benefit from the purchase of impasto medium or Oleopasto. This is an alkyd based medium that can be mixed with the oil paint to thicken the paint and make it go further.

How to Use Impasto Gel

Impasto medium click to buy from Amazon

Impasto medium is often sold in tubes, and when squeezed out, a brownish substance will emerge. Once mixed with the pigment, it will not affect the colour, but will thicken the consistency of the oil paint. Mix to about one parts to four. Adding too much may take the tinting strength from the oil paint. The impasto mixture can then be used for palette knife techniques or Sgraffito with textures.

Impasto Painting Made Cheap

Impasto techniques with oil can be made inexpensive with a few adjustments to how the artist applies the paint. Avoid throwing out old tubes of paint for these can always be used for future mixes. Surplus paint on the palette can be saved for a future painting by sealed under a cover and placed in a cool place. Impasto medium can be mixed with oil paint to thicken its consistency and make it go further, helping to cut the cost of oil paints.

External Links on Impasto Painting

• Advice on oil painting mediums
• Alla prime painting technique
• Advice on impasto techniques
• Creating textures in oil painting
• Demonstration on painting sunsets with palette knives
• Demonstration on painting Sgraffito with oils
• Oil painting mediums

Where can I Get Cheap Art Materials for Oils?

Inexpensive Oil Painting Rachel Shirley

Thankfully, times have changed since the days of the old masters and their exacting processes, and there have been many innovations, not least in how the oil paints have been manufactured. Nowadays artist oil paints, containing organic pigments, have a cheaper alternative in the form of student quality oils, which contain synthetic substitutes. Numerous oil pigments are not necessary. In fact, the only oil colours I use for all my painting are as follows:

• A large tube of titanium white.
• Cadmium yellow (pale).
• Lemon yellow.
• Ultramarine blue.
• Pthalo blue.
• Permanent rose.
• Cadmium red.
• Burnt sienna.
• Burnt umber.
• Viridian green: A much-maligned colour for its strength, but when mixed with other colours, provides beautiful greens.

Avoid purchasing preselected sets of oil tubes, as they often contain unnecessary colours, such as numerous earth colours or secondary colours. A one-off purchase of the aforementioned oil tubes will spread over dozens of medium-sized oil paintings, and will last years.

Beginner’s Set of Oil Brushes

Art brushes for oils are essentially divided into two types: stiff brushes, most often hog hair for rough impasto, and soft brushes, most often sables, for blending and detail. The artist may save money on art brushes by purchasing the stiff brushes from DIY stores. But it is worth investing money in good quality sables that last. Kolinsky is a well-established brand, but brushes containing a blend of synthetic and sable provide a cheaper alternative. Two or three different sizes of each will suffice the artist for many art techniques. The following starter kit of art brushes will not break the purse strings.

Sable brushes Sizes 3 and 6 rounds. (Rounds are brushes that converge to a point for fine lines).
Hog hair brushes sizes 6, 9 and 12 flat. (Flat brushes are brushes with a flat, blunt end for wide brushstrokes).

Where Can I Get Cheap Art Boards?

The purchase of canvases and art boards can make the cost of oil painting skyrocket, but preparing your own is simple and will save lots of money. Simply purchase a tin of acrylic polymer primer (sometimes labelled “gesso primer”), which is essentially a white acrylic, water-soluble paint that dries water resistant. Applying a coat or two of acrylic primer onto thick paper or card will provide a stable surface for oil sketches.

Textured paper, such as “not” watercolour paper will provide interesting effects for painting. MDF or hardboard can be used for larger oil paintings. But if stretched canvases are preferred, stationers will often stock them at the fraction of the art shop’s price.

What Art Mediums do I Need for Oil Painting?

The artist can get away with using only linseed oil and artist thinners. Linseed oil is essentially for thinning oil paint for glazes or detail. Artist’s solvents such as Sandador or Turpenoid are used for cleaning the brushes or applying washes. (Never use household or industrial solvents for oil painting as this will kill the art brushes and emit powerful odours). Used artists solvents can be made to last longer by allowing the paint residue to settle at the bottom of the jar and siphoning the clean solution from the top into a clean jar.


Tool box for art storage click to buy from Amazon

 

Any non-porous material can be used as an artist’s palette. A china plate, a piece of plastic or veneered wood would be ideal. I stretch a piece of cling film over a sturdy surface via bulldog clips. When I am finished, the used cling film can easily be disposed of.

• Advice on buying oil paints
• Advice on buying art brushes
• Types of gessoes for oil painting
• Preparing art boards
• Advice on buying art mediums
• Advice on buying artist easels
• Advice on buying pochade boxes
• Art materials shop

Acquiring an old oil painting or antique fine art may show signs of damage due to wear, tear and time. The temptation to do a DIY art restoration job may not be wise if the painting is valuable and could cause irreversible damage. What is the best course for getting the oil painting restored?

How to Care for Oil Paintings

Varnishing an Oil Painting Rachel Shirley

Like most things, time will age an object, and oil paintings are no exception. Lack of care, damp, heat and pollution can all contribute to damage. Prevention is better than cure, but the following practices may have caused an oil painting to age rather prematurely:

• Hanging the oil painting over a heat source such as a gas fire or radiator. The constant temperature changes and the drying effect could cause the paint layer to expand and contract, creating stresses. The result could be cracking.
• Placing the oil painting near a window under an intense light source could cause some of the pigments to fade or discolour.
• Storing the oil painting in a damp location could cause a fogging of the varnish layer due to condensation getting trapped between the painting and the varnish. Damp stains on the canvas may permeate onto the paint layer, causing tide marks or worse, the weave of the canvas to rot.

Varnishing an Oil Painting

A less serious problem, an old oil painting may dull over time due to the accumulation of dirt, dust and smoke in the atmosphere on the varnish. One need not worry, for this is the purpose of the varnish. After ten or twenty years or so, the varnish is supposed to be removed with a special varnish remover along with all the pollutants, and a fresh coat of varnish applied. It is only when the painting has been restored in this way that the colours jump out once again, as though freshly painted.

The temptation to over-clean should be resisted as this could damage the painting. Similarly, never try removing the varnish with an industrial varnish remover, spirits or abrasive agent. Special varnish removers for fine art are worth the investment.

Fine Art Restoration Services

The type of restoration required depends upon the nature of the damage. A particularly old painting, of prior 19th century may well benefit from the restoration by experts. Contacting an art restorer who is a member of the British Association of Conservator Restorers (BAPCR) is a safer bet. The following common restoration services are available:

Oil Painting Varnish click to buy from Amazon

Oil Painting Cleaning: The most common and simplest of art restoration. The old oil painting varnish is removed by careful means and a fresh coat of varnish applied. An unvarnished oil painting may need cleaning via a different technique.

Canvas Repair: if there are holes, tears or scratches on the paint layer. In which case, the painting surface may need to be professionally patched.

Inpainting: a technique where damage to the paint layer due to peeling or cracking is restored. This entails building up the paint layer to its original state with carefully matched pigments and brushmarks. This is not repainting or over-painting, but replacing what is missing. Only specialist restorers should be commissioned to do such work, as matching pigments and the brushmarks of the original artist are painstaking.

Oil Painting Conservators

The best art restorers use minimum intervention to the oil painting, some using specialist in-house techniques such as micro-friction cleaning or composition lining. Micro friction is used for the removal of hard varnishes, where a controlled jet of small particles is propelled at the varnish to break it up for removal. All techniques used by a reputable art restorer should be reversible, meaning that the work can easily be removed by future restorers if required.

Information on Oil Painting Repair and Restoring

• How to varnish an oil painting
• Oil painting demonstrations
• Books on oil painting
• Oil painting materials

Art insurance is a must if expensive oil paintings are to yield compensation should damage or theft occur. Peace of mind is priceless whilst a valuable painting is in transit, hung in an exhibition or in storage. But what is the best way to get an oil painting insured?

Art Insurance for Artists

Dealing with Oils click to buy from Amazon

Insuring an oil painting could be a wise choice for various reasons, namely:

• Becoming an art collector and/or dealer makes art insurance crucial.
• An oil painting that has been in the family for years may not only have sentimental value, but monetary value. The rule often holds that the older an oil painting, the more valuable it is likely to become, particularly if the artist is of some note.
• An oil painting that has taken hours of painstaking work to achieve from the artist’s point may have personal value.
• An oil painting that has won prizes, received critical acclaim from official sources, and has been widely published, reviewed or recognised.
• An old oil painting may have been acquired from a house clearance, an auction or even (as in my case) from a car boot may have monetary value.

Insuring an Oil Painting

In the case of an old oil painting, a certificate of authenticity from an official antique dealer (a service that may also offered by a fine art insurance company) is vital. Specialised art insurance companies such as Loveart Insurance or Axa Art Insurance Limited might be the best option.

An oil painting that is not listed within Christie’s, Millers’ or Phillips’ books and schedules may only be worth the cost of the art materials to produce (the canvas, oil paint and the varnish). Thirty or forty pounds or so does not reflect the hours of labour to produce the painting. In such cases, a realistic appraisal of the oil painting’s value and itemising the artwork within the house contents schedule might be a better option.

Insuring Valuable Art

For costly art, extra diligence may be required. Photograph the artwork and keep copies within the insurance package. Record vital information about the painting, such as the dimensions, medium, style and the artist etc. Keep receipts, certificate of authenticity and any other paperwork pertaining to dealings with the artwork.

Very valuable oil paintings deserve as much insurance as possible. If the worst happens, and the painting is stolen, as least there is monetary compensation. Some is better than nothing, and the oil painting collector may use the cash to eek a little revenue from publicity, installing a security system or even offering a ransom for the painting’s return.

Cheap Art Insurance

Make Money from Art click to buy from Amazon

Read, read and read the insurance schedule. Ask questions and ensure that everything is covered. For instance, the schedule may insure the painting against theft, accidental damage, fire and flood, but what about the painting’s frame, which may also be valuable? Similarly, does the location of the painting have any bearing on the cover, such as damage in a public place? Omissions of the obvious can easily happen.

Adding valuable oil paintings to house insurance will often work out cheaper, particularly if the house has a good security system. Otherwise, using specialised antique insurance is worth paying out for if the oil painting is priceless, such as an old master.

Useful Links on Paintings

• Books on oil painting
• Oil painting materials
• Oil painting demonstrations
• Advice on using art materials

An otherwise effective oil painting could be spoiled by a garish tree, a black splodge or a grey expanse of water that is not in keeping with the vibrant colours of the painting. In an attempt to put the painting right, the artist may fiddle with the area, overworking the paint until it looks a muddy mess. How can the painting be put right?

Culprits to Making Mistakes in Oil Painting

Correct an Oil Painting Rachel Shirley

Few things are more frustrating for the artist than completing a satisfactory oil painting, except for a particular area. The view holds true that an oil painting is only as good as its weakest point. No matter what the artist does, the offending area of oil paint will continue to draw the eye unintentionally. The undesirable option of scrapping the painting and starting again may seem to be the only option. The following may have brought the artist to this point:

• Completing the painting in one go causing the final part to be rendered when tired or in a rush
• Guesswork an area of painting by trying to paint it from memory, for instance by using green paint neat from the tube for grass or trees
• Trying to work from a poor photograph
• Fiddling too much with an area of the painting, causing the area to lose life and become muddy
• Trying to erase a mistake by adding ever thicker layers of oil paint
• Having insufficient colours within the palette to express the colours required, causing the artist to use substitute colours which are unsatisfactory
• Using cheap brushes, which do not control the paint sufficiently
• Not thinking through the composition properly until the paint has been applied when it is too late

How to Put an Oil Painting Right

Scrapping the painting need not always be the only option, unless the overall painting is unsatisfactory. If only one area is at fault, the following may be worth trying:

If the area is quite large, such as a lake painting or area of sky, for example, carefully wipe the paint off with a clean soft rag. Keep wiping the area with a clean area of cloth until most of the paint is removed.
With a little linseed oil on a clean rag, wipe the last remnants of the oil paint from the painting surface
Leave the area to dry for two days or so, or until the painting surface is dry

If the offending area of the oil painting has completely dried, the area can be lightly sanded down with fine glass paper to remove any impasto effects and paint ridges until smooth. Using a dust buster or vacuum will prevent the dust from lodging into another area of the painting.

Tonking an Oil Painting

If the offending area is close to an intricate area of detail, the artist may use a method known as “tonking,” named after sir Arthur Tonks, who came up with the idea. It is quite simple and is akin to blotting.

• Cut or tear a piece of clean paper (newspaper will do) into roughly the size and shape of the offending area of the painting
• Place the paper over the area and press down with the palms of the hands
• Gently lift the paper off
• Repeat with more clean paper
• Lift off again
• Repeat until no paint can be seen lifting off with the paper
• The painting can be left to dry over a day or so and new paint can be reapplied over the area

Essential Art Materials for Successful Oil Painting

click to buy from Amazon

Mistakes are unavoidable and are part of learning how to oil paint. However, the following will help minimise mistakes from spoiling an otherwise effective oil painting:

• Good quality artist’s resources, such as clear photographs or sketches
• Including the primary colours for colour mixing
• Having good quality sable brushes or bristles
• Stick to recommended oil painting manufacturers such as Winsor & Newton or Daler Ronwey
• Composing the picture properly before applying the paint

When tired or time is running short, don’t rush it, put the painting away. It can be completed the next day.

Links to Advice on Oil Painting

• Oil painting tonking technique
• Oil painting books