The Use of Solvent in Oil Painting

The correct (and safe) use of solvent sometimes confuses artists who are new to the medium of oil. I certainly didn't know too well what I was doing when I started.

This post is to help those (principally my students) navigate the use of this stuff.

The historical solvent used for oil painting is traditionally turpentine which is distilled from the resin of pine trees. (Probably your favorite painter from the 19th or early 20th century used it.) However, it has some significant health issues. People can develop an allergy to it, and it can generally bother the eyes and respiratory system. It also has a pretty strong smell.

Nowadays we have products like Turpenoid and Gamsol which can take on the same functions in the world of oil painting, specifically thinning paint for an initial application, and cleaning brushes. They are both principally distilled from petroleum and have far less of an odor than true turpentine. Some people seem to think Gamsol has a bit less of a smell to it than Turpenoid. There are other products out there as well, but I will only speak to ones I have used.

I personally use Turpenoid. (for now, anyway)

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Uses:   Cleaning of brushes

The common cleaning method for brushes used with oil paint is this:

1. Wipe most of the excess paint off on a rag or paper towel

2. Clean the brush in solvent and them wipe on rag/towel

3. Clean with soap and water, rinse, and form bristles back into original shape

This shows how using a jar with a raised screen (on the right) keeps you from shoving your brush back into the pigment that collects at the bottom (as on the left)

Here are some of the common types of brush cleaning jars (photographed at Michaels):

Recycling & Disposal

I practically never throw out/dispose of solvent.

My method is this: When my brush washing jar gets too much buildup at the bottom and is just too polluted with pigment, I shake it up (with the lid well-screwed on, obviously) and pour that filthy stuff out into a 2nd jar. I will then wipe out the brush washing jar and put some clean solvent in.

I let the 2nd jar (call this one "dirty solvent") sit undisturbed until all the pigment has settled at the bottom (maybe a week). Then I pour off the (relatively) clean solvent into a 3rd jar (call this one "recycled solvent"). The recycled solvent can then be used again. It may not be quite as clear as fresh solvent, but it is close enough for my purposes.

The dirty solvent jar becomes a holding area to let the pigment settle. At some point, the 2nd/dirty solvent jar will get too full of pigment gunk from many uses. I then (after pouring off any usable solvent) let it sit without a lid in my garage until it has all dried out and the pigment solidifies. Then I throw it out and start a new one.

To be clear: it's a very bad idea to dump solvent of any kind (Turpenoid, Gamsol, etc.) down the drain. If you need to get rid of some, contact a recycling center near you. There are places that will take that kind of thing.

Thinning paint for initial "washy" application

Many painters like to put an initial washy layer down, using solvent to thin the paint. (This can kind of look like watercolor.)

This is fine, providing you only use solvent at this stage.

It's bad practice to continue thinning paint with solvent as you work, building layers. If you need to add something to your paint in the later/upper layers, use a medium of some kind.

Health Issues

Even though modern solvents such as Turpenoid and Gamsol are healthier to be around (breathing-wise) than Turpentine, they still need to be used in a well-ventilated space.

If your studio is on the small, or poorly-ventilated side, there are things you can do. Opening a window helps, along with generally trying to get some air moving through your work area. I often put the lid back on my solvent jar when I am not regularly needing access to it.

There are also alternatives to using solvent.

Some artists use linseed or other oils for cleaning, citrus-based products, or Lavender Spike Oil. I've been considering something like these, but have not tried them yet.

Mediums & Oil Painting

On using Medium in Oil Painting

The way I see it, there are three principle reasons to add medium to your paint while working:

• Increase Transparency

• Alter the Viscosity

• Alter the Drying Time

I'll talk about these in a moment, but first of all remember:

    • You don't have to use medium at all. If you do, be thoughtful about it.

    • Observe the Fat over Lean rule:

Fat over lean means to use less medium at the start (ideally none, just thinning with solvent if needed) and use more medium (if desired) as you work on top to the finish. The issue is with varying drying times and potential cracking over the long-term if done the wrong way around.

Think of medium/linseed oil as fat, and straight paint [with or without solvent] as lean.

I am going to try and restrict my comments here mostly to mediums I have personally worked with. There is a lot out there.

Increasing Transparency

If you want to get into laying a transparent "veil" of color over an area of dried paint, you will probably want to add something to your paint. The opacity of paint varies by the pigment, but for glazing, an additive is usually needed.

Most kinds of medium will accomplish this. Linseed oil will do the job. An alkyd-based medium like Liquin or Galkyd will do so while also speeding up the drying time.

Altering Viscosity (Thinning or Thickening)

Thinning the paint for increased "flow" is a common reason to add medium. Rendering certain kinds of things works better when the paint flows more. Linseed oil will do this, as will some of the variants of products like Liquin or Galkyd.

Oil paint is pretty good at holding marks when you want to paint in an impasto manner. ("Impasto" just means a thick paint application.) But sometimes painters want even more body and for that purpose there are so-called impasto mediums. Rublev/Natural Pigments makes one, though I haven't tried it yet. Winsor and Newton makes a version of Liquin called "Liquin Impasto Medium" which I have not used myself.

Altering the Drying Time

Depending on the color/pigment, oil paint can take days, or even up to a week to dry. That can be frustrating. Alkyd-based mediums like Liquin or Galkyd will generally halve the time most colors require to dry. Other factors affect drying time too, like light exposure and air circulation. A painting in a sunny room with good air circulation will dry faster than one in a dark, unventilated space.

Making Linen Panels

Making linen-wrapped birch panels

I recently made panels from birch plywood with linen mounted on them. One is for an existing frame I have, and the others for common sizes I can get ready-made frames for (an important consideration).

Below is my process

The wood is 1/4" thick birch plywood that I bought at Lowe's in a 2' x 4' sheet:

Blick Premier Belgian Linen type 135

unprimed, medium, smooth

For gesso, on 2 of the panels I used Michael Harding. I am experimenting with clear gessoes and tried Winsor & Newton's on the other panel this time around.

NOTE:

From some reading, I have become aware that I should be doing a coat on the bare wood before the gesso, as a moisture barrier/sealant. I read of some artists using a product like Zinsser "bulls-eye" shellac. I will try this for the next round...

Carrying on, after I cut the panels, I do a light sanding on the edges. (I hand-saw these and wind up with little splits along the edge.)

Using a brush, I then coat a side of a board with Lineco glue and attach the linen to it.
I will use a brayer to make sure it gets evenly pressed on. I leave a reasonable margin of linen beyond the panel.

it is glued, and a weight
will be put on top next

I then put a weight on them to press down - usually a stack of art books.

I have dealt with the edges differently. Sometimes I have just cut them flush to the front. Other times, I will wrap them around to the back. This time I wrapped them around and glued them to the sides. I then needed to do that as another step.

getting the glue on the edges

the edge after gluing



After that,
3 coats of gesso with sanding in between each

what they look like while drying
The clear gesso (top right) looks milky when wet, but dries clear

The finished panels

close up or texture of clear coated panel

close up of panel with white gesso

Conclusions:

Three things to probably improve this process and/or the quality of the resultant panels:

1. Finally get a power saw of some kind

2. Use the finer (portrait) grade linen

3. Put down a coat of some protecting varnish before gesso

4. Apply 4 coats of gesso, rather than 3

I do think the Winsor & Newton Gesso feels better than the Liquitex. The Liquitex seemed to have too much pumice in it. But I won't know for sure until I make a picture on it.

Dwight William Tryon

Early Morning in Autumn, oil

Dwight William Tryon

1849–1925

Not too long ago I was very kindly given a book by a fellow artist. I just finished reading it and I thought I would put together a few words about it.

The book is:
"An Ideal Country – Paintings by Dwight William Tryon in the Freer Gallery of Art"
by Linda Merrill

I was aware of Tryon's work from a few books I have. I was also recently at the Freer and saw one of his paintings there. (They have a LOT but only one was on display.)

His later work is pretty recognizable with a very characteristic way of depicting his trees.
I have a lot of art books, but some are really just for the photos. Many are not that readable, and can be dry. This one was written quite well, and there are many passages that struck me. It was fascinating to learn a bit about Tryon's thinking on art and process, and I started taking notes as I read.

Central Park: Moonlight, pastel

Here are some of the most stimulating ideas I pulled out of the book:

...the “work any real artist goes through before he can become a power is much more than the equivalent of any college course”
(p. 26)

On Tryon’s quitting a bookstore job to become a full-time artist:

“Here you are making an honest and comfortable living and like a fool you throw it up for a career in art, which of all things in this world is the most fickle. You will probably starve to death in a garret.” 
 – Samuel Clemens
(p. 28)

“Only to the persistent lover and close companion does nature reveal her beauty… only to one who no longer looks upon her as a stranger does she yield the secret of her charm.”
(p. 44)

Twilight – Autumn, oil

“It seems to me every country has a soul as well as a body, and this soul is what is really worth giving expression to in Art.”
(p.65)

“Keep yourself in the habit of drawing from memory. The value of memory-sketches lies in the fact that so much is forgotten.”
from “W.M. Hunt’s Talks on Art” (underlining by Tryon)
(p.74)

Margin notation by Tryon by above: “The less imitation the more suggestion and hence more poetry.”

April Morning, oil

Night – A Landscape, pastel

Comparing Blues

I got some new (to me) blue colors in oil recently, and I wanted to compare them with ones I have been regularly using.

• The top row is thick application with a palette knife and a "drawdown" to thinner at the bottom.

• The 2nd & 3rd rows are tints (tube blue + titanium white)

• 4th row is pure paint applied with a brush

• Bottom row is each blue with just enough white to bring the color out. Many blues (and other colors) are so dark straight out of the tube that they appear back, or colorless.

I tweaked this for color accuracy as much as possible, but it still lacks something compared to viewing in person

My conclusions? Hmmmm..... Well, they all have their uses and tendencies.

Straight out of the tube (no tinting):  Cerulean and Cobalt show the most pronounced color. Those two are lighter in value (without he addition of white) and my eye can register the hue better. This is Williamsburg "genuine" Cerulean (a more pricey color) my issue with it is that it's too pasty and thick. Which can be remedied, of course.

Cobalt seems like the least biased blue. Not strongly greenish or bluish to my eye. Williamsburg also makes a "Cobalt Deep" which I may try when this runs out. Some projects for making color wheels suggest Cobalt as a primary blue.

The Transparency of Ultramarine is nicely evident in the top drawdown. It's really the only one that evinces much transparency here.

I'd like to bring Prussian Blue back into some paintings again. The third row, far right tint is so much like what one sees in skies. Prussian seems like it occupies a spot in between Phthalo and Cobalt on the color wheel.

I think one could certainly use 3 out of these 5 in a painting to utilize the best features of each, depending on your painting's needs.

I am leaning toward using Ultramarine and Prussian for my warm and cool blues, respectively. I have been recently painting with a split-compliment palette using Ultramarine and Phthalo.

Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting

Notes on John F. Carlson's Guide to Landscape Painting

When I first got a copy of this book, I managed to read about half of it.

I knew Carlson was offering up some good advice, but older books like this can be tough to get through. (Somewhat antiquated language, written by someone who's first skill is not writing, etc.) A few months ago, I got determined to read the whole thing from front to back and take notes as I did so. And I did so.

This book originally came out in 1928 as Elementary Principles of Landscape Paintings. My copy (pictured above) is a reprint from the 1950s. Nowadays there is a very affordable reprint available for around $14 in paperback.

Some strange things about my edition of this book:

- an odd choice of work to put on the cover. Far from one of Carlson's best, and it appears to be a watercolor (!) to my eyes. The book is about oil painting, btw. All understandable given Carlson would have had no say in this later reprint as he passed in 1947.

- There seem to be a similarly poor representation (to my eyes and tastes) of the quality of Carlson's work in the inner images as well. Again, he may not have had a say in that (or all of them). Also, there is a grand total of ONE color reproduction inside. Smack in the middle. What was the point of that? At least give us 6 or 8... Anywho... Carlson could churn out some amazing paintings and I have decided to sprinkle a few of those in this post to delight your weary eyes.

Morning in the Forest

As I read, I wrote down passages that clicked with me.
Below are some of the best ones, with the name of the chapter in which they appear.
(I also included some of my own thoughts and reactions here and there in blue.)

1. How to Approach Painting

"... the camera does not have an idea about the objects reflected upon its lens. It does not 'feel' anything..."

2. The Mechanics of Painting

"Do not be afraid to spoil what you have, so long as you know why you are making a change."

– This resonates with me. Some large area in a painting seems.... wrong. I think and think about it, putting off what seems like a risk, until I embark on the change and almost always it was the right thing to do.

3. Angles and Consequent Values

"In most instances when the beginner finds the color of anything 'impossible,' the fault lies not in the color, but in the faulty value or weight of the mass."

– Another way of saying that value is predominant over color. Or that if you can't get the color right, get the value right.

4. Design

"Nature is seldom perfect in design."

5. Light

"No one can tell another person exactly what the color of anything is, because each of us has a variously differing 'color sense.'"

"It might almost be given as a 'recipe' that the smaller the dark mass presented against a light, the lighter and fainter becomes that dark."

– Especially visible as tree branches get thinner and thinner near the top. More light "wraps" around them and their value seems to lighten.

"... there is no such thing as flat tone in all outdoor nature – it is changing toward or from the light."

Sylvan Labyrinth

6. Aerial Perspective

"The sky is the key to the landscape"



8. Color

"... the student, by a very slight degree of self-analysis, can select his gamuts and harmonies, as well as his constructive lines of color, rather than merely stupidly taking things as they come in nature. We must not train our eyes to copy tone for tone, but think of the bearing of such colors and harmonies upon the main idea of our picture."
"Reserve us strength; overstatement is weakness."

– The downside of this can be seen in paintings where all the colors of the spectrum and a full value scale are present, but the painting doesn't work. Restraint.

9. Trees

"The painting of tress is best accomplished by much drawing of trees."

"... do not think that because a landscape is "real" that it is a work of art. A true picture is one in which so-called natural elements are made to function as an idea."

11. Composition

" The choosing of  expressive limitation is not child's play – it is mature choice."

– I relate this to expressive strategies like working with a limited palette, or reduced value scale. Those kind of limitations in the service of your painting can be what makes it work.

"A work of art in paint should be beautiful and expressive as abstract color and form and should not interest us necessarily in any "story" outside of itself..."

– A representative work of art should also work on an abstract level.

"Too much reality in a picture is always a disappointment to the imaginative soul. We love suggestion and not hard facts. A picture should be music in form and color, with the subject-matter the vehicle."

"Analyze your impression in order to approach expression..."

City Twilight

13. The Extraordinary and Bizarre.

"... homely objects and effects are made sublime in their transmutation, in the passage from the artist's brain to the canvas."

14. Painting from Memory

"... memory exaggerates the essentials..."

– This is why the exercise of memory painting, or sketching a scene that moved you later on will often get you just the key elements, and not the distracting minutiae of needless details.

Those are some of the key points to my mind. I took a lot more notes than this and distilled them to the essential.

Canadian Artists, Part II – Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté

Marc-Aurèle de Foy Suzor-Coté

(1869–1937)

His name is quite a mouthful.

Monsieur Suzor-Coté – like M. Gagnon from my last post – was born in the province of Quebec. From the town of Arthabaska (modern-day Victoriaville), he began his artistic career working on interior decorations for churches. Later, he studied in Paris (with Léon Bonnat) and returned to Canada in 1908 and maintained a studio in Montreal. where he sculpted as well as painted.

(Biography on National Gallery of Canada site.)

Mauve and Gold

Levée de Lun

He drew influences from the artists Henri Harpignies, Frits Thaulow and Jean-François Millet. It is said that he put paint down very thickly with a brush and then flattened it with a palette knife to get the effect he wanted. Even from online images, some of his paintings look to have very heavy paint application.

His color handling and the texture of his work really knock me out. I would love to see a work of his in person.

the man himself – looking dapper

Evening

After the Breakup

Sunset Arthabaska

Paysage