I help aspiring artists improve their art and become more productive with practical step by step videos.
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Artists are drowning in knowledge but starving for practical application. I'm here to provide you with this practical application.
I want to give you art instruction as well as personal development tips on painting, drawing, creative habits, motivation, time management, how to be a productive artist in and out of the studio and more.
I personally love what you can do with solvents, especially undertones and what you can do with painting into a damp surface. But it is a bit of a hassle, you have to ideally buy a non-toxic one (NEVER USE TURPENTINE), deal with how runny it makes the paint, dullness. Oil paint straight from the tube is usually really thick, too thick. And it can be a real struggle to cover area and then horrible to come back into pure oil pain to corect colors. Quickly becomes mud. I’ve tried liquin original (a gel-like plastic-y alkyd based medium that quickens drying) but it becomes sticky too fast for me and smells strong and toxic. Many love it, though. My by far favourite favourite medium is a 50/50 mix of non-toxic solvent and linseed oil. I mix it myself. It thins paint, but not too much, doesn’t smell, doesn’t try quick, makes the paint extremely plyable so you can cover ground quickly, more similar to how acrylics are but without the time race with drying. Simple, reccomended by age old experts 50/50 (non-toxic) solvent + linseed oil.
What about disposing of rags with nontoxic oil paint and mediums? Can there still be an exothermic reaction with crumpled rags with just oil paint and nontoxic mediums?
Hi, thanks for showing the process. im building up my rustiness and looking for ways to make the cleaning process as eeeeaaaaasy and comfortable as possible :) by the way I like your light set up and video quality
I just wanted to note that Golden doesn’t recommend anymore to paint oil over any acrylic gloss medium or gel like GAC 100, When using oils over matte or satin acrylic mediums or acrylics colors they recommend to add oil to the paint out of the tube. Please read the post in Just Paint titled “Revisiting Oils Over Acrylics”.
Can you switch paints and toxic free solvents or non solvents while you're working on an artwork that you started in oil with regular oil paint and turpentine for example?
great ide using fresh paint and less or no solvents, however a couple things some people might want to consider: 1) i was very interested in thinning or altering my paint with linseed oil ( and i also thought this was a great way to avoid solvents and use more natural compounds ), i thought this was great, but i began to learn that i also like the appearance sometimes of paint with solvent which gave it a more watercolor like look, so in this case using solvent like turpentine or mineral solvent still becomes necessary unfortunately, and 2 ), the former idea in mind, adding linseed oil will also make your paint turnout glossy and shiny, whereas turpentine will result in giving a flat " matte " look, much less shiny or glossy, something that may compliment this whole fat lean discussion for some of you out there + fat, shiny, lean, matte!
I'll give this a try, I was looking to get a drawing board, my wife runs a figure drawing class every other Wednesday. Actually, we're just north of you, up in the Skagit Valley area. :) Good stuff though man, I gave you a follow over on IG. Cheers!
Excellent video! Could you please tell me what you use to thin the oil paint? I do not want to use Linseed oil, due to the combustible nature of the oil. Is there an alternative? I am very new to oil painting and want to be as safe as possible.
I use vegetable oils to clean my brushes for over 20 years then with ivory soap to get them super clean. I do leave my brushes to sit on my large palette in between sessions and breaks. Thanks for the video. ❤
Thank you for sharing these important tips, I’ve been using original Liquin for two years and I started to have reactions like intense headaches, and my nose bleeds, even with a ventilated room, and using only liquid soap to clean the brushes, I’m replacing it for flaxseed oils again and gel, I don’t want to have to attack my health to make art anymore
I only use linseed oil when I'm painting, and clean my brushes with dish soap and water. I also only use cheap brushes (I haven't been painting for very long). It suits my style of painting. Since I have dogs who are nuts, I avoid any cadmium paints, except yellow. Thanks for the tip on how to avoid it entirely! Also, thanks for the tips on not cleaning your brushes. I'll give that a try.
@@leslieaguila8142 I'm not sure what you mean by disposing of it. I tend to use it all! I will say, I don't use rags, I use paper towels, and they are rarely soaked in it. From what I have been able to find out, it is soaked rags that are the biggest problem. I only use the amount of linseed oil I need for painting, so nothing really gets soaked in it. I also keep it away from heat sources. From what I have been able to find out, once the linseed oil is dried, it is not combustible any more. Don't take this as gospel - that's just what I have been able to find out. If you are using rags, the information I found suggests laying them out flat, outside, to dry. It may be that the being crumpled is what causes the heat to build up on the rags (kind of like when hay is baled wet, it will also self-combust). Another suggestion was to thoroughly soak your rags in a bucket of water. Not sure if any of this helps.
I have just recently changed from acrylics to oils and honestly the cleaning of the brushes part of the process, had almost put me off as I was doing it every day. Knowing I can just leave them in a store bought cooking oil overnight/weeks is a great news. I will be checking the supermarket shelves for the specific types you mentioned, thanks for the tip 👍
Is it necessary to soak the brushes overnight, or could I just dip them in the oil? Currently, I’ve been cleaning them in oil until most pigment is removed, then dip them in a clean brush dip up to the ferrule and lay them flat at a slight downward angle. But I’m finding this method is still too time consuming. I’ve avoided suspending them in oil because I don’t trust the spring/coil contraption to not let my skinny detail brushes slip out (especially if it’s holding a mix of thick and thin handles). I’d be curious to see what other kind of brush soaking setups people have come up with.
It works fine enough, I just dip them thoroughly and leave them horizontally on a home-made cardboard brush holder. I only use other methods, like leaving them in or cleaing, if I know I wont be painting for a week.
Chris, you're a saint! Thank you for all your research and sharing. I switched to acrylics eight years ago after moving into a not-so well-ventilated studio with an indoor house cat, thinking there was just no other solution to painting healthy because of how I learned to paint in college. Rather than do my own research, I just stuck with what I know, and while I've enjoyed developing skills in acrylic painting, I have missed oils so much. I was just working under the impression that everything about oil painting is toxic, no matter what. I am so grateful to have discovered your channel.
Ive start playing with Georgian water mixable oils. After using acrylics and house paint for years, but studying oil painters, it's such a welcome sea change and feels much more forgiving and painterly :)
If the solvent free fluid is stickey what do you use for you thin underpainting layer? Also what is the fluid good for? Is the gel to help with drying the oil paint faster?
Thank for all the wonderful and helpful tips. What would you use to put a light cover of paint on your canvas instead of using gamsol with oil paint to thin out?
Excellent video. And really useful!! I've been using W&N Liquin Original for a while, and I like it because it speeds up the drying of the oil. But I'm worried it's not healthy. Please, can you tell me something about the drying time of Gamblin's Medium Solvent-Free Gel?
