Oil Painting Book on Oil Uses

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Oil Painting Book on Oil Uses

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Oil Painting Book

Oil is the primary material used in oil painting. It used to modify and mix pigments. The oil used for oil painting should be able to hold the pigments together, protect the pigments from dispersion or chemical change, create the right consistency, preserve pigments in drying to tough, flexible layers, and most importantly, should bring out the unique property of each pigment and should enhance the oil painting techniques and styles of the oil painter.

A wide variety of oil paint is in the market today. But basically, there are three main groups of oils, namely: fixed or drying oils, essential oils, and balsams or resins.

Fixed oils dry and bind the pigment in a tough surface. Oils undergo a chemical change called oxidation after drying and when not properly varnished. The most common types of fixed oils include linseed oil which is a general component in the manufacturing of oil paints, can dry quickly, and does not crack easily. Nut oil is good for fluid brush work and does not yellow so much. Poppy oil does not yellow but may crack if applied too thickly to lowers layers of an oil painting. Stand oil is thick oil prepared from linseed oil in an air-free environment, dries slowly, ages well, and gives a glossy, enamel-like finish. Safflower oil, however, is like poppy oil but dries a little faster. Sun-thickened oil is produced by leaving oil in the sun for a couple of week and months. It is more viscous, quicker-drying, more durable and elastic than stand oil. Boiled oil is refined linseed oil boiled with drying agent for faster-drying, more gloss and durability.

Another type of oil widely use in oil painting is the essential oil. Essential oils evaporate away, and are therefore used as thinners or a means of dispersing paints already applied. One type of essential oil is the so-called distilled turpentine which dries quickly, mixes well with fixed oils and is a good solvent for resins or balsams. Oil lavender and spike is an essential oil best for thinning oil varnishes. White spirit is very useful for giving cohesion to layers. It sinks through paint layers, carrying waxes, oils and resins into layers beneath. It also used for cleaning brushes.

Oils used in oil painting which belongs to the category of resins and balsams provide transparent protective layer in varnishes, add gloss and add clarity when used in an oil painting medium. Venice turpentine is a resin from larch which protects fugitive colors well. Damar resin is used extensively in retouching varnishes on oil paintings. Mastic oil makes a mellow finishing varnish but expensive and inferior to damar. Copal oil, on the other han, imparts great loss and strength when used as an oil painting media. It darkens with age, however, and cannot be removed with ordinary solvents, making finishing varnishes somewhat final.

Oil Painting Book also thought the safest approach would be to use cold-pressed linseed oil in the right proportion with pigment, and leave it at that, perhaps adding a glaze or varnish if necessary. All oils suffer two defects on aging: they yellow and they become more brittle. Oil modifications increase the chance of the oils yellowing and becoming brittle. There was no harm in using commercial oil paints in tubes provided only that the oil paint was properly constituted. Modern oil paint manufacturers in fact do an excellent job and offer a wide range of paints that last well in tubes and display a common consistency and drying time.

However, these properties can only be achieved by adding inert pigments to improve the brushability, adding more oil to prevent hardening in the tube, plus waxes and animal fats to prevent the oil paint from being too runny, and adding poppy oil to slow drying or siccatives to increase drying rates.

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• Oil Painting Basics are Crucial to Creating a Painting that Works (art)

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