I made a thread about this a couple weeks ago and did not get a solid answer, and I can't seem to find one using Google either.
I've been oil painting for years but I've just been using the paint straight out of the tube. Then my friend suggested I start looking into mediums, but it's way too much to try and wrap my head around. There are so many different kinds, and even when I find websites explaining what they do I can't find one solid answer on how to use them.
What do oil painters here typically use as mediums? I would like something that could speed up drying time. I just have no idea how much medium I'm actually supposed to use, what kind to use, etc. Like how much of my chosen medium do I use in conjunction with the paint from the tube? Is it a 50/50 mix?
>>2416045
I mix gamsol and mineral spirits in a little bottle then just dab my paint and use it.
also interested
>>2416045
I've just been adding excess linseed to my paints to the point where they act like watercolours. It's my preferred way of working now.
I have a feeling I'm doing it wrong, but fat over lean nigga.
>>2416350
Since you have to work fat over lean, you have to keep adding oil as you go, so aren't your final layers super transparent and oily since you started oily to begin with?
>>2416045
Liquin speeds up drying time really well, brings it down to like a day. but I hear it's quite toxic.
Alkyds don't work much at all, still takes 5-15 days to dry to the touch.
Never tryed cobalt dryers..
When I use medium, I pour some into a little plastic dipping cup, a little medium will go a long way anon. I basically dip my brush into the medium and then into my paint on the palette, give it a mix and I can usually tell by eye if its enough but maybe have a bit of paper next to your painting that you can wipe your brush on so you can get an idea of its opacity.
I use an underpainting medium which is a mix of stand oil, linseed, gum turps and cobalt driers, mixed with a burnt sienna/umber or phthalo blue depending if I want my painting to have a warm or cool tone. It dries very quickly and thins down the paint nicely. Once I get that sorted I move onto colours. I've used gel mediums/linseed to thin down paint and glaze on semi-transparent layers if I need too but these cause the paint to take longer to dry. Cobolt driers help your paint dry quicker but overuse can destroy paint films and fuck with your finish.
I'd say start with an underpainting medium, a linseed oil and if you're feeling a little adventurous a gel medium which you can use to thicken up your paint. I first used it to further my paint doing a background with a palette knife.
Hope that helps anon.
>>2416350
Usually yeah. I start with a charcoal underdreawing, apply fixative, give it a turps wash , and keep cutting my paints with turps & linseed As I build layers. More linseed less turps as it builds.
Most work I do only has the charcoal + wash and one layer of liquidnpaints. Maybe a oily glaze on top to adjust temperature.
Try searching wet canvas, there's some good info on technical stuff there
>>2416547
>it's quite toxic
So as long as I don't eat it I'm good right?
For initial layer of paint, use only turpentine or gamsol.
For subsequent layers, use 1/3 linseed stand oil, 1/3 refined linseed oil, and 1/3 turp or gamsol.
Then for final layers, use linseed oil only - 1/2 linseed stand oil and 1/2 refined linseed oil.
This way, you have fat over lean which prevents cracking.
>>2416045
personally I start a painting using the solvent (mineral spirits, turps, etc) as the medium, then move on to pure paint. I only use (a very small amount of) medium if the paint is too viscous, as I don't do any glazing.
>>2417099
actually revise that. Use very little amount of turp or gamsol for final layers. These should be used as mixtures contained in separate glass containers.
>>2416547
liquin a shit, adds a hideous sheen to the entire image. does aid drying time though, if that's what you want.
>>2417075
No, pretty sure the fumes are unhealthy.
>>2417104
Does it though? I never noticed. I find the sheen depends mostly on the surface you paint on. If I paint on paper using liquin, it looks very matte. If I paint on gesso using no liquin, it's quite glossy. Also, make sure you aren't adding a whole shitload of it, you only need a tad.
>using paint in the age of electrical art
>>2418052
Oils is just another medium. Why do people bother with realism when there's cameras and photoshop? It's another means to an end.
>>2418052
some of us wants to have actual skills :^)
turp or mineral oil with oil paint is as water is to acrylic. There's also liquine which does the opposite and thickens the paint and you can make chunky impasto effects with it. There's also stuff that makes it dry faster or slower. So if you want to lay something down and then work over it later you can do that, or if you'd like to come back to something and keep tweaking it you can do that as well. That's all I know.
