Once again, good information and a pleasant presentation. Loved the background music--great taste and not too loud! You're the best Jason. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving holiday.
I was curious about this material for long time and now I see the difference. I think this video is the only one on youtube which demonstrate this issue. Thanks for posting!
Thanks for that! I always wondered why a painting didn't really get going until I'd been working on it for a while i.e. I had layers of oil paint rather than acrylic to paint over.
Jim Williams , to make an acrilic preparation ( on canves or wood ) a little better for oil colors you can aply a very fluid film made from a thinner ( terbentin or petrolium base ) with some oil or medium added on it , but IS NOT the same like working on a oil base preparation = oil gesso
Not every acrylic primer is same. It depends on binder, fillers, marble dust… you can also try to add about 30% of acrylic paint to acrylic primer by priming
Thanks for such an awsome demo idea. I had trouble with dried acrylic gessoed surfaces, and recently changed for oil priming. What a difference, what a joy painting on oil prime !
Good demo. Since the oil penetrates the acrylic gesso on panels or canvas, if I were to use these I would make sure now there is a size layer. I have been leery of claims that the gesso works as a size. So while making my own panels, am applying GAC 100 before putting down gesso or an oil or alkyd ground.
Thanks for watching! Actually oil primer would have been the normal standard until acrylic gesso came along in the 1950s. I'm so glad you enjoyed the video :)
Seven years ago I began my first oil painting with student grade paints (Winton & Georgian) on an acrylic primed (cotton) stretched canvas. Later an accomplished painter (who was also an art professor) gave me an oil primed (triple lead?) stretched Belgian linen. What an experience! My thinned underdrawing was ok, but my initial block in virtually slid right off! I was so distraught by this, I just set it aside, hoping one day to acquire formal training on how to work on this extraordinary support. I finally gave up and gifted it to an excellent classical artist. I'm wondering how to you begin your work on a lead oil canvas. Thank you for your VERY INFORMATIVE videos!
Thanks for watching! Yes, if you are used to acrylic primed canvases there can be an adjustment period when switching to oil primed. With time, you start to get the feel for how to lay paint down on a smoother surface. I might encourage you to try again and stick with it. It's also possible that particular canvas may have been too slick. Oil primed canvas should still be a little absorbent, just not nearly as much as acrylic primed.
I’m learning so much every day from your videos. Infact, they have become a part of my daily routine now.😃... thank you so much for such a great lesson.
Thank you for showing the difference. I bought Gamblin oil painting ground after watching your Oil Priming video. I haven't painted on one of the oil primed surfaces but I am looking forward to it, having done a number of paintings on acrylic primed surfaces before only to see the color soon after sink and lose it's vibrancy. I tend to paint dry too(Not a lot of medium added to my paint) so the fading happened pretty quickly I noticed, when I painted on top of acrylic priming.
Best to start with an oil primed linen canvas but there are some more solutions if one does not wish to start on the dry acrylic canvas with oil. Tone it with a fast drying pigment and medium if you are in a hurry or tone it normally if not. Oil out with medium first and paint wet on wet or wait and let dry for wet on dry. Depending on the technique and medium that you use, you need to obey the Fat Over Lean Rule-which can be disregarded if you paint wet on wet unless you let it dry and then go back into it. I mentioned mediums because it is said that Liquins/Alkyds do not have to obey the Fat Over Lean Rule but once you start with it you have to keep using it. Many artists prefer the dry acrylic primed canvas and scrub in the pigments to make them go further for a "dryer" wet on wet undercoat but prefer a "wetter" sky base etc. Mr. Walcott, I do not have a formal art education and your opinions and teachings are important to me, so I am wondering if you find these to be acceptable solutions and why or why not? Also, do you have any other ones?
Thanks for watching! I actually think all of these methods would be fine and I don't see anything here that would cause a problem. You are correct that painting alla prima eliminates much of the fat over lean worry. Oiling the canvas ahead of time could work fine for that method.
I've been searching for an answer for this for, like, the past two months. I started painting on bought stretched canvas, but all canvases in Brazil's market are bad sealed and uses a low quality wood. So, I was advised to strech my own canvas. When I followed a primer recipe, my oils started to behave abnormaly, the way you showed us. I've found some answers about acrylics being too absorbent, but this video is much more straight foreward on the subject. I'll try like two coats of acrylics base just to cover tooth, then, put a coat of linseed oil, an alkyd and calcium carbonate thinned with turp. Maybe this can be ready within a week or two?
Yes, acrylic grounds can be way too absorbent! If you are using a oil ground such as the one you describe then yes you do need to give it time to fully dry and cure. With the alkyd mixed in give it at least a week past touch dry, or two would be better. Plain linseed oil based primers can take a month or more…even six months. If you can get it, I highly recommend the Gamblin Oil Primer or the Winsor & Newton one too. Thanks for watching :)
oh wow super informative thanks for this. God thats why underpaintings can be such an annoying step. Especially if Im using cotton not linen. Its like half of my paint is just sucked into the surface and Im fighting against it.
I have a question. Recently I’ve been taking old paintings that I don’t like, covering them with acrylic gesso, and reusing them for new paintings. Will the gesso chip off due to being painted over top of the dried oil paint? I heard that this can happen but haven’t heard a decisive answer. Thanks for your help!
Thanks for watching! It's quite possible that those paintings you mentioned will eventually start to peel or chip off, yes. Putting acrylic on top of dry oil is not something that is recommended. If you have an oil painting you want to go over, I would put a coat of oil priming on it and then go from there. Hope that helps!
Thanks for watching! Everyone has different ways of working and not every method will work for everybody. You could try underpainting with alkyds which dry in about 24 hours. Also I heard Michael Harding has recently started making an acrylic primer that mimics the oil primed surface.
Hi! This is a super late comment, but I wanted to know if it is archival to use a gesso primer, then bind with an oil primer to smooth out the surface of the canvas?
Yes you can do that! I do this myself. You cannot put oil paint of any kind on raw canvas anyway, so the acrylic gesso is acting as a protective layer. In the old days they used rabbit skin glue. Ugh. Thanks for watching! :)
Hi Jason, I was wondering how I could prime a paper surface so I can paint with oil on them and make a sketchbook. Would it be best to use acid free 300lbs watercolor paper and prime that with gesso or acrylic matte medium? I keep finding conflicting information so I was wondering if you could enlighten me on this subject. You have been my online mentor since I started and you have never steered me wrong before. Thank you for the great informational videos and all you have taught me, you are a great teacher.
Great question! The most important thing is to protect the paper from the oil so the best thing is to prime the paper with acrylic gesso first, then you can paint on it or prime it yet further with an oil primer and then paint on it. Just make sure you have that layer or two of acrylic gesso between the paper and any oil paint. In addition to that, Arches makes an "Oil Paper" that comes ready to paint on with oils if you want to try that. It's got the same weight and texture as the cold pressed watercolor paper. Thanks for watching! :)
- Can you oil prime a canvas so that it's perfectly smooth like the egg shell ? I like that look, without seeing the texture of the canvas at all ( I saw it on different old paintings in museums and I know for sure it was not wood, it was canvas ). -And if you oil prime it to that state, is there any chance I will have any difficulties along the way with colors or any other issues ? Thank you in advance :)
Thanks for watching and for the nice comment! I know what you mean about the "museum finish" as they call it, but to be honest, I'm not sure exactly how it was achieved. In some cases that may be done in the varnish layers rather than the priming. I would recommend starting with what they call a smooth "Portrait Weave" linen and then applying the oil priming with a palette knife to make it very smooth, but try to keep it as thin as possible. It should work OK, but be sure to let it cure properly before painting on it. With a thicker layer like that it could be up to 6 months. The best option though for that really smooth surface is to use wood or masonite panel.
@@walcottfineart5088 I bother you again with a question. :) Do you think I can prime my canvas with 2 layers of Acrylic Gesso and than prime a 3rd layer with oil primer ? ( I I want to do this so that I can make things a little faster , since the first 2 layers are acryl and they will dry in 1-2 hours )
What is the best alternative to Rabbit Skin glue? what size makes the canvas stay tight as possible. I used Michael Harding acrylic Primer but it makes the linen canvas loose when dry. What do you think about priming the back of a canvas? what is the difference between a hardware Acrylic primer and one you buy in the art shop?
This has more to do with the linen than the primer. Even with rabbit skin glue linen canvases have a tendency to get loose. The best solution is to key your canvas to tighten it. Do not use primers from the hardware store meant for home use. They are not designed to be permanent or stable over the long term. The latex based primers found in home improvement stores are not the same as acrylic polymer based artist primer. Be sure to always use the artist's stuff. :) Thanks for watching!
Hi, Thank you for sharing. My question is, I primed canvas with oil primer about 2 years ago. By some treason it was untouched for all this time, however, now I want to start painting on it. First what I see when I took it from storage, it’s yellowed a bit, like off white-creamy. Now I’m thinking, will it influence colors of painting I will do on this canvas? Another one, I did charcoal sketch on it, now have a dilemma, how I can proceed? It’s a big size drawing which I don’t want to loose at beginning stage, as I took some time to develop it, how I can fix it on oil primed canvas? Or there is no way to do it? Will appreciate your reply. Thank you
Your canvas should be fine to start painting on! Oil will naturally yellow a bit over time but it shouldn't effect the colors you paint over it with. Mine do that too. If it was done with a Lead Primer, then letting it cure for two years is even better. As far as the charcoal drawing goes, your best option is to trace over it with thinned oil paint and let that set up. Don't use any kind of spray fixative on it as that would be bad for the subsequent paint layers. Thanks for watching! :)
You can apply the gesso and let it dry and then paint over the dry gesso with oil primer. Don't ever mix them together while they are still wet. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching!
Hello Jason. May I know is there a difference in using cotton vs. linen canvas and does it influence paintings in any way? What about the grain of the canvas; I look online and saw that they sell various types, namely, fine, medium and rough. Once again, do they have any impact on the type of paintings we want to paint?
Thanks for watching and great question! In terms of the paint application itself, the canvas material doesn't make too much difference. That is more a product of the primer (oil primer is so much nicer to paint on!). The primary advantage of linen comes from the longer fibers which makes the canvas more durable, so it will last much longer than cotton. The weave of linen also has a more random and pleasing texture when it shows through the paint. Cotton duck can look very "machine made".
Hi, Walcott. I can't seem to able buy oil based gesso in my country. I'm from Malaysia. I tried ordering online too, but they don't seem to ship here. Are there any other way I can go about this to get close to oil primer?
Have you tried Jackson's in the UK? www.jacksonsart.com They ship worldwide. You could also try buying a canvas or panel that is already oil primed and ready to paint on. You could try thinning down regular white oil paint, but you have to be careful not to thin it too much. It should be the consistency of sour cream or thin yogurt. Thanks for watching!
It is a thinner oil paint usually made with linseed oil or alkyd base. Check out my video on it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LcQN9LTc19I.html Thanks for watching!
Sherwin Williams makes a water based oil primer which has become my go to primer for painting home interiors. Barely any odor with great coverage. Would this be ok for boards and canvas?
Thanks for watching! I would be cautious about that Sherwin Williams primer. Primers and paints made for household use are only required to last for 15 or 20 years. It might contain additives that could evntually cause it to fail. You are probably OK for now, but don't use it if you plan to sell your work.
Thanks for watching! I think you are referring to those masonite boards that come with the white surface on them? To be honest I don't know what that surface is. I have painted on it a few times and don't really care for them.
Thanks for watching! I have never used rabbit skin glue. I was a little confused by your question...You wouldn't put it on top of gesso, it goes on the raw canvas first to protect it from the oil priming. That's what they used up until the early 20th century. There would be no need to use it under acrylic gesso. Some artists still use it, but I've heard it doesn't smell very good.
Thanks for watching! It's easy to make an oil primed canvas of your own. You just stretch it as you normally would and give it a coat of acrylic gesso to seal the raw canvas. Then you can go over that with a coat or tow of the oil priming. Likewise you can also oil prime a store-bought pre-strectched canvas that already has acrylic priming on it.
Thanks for watching! You can do an under painting in acrylic, let it dry and then paint in oils over it. You can't paint over oils with acrylic. Oil primed canvases are for oil paint only. I don't see how you could incorporate the watercolor. The only way that would work is if it was done on paper, but any surface that gets oil paint need to be primed. If you are going to do this, use the Arches oil paper.
Great video, as always, Jason. Does the canvas have to be prepared with oil paint only to achieve this effect or could one use water mixable oil paint?
Thanks for watching! As far the the primer itself, it needs to be the special oil primer which is formulated to be an primer underlayer. Once the canvas is oil primed, I think you could paint on it with the water mixable oils. I hope that helps!
I have too little experience with oil grounds. I have used in the past one by Talents that have a "tooth" when it is dry, but currently I have one that gives glossy finish and it's slippery. I haven't tried that one yet, might sand it first if it's too slippery. It takes already more than 4 days to dry to the touch. There is actually non-absorbent acrylic gesso as well, they are more glossy. Also extra absorbent grounds are their own thing and some techniques require them, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, van Gogh were using them extensively. There is paper you can Google called "Absorbent grounds and the matt aesthetic in Post-Impressionist painting." require access to download I don't have though. I am pretty sure they were making their own grounds using gypsum or something like that and oil in proportion that made it extra absorbent. Or casein instead of oil.
Thanks for watching! You can't paint with oil paint directly on plain paper as it will cause it to disintegrate over time. To oil prime paper, first cover it with a coat or two of acrylic gesso, then prime that with the oil. You can also use Arches "Oil Paper" which is designed for oil paints but looks and feels like watercolor paper. You can paint directly on it without priming.
Yes as long as you are using Titanium Primer or one of the alkyd primers like Gamblin/Winsor & Newton. Do NOT sand anything with lead primer! Thanks for watching! :)
Thanks for watching! The best way to tighten a linen canvas is to use the canvas keys to tighten it. I found this short video demo on that ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-06XLjVB68UY.html Or, you could try lightly spraying the back with some water. That may help too.
Thank you Jason for sharing knowledge to other painters I usually use Frederick marble dust mix oil zinsser oil base on red oak panel but I noticed that color dull and I have to glacé couple times, I will try oil primer before I paint 🎨 thanks
Thanks for watching! I must respectfully disagree with you on acrylic priming being better. Personally, I have found that oil priming is much more suited to oil painting and gives better results.
Thanks for watching! You can buy canvases and panels pre-primed with oil primer if you want. My favorite brand is the Centurion Deluxe panels. I also have a video on priming with oil ground here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LcQN9LTc19I.html
No, oil primed surfaces are only for oil paints. Acrylic paint will not adhere properly to them. If you use acrylic paints, be sure to use an acrylic primed canvas. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for watching! No Bob's method was a little different although the result was somewhat similar. Bob would paint into the liquid clear or white when it was still wet. Oil priming is allowed to dry thoroughly before you paint on it.
I am grateful of your knowledge that you share it! I would like to know, what is the difference between linen oil primed (lead) wood panel; masonite and without linen in order to start the oil painting?
Linen has a very distinctive texture and weave to it. Wood panels tend to be much smoother. Paint strokes will be a bit more robust on the linen just becuase there is more "tooth" to pick it up. Wood and/or Masonite panels are better for subtle blending and details. Either one you choose be sure to seal them first with a layer of acrylic gesso before you use the oil primer. The oil cannot come in direct contact with the raw wood or raw canvas (it will cause it to rot). Thanks for watching!
@@jbaldini3012 The Gamblin or Winsor Newton primer will dry in about 24 hrs and be ready to paint on in a week or so. The traditional Lead or Titanium Oil primers will dry in a couple of weeks and should cure for at least a month before use, but longer is better. Thanks for watching!
Hi Jason I have a really weird question. I have a set of mixed media Dynasty Black Gold Short Mixed Media Brushes.Can I use the same brushes interchangeably oil and acrylic paints?If I am using turpentine type solvents for oil painting would it be suitable to use these also for acrylic on paper or canvas?
Thanks for watching! No, you must use different set of brushes for oil and acrylic. Once you use a brush for oil, it's an oil brush from then on. You will need to get a second set to keep for your acrylic painting.
Silver Grand Prix brushes are great for oils or acrylics. They sell a set at Jerry's for about $22 for five or so. Silver is an excellent brand www.jerrysartarama.com/silver-brush-grand-prix-superior-bristle-brush-set
Thanks. I saw that cheap joes have a Vermeer Classic Mongoose Hair Long Handle Brushes at a very good price. Would these be okay to purchase instead of the Silver Grand Prix Brushes. Would a stiffer brush be better for impasto technique?
