[the_insider]

i have some questions about oils...i finally got some from my
friends gramma---shes too old to paint now hehheh---
ne-way---first off,,,hows the hell do you clean oil brushes???
i painted my first piece but its a mess now.
next--how long usually does it take oils to dry??
also---is there any kind of medium that should be used? since no water can
be used. or are oils just used by themselves?
any other crucial advice or information i should know about them feel
free to add...thanx
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www.andresguzman.com
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[spyroteknik]

i can't give much advice as i have just been bought a load too (girlfriend wants me to make money quick heh) but turpentine for cleaning brushes(frequently), linseed oil for thinning (optional but is good for blending), about 4days touchdry, couple of weeks for dry, but that depends on the linseed too, and thickness of paint, oil pastels work well in conjunction but i'd steer clear from other mediums til you have a handle on the oil by itself, i've had my stuff for a good 3 month now, just sitting there gathering dust, i will have to make time to start one

[spyroteknik]

grr, dbl post, i hate ie

[M-Callahan]

I have been painting with oil medium for over thirty years know. The best and safe way to clean brushes is with water and irvory soap. Start with the brush in one hand and the soap cake in the other and running water. Get the soap wet, take the brush in a circular motion on face of the soap to lather the bristle of the brush, then put down the soap and in the palm of your hand run the bristles of the brush and rinse the brush repeat this until it is clean. Make sure there are no cut on your hands and may be safer to use rubber gloves because when I learned this techique, people did not know about chemical hazards of art supplies as they know now. Even though I should know better I still use my bare hands.

Mike
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Mike Callahan

[Tomasis]

that's interesting

I have tried with soap .. it doesnt to help much to try with only soap so I use white spirit to get brushes to lost the colour off easily

one question

how to mantain brushes with the colour (so I can continue to paint without needing to wash brushes) ? I was tried with the water.. it was not good
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out

[Lunatique]

Water Soluble Oil Paints. Much less of a pain to use.

I use Winsoe Newton's Artisan series myself. I've used traditional oils for years before that, and I don't feel they're much different at all.

[spline]

Yes I would recommend water oilpaint too.

Because you don�t want to use turpentine or paint thinner at all no matter how good ventilation...

Also be carefull of the cadmium colors, dont get them on your hands...

But use up those oilpaints then get waterbased oil...

[Gort]

[Lunatique]

Water-soluable oil paints still use linseed oil, except they have been processed to break up in water(something like that). So, you only need water as the only medium/thinner. No more paint thinner, turpentine, mediums...etc. They also dry a bit faster.

The cool thing with them is that you can still use traditional oil paints and painting mediums with it, as long as you keep it less than 50~70%(I'm a bit hazy on the actual percentage, since I only use Artisan compatible mediums)--it'll remain water-soluable(at least this is the case with the Artisan series).

You can find out more at the manufacturer's website: http://www.winsornewton.com/index2.php (I'd post the direct link to Artisan, except it's a flashsite, so no unique url shown for each page)

[Gort]

Lunatique:

From what I've gathered from research, water based oils can also be mixed with other mediums to get certain results. Are these mediums necessary to get a more "oil like" consistency? Or will just plain ol' water (a little not too much) do the trick? I would guess that there needs to be a level of experimentation. What's your take?

By the way, I cruised down to Utrecht Paints at lunch today and picked up a default set of tubes (not a kit); they were %50 off, so I got $100 worth of paint for about $50. Score.

Now to experiment.
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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[Lunatique]

Water-soluable oil paints can use traditional mediums(but you lose the water-soluability if you tip the balance too much), or the painting mediums made especially for water-soluables. Check the manufacturer's websites for available line of painting mediums made for the water-soluable oil paints.

[Gort]

Luna - sorry about that - I totally lapsed into idiot mode there, as your post proceeding mine actually addressed my question. Hasty - that's what I get for posting at work (not getting paid to post so gotta hurry)
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- Tom Carter

"You can't stop the waves but you can learn to surf" - Jack Kornfield

[Bobuke]

...try balsamic terpentine, like the old masters! Nowadays there are more nonpolluting dissolvents that doesn�t smell so bad. They are bouth to be bought in art shops. After cleaning your brushes always rub in the brushhair with soft soap to make them last longer. They are very expensive to by if the quality is good - so it�s worth it! Good Luck! :)
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Art has no key - it can always be improved. Therefor your work can never be finished. Take it as a challenge!