This put up is Element II, so if you have not however, read Component I 1st! There I focus on oil mediums, solvents, and the mediums that I Will not use or suggest.
Sound, Particle-Primarily based “Mediums”
Technically these are additives, not mediums, but exploring their properties leads me to the medium I at the moment use and recommend, so it is really practical to explain them in this article:
Fumed Silica (heat-processed sand)
Fumed silica is an ethereal, feathery, powder dust made from granite sand. The particles have a substantial area space and minimal mass, so when it can be blended with paint or oil it can take on “thixotropic” qualities. This indicates when you blend it or implement tension it behaves like a smooth flowing liquid, but when you you should not touch it, it retains its shape like a gel. I have utilised it by mixing it instantly into my oil paint with a palette knife suitable on the easel, and together with a tiny oil, it’s a terrific way to lengthen the paint although maintaining it transparent to make glassy glazes. The right way to blend it is with a muller, but I’ve relished the paste I can get just with the knife. Having said that, there is an less difficult way to use it which I will include down below.
To don’t forget its houses, hold in brain: Silica is transparent! It truly is sand, and which is what glass is built of, so use fumed silica for clear glazes.
Look at my movie demo for how I increase fumed silica to my oil paint right here
Chalk (floor calcium)
Chalk dust is the identical stuff kids for generations have clapped out of blackboard erasers, and it is really just as messy! I’ve employed it by mixing it instantly into my paint, and it tends to make the paint “chunky”, dry, and effortless to pile up into craggy impastos. I really feel specific it truly is very likely the primary ingredient in any accurate “magic formula medium of the Outdated Masters”. Like fumed silica, you can also blend it more adequately and thoroughly with a muller.
To bear in mind its properties, preserve in mind: Chalk is OPAQUE. Which is why we use it to generate on chalkboards! So use chalk in your whites and gentle-paint mixtures, to develop up chunky impastos, push 3D shapes ahead into the light, and basically catch the gentle with bright peaks of texture.
Observe my movie demo for how I insert chalk dust medium to my oil paint in this article
My Chosen Mediums
And now is the place we get to the fantastic element: The mediums I most remarkably advise! It truly is in fact extremely basic: They are just the dry solids I stated over, but conveniently mulled and tubed with linseed oil. Pure Pigments tends to make these mediums. They are extremely very simple and low-priced, and you could also make them quickly at house, but Normal Pigments has accomplished the do the job for me, and I like to just open the tubes and start portray.
Tubed FUMED SILICA Medium for Glazes:
Oleogel medium by Pure Pigments
I use Oleogel by mixing it into my paint suitable on the palette with my palette knife, and I also use it to oil out my operating place of my portray with a makeup wedge (left graphic). Mainly because it has strong particles combined into the linseed oil, it’s significantly more steady than utilizing linseed oil alone, and it tends to make a genuinely stunning transparent glaze. Out of the tube it appears to be like like a clear gel, you can see it in the center of my palette in the middle impression. (Pure pigments also makes quick-drying edition identified as OleoRESgel, which I consider has alkyd included, so that could possibly be a a great replacement for Liquin or Galkyd. And Purely natural Pigments lists all their ingredients on their labels and truth sheets.)
Tubed CHALK Mediums for Impastos:
Impasto putty medium by Normal Pigments
Impasto medium by Normal Pigments
Velazquez medium by Pure Pigments
These are 3 diverse proportions of the similar elements: Chalk dust blended with linseed oil. Impasto Putty has the most chalk, and it’s actually thick, pretty much like a dry peanut butter, and it types limited peaks when you “lift off” the palette knife.
Impasto Medium is in the middle, the consistency is more like home-temperature butter, with medium peaks.
Velazquez Medium is my favourite, it’s a little bit a lot less chalk and more oil, and so you get extended ropey peaks, and the regularity is more like a stretchy sour cream.
All of them permit you to pile up your paint into thick impastos that glance like aged-grasp paint consequences to me.
These chalk-based mostly mediums also allow you to stretch out the paint very slender, so I use it for my lead white beneath painting layer as effectively, the place I am utilizing the opacity and transparency of guide white paint to make a range of values around the brown uncooked umber underpainting….
Observe my video demo for mixing Oleogel and Impasto Putty into my paint below
Enjoy my online video demo for how I use Oleogel and Impasto Putty in my present painting
I’ll be sharing extra about making a direct white below painting when I launch my new portray online video program later on this 12 months: Glazing and Scumbling a However Lifestyle with ROSES. My on the internet video clip course Glazing and Scumbling is a excellent introduction to the tactics I am going to be sharing in the more state-of-the-art Roses training course.
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I educate Alla Prima, Direct, and Oblique oil painting below on the net, provided as thoroughly pre-recorded video clip programs you can look at any time, including my Intro to Oil Painting which is great for beginners. I also offer mentorship packages if you want assist and aid though operating by means of the courses.
Your Inquiries about Mediums Answered:
These are much more questions individuals requested me about mediums on social media that I could not suit gracefully into the write-up:
Do you use unique mediums for plein air vs studio do the job?
Operating en plein air or even alla prima in the studio, I find I’m racing towards time so I use just 1 medium, a uncomplicated combination of 50/50 linseed and odorless mineral spirits.
Do you use distinct mediums for unique grounds or supports, like chalk primed panel, or oil primed linen?
No, but I use diverse grounds for distinctive varieties of paintings: I use a chalk gesso ground on a easy hard panel for Oblique portray, and I adore RayMar’s oil primed linen panels for my direct and alla prima paintings. You can see my products lists with backlinks to my advised solutions.
Why do some mediums make the paint continue being tacky, and should you paint on a tacky layer?
If the previous paint layer is tacky you are likely utilizing far too significantly oil – or probably other elements that are not drying quick sufficient. A fantastic way to gauge if your prior paint layer is dry adequate to paint about is the “thumbnail examination” – If you can make an indentation in your paint film with a firm push of your thumbnail, you must wait around for it to dry much more ahead of painting on it.
Can you combine distinctive mediums collectively?
As long as they are easy mediums, in all probability sure, but you really should be familiar with every ingredient in your paint. I like to retain transparent mediums and impasto mediums different, due to the fact I use them for diverse reasons in distinct parts of the painting.
Are some mediums a lot more destructive than other individuals?
Solvents (paint thinner or mineral spirits or turpentine) are considerably worse for your wellness than any other ingredient used for painting, so do all the things you can to restrict your publicity to fumes.
Is Galkyd unwanted fat or lean?
Speedy-drying or slow-drying is far much more critical theory than fat or lean. Alkyd mediums are rapidly-drying, so use it only in the lowest layers of a painting, or for moist-in-moist techniques, as in alla prima or plein air portray.
How do you keep away from sinking in?
I do not, I just live with it! The darkish places of a portray show up lighter-price and “matte” rather of glossy and dim because the oil is sucked into earlier paint layers. The more layers there are, the even worse the sinking-in will become. I do “oil out” the spot I program to paint into that working day, but I leave the relaxation matte. When the painting is accomplished and dry, I do oil out the entire surface area the moment to choose a good picture of the painting, but later on I wipe that oil off with odorless mineral spirits and a makeup sponge.
When the portray has experienced several months or months to dry, I varnish it, and then all the rich glossy darkish hues return.
