This put up is Portion II, so if you have not but, read through Portion I first! There I go over oil mediums, solvents, and the mediums that I Don’t use or advocate.
Good, Particle-Dependent “Mediums”
Technically these are additives, not mediums, but discovering their houses prospects me to the medium I now use and advocate, so it really is beneficial to describe them below:
Fumed Silica (warmth-processed sand)
Fumed silica is an ethereal, feathery, powder dust made from granite sand. The particles have a substantial area location and lower mass, so when it’s mixed with paint or oil it usually takes on “thixotropic” qualities. This signifies when you blend it or use force it behaves like a smooth flowing liquid, but when you never touch it, it retains its shape like a gel. I have made use of it by mixing it right into my oil paint with a palette knife proper on the easel, and together with a minimal oil, it is really a fantastic way to increase the paint whilst maintaining it clear to make glassy glazes. The correct way to mix it is with a muller, but I have appreciated the paste I can get just with the knife. Nonetheless, there is an less difficult way to use it which I’ll include under.
To remember its properties, continue to keep in head: Silica is transparent! It is sand, and that’s what glass is made of, so use fumed silica for transparent glazes.
Observe my video demo for how I include fumed silica to my oil paint below
Chalk (ground calcium)
Chalk dust is the identical things children for generations have clapped out of blackboard erasers, and it truly is just as messy! I have utilized it by mixing it right into my paint, and it tends to make the paint “chunky”, dry, and straightforward to pile up into craggy impastos. I truly feel specific it truly is probably the principal ingredient in any correct “secret medium of the Old Masters”. Like fumed silica, you can also mix it extra effectively and completely with a muller.
To don’t forget its homes, keep in intellect: Chalk is OPAQUE. That’s why we use it to create on chalkboards! So use chalk in your whites and mild-paint mixtures, to build up chunky impastos, force 3D styles forward into the light, and pretty much capture the mild with brilliant peaks of texture.
Observe my online video demo for how I insert chalk dust medium to my oil paint listed here
My Most popular Mediums
And now is the place we get to the good aspect: The mediums I most highly advocate! It is really in fact incredibly uncomplicated: They are just the dry solids I shown over, but conveniently mulled and tubed with linseed oil. All-natural Pigments can make these mediums. They are really uncomplicated and cheap, and you could also make them conveniently at home, but Organic Pigments has carried out the work for me, and I like to just open the tubes and start out portray.
Tubed FUMED SILICA Medium for Glazes:
Oleogel medium by Pure Pigments
I use Oleogel by mixing it into my paint proper on the palette with my palette knife, and I also use it to oil out my working region of my portray with a makeup wedge (left picture). For the reason that it has strong particles blended into the linseed oil, it truly is significantly additional stable than employing linseed oil alone, and it makes a really gorgeous transparent glaze. Out of the tube it appears to be like like a crystal clear gel, you can see it in the center of my palette in the middle graphic. (Natural pigments also tends to make fast-drying version named OleoRESgel, which I feel has alkyd included, so that might be a a excellent alternative for Liquin or Galkyd. And Pure Pigments lists all their elements on their labels and reality sheets.)
Tubed CHALK Mediums for Impastos:
Impasto putty medium by All-natural Pigments
Impasto medium by Organic Pigments
Velazquez medium by Organic Pigments
These are 3 different proportions of the identical components: Chalk dust blended with linseed oil. Impasto Putty has the most chalk, and it can be seriously thick, pretty much like a dry peanut butter, and it types limited peaks when you “carry off” the palette knife.
Impasto Medium is in the center, the consistency is extra like room-temperature butter, with medium peaks.
Velazquez Medium is my preferred, it is a bit fewer chalk and extra oil, and so you get extended ropey peaks, and the consistency is a lot more like a stretchy sour cream.
All of them allow for you to pile up your paint into thick impastos that glance like old-grasp paint consequences to me.
These chalk-based mostly mediums also permit you to stretch out the paint quite skinny, so I use it for my guide white less than painting layer as well, where by I am working with the opacity and transparency of lead white paint to generate a range of values above the brown raw umber underpainting….
Look at my movie demo for mixing Oleogel and Impasto Putty into my paint listed here
Look at my video clip demo for how I use Oleogel and Impasto Putty in my existing painting
I’ll be sharing more about making a guide white below painting when I release my new portray video course later on this year: Glazing and Scumbling a However Lifestyle with ROSES. My on line movie program Glazing and Scumbling is a terrific introduction to the approaches I will be sharing in the additional superior Roses study course.
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I train Alla Prima, Direct, and Oblique oil portray here on the web, made available as absolutely pre-recorded online video courses you can check out any time, including my Intro to Oil Painting which is ideal for beginners. I also offer you mentorship programs if you want assist and help even though doing work by the classes.
Your Inquiries about Mediums Answered:
These are much more thoughts individuals questioned me about mediums on social media that I couldn’t in shape gracefully into the publish:
Do you use unique mediums for plein air vs studio get the job done?
Operating en plein air or even alla prima in the studio, I discover I’m racing against time so I use just 1 medium, a simple combination of 50/50 linseed and odorless mineral spirits.
Do you use diverse mediums for distinctive grounds or supports, like chalk primed panel, or oil primed linen?
No, but I use unique grounds for distinct forms of paintings: I use a chalk gesso floor on a sleek difficult panel for Indirect painting, and I adore RayMar’s oil primed linen panels for my immediate and alla prima paintings. You can see my elements lists with hyperlinks to my suggested goods.
Why do some mediums make the paint stay tacky, and need to you paint on a tacky layer?
If the prior paint layer is tacky you are most likely making use of also substantially oil – or possibly other ingredients that are not drying fast sufficient. A good way to gauge if your preceding paint layer is dry enough to paint around is the “thumbnail take a look at” – If you can make an indentation in your paint film with a agency push of your thumbnail, you should really wait for it to dry extra right before portray on it.
Can you mix different mediums jointly?
As extensive as they are very simple mediums, in all probability certainly, but you should really be acquainted with each ingredient in your paint. I like to continue to keep transparent mediums and impasto mediums separate, since I use them for distinct applications in distinctive elements of the portray.
Are some mediums extra dangerous than others?
Solvents (paint thinner or mineral spirits or turpentine) are considerably worse for your wellness than any other component employed for portray, so do anything you can to restrict your exposure to fumes.
Is Galkyd fats or lean?
Quickly-drying or slow-drying is significantly more significant theory than excess fat or lean. Alkyd mediums are quick-drying, so use it only in the most affordable levels of a painting, or for damp-in-damp methods, as in alla prima or plein air portray.
How do you keep away from sinking in?
I will not, I just live with it! The darkish locations of a painting appear lighter-value and “matte” rather of glossy and dim for the reason that the oil is sucked into past paint layers. The a lot more layers there are, the even worse the sinking-in turns into. I do “oil out” the location I approach to paint into that working day, but I depart the rest matte. When the painting is done and dry, I do oil out the whole surface when to choose a excellent image of the painting, but afterwards I wipe that oil off with odorless mineral spirits and a make-up sponge.
When the painting has had various weeks or months to dry, I varnish it, and then all the rich shiny darkish colors return.