Beginners oil painting questions and how to oil paint without stink?

I would think so, but it may need to be sealed, first? I'm picturing the oil soaking into the clay, and spreading under thee colors, making the edges muddy-ish... But, I could be way of base, too.

If too much oil sinks in, the pigments can fall off.  But what to seal the clay with?  I don't know enough about air dry clay yet.

Maybe experiment with small bits of the clay - I'd probably start with some form of oil that would play nice with the oil in your paints. Or, maybe a thin coat of carnauba wax? I'm not really sure why, but I am not sure of this part... I dunno... something that makes me think beeswax would be too soft or not interact well with the paint oils? Could be completely off base, there, though.

I'm having an absolute blast oil painting.  It's so much easier and cheaper to paint right from the tube, maybe with a drop of oil for flow, than to use solvent, fancy medium, and stinky stuff.

Why isn't this better known?!

I'm so tempted to write a book.  If I did, this would be my first rule of sustainable oil painting:

Only add stuff to the paint to solve a specific problem, and then add as little as possible.

Start with this and pretend it's an unbreakable rule, and we can leave all the fancy fat over lean, sausages over chickpea complicated gobilygoop for after we figure out how paint and colour interact.  

Oiling out today, or painting into a couch, and I think I found the solution to a long standing problem I've had.

Oiling out is when we paint an impossibly thin layer of oil paint onto a dry painting.  We do this just before painting and only on the area we are about to paint.  

This isn't a problem for alla prima (wet into wet, paint a painting all at once) painting style, but oiling out is something I enjoy for my indirect (paint a bit, let it dry, paint some more) painting.   It's a great way to control how much oil is added to that paint layer as it's all on the canvas instead of added to the paint.  It's about one drop of oil per 6 square inches, maybe 10 inches.  Good artist grade oil costs money and using too much can cause problems when the painting ages.

Oiling out allows me to follow my first rule of oil painting: Only add stuff to the paint to solve a specific problem, and then add as little as possible.  

The problem I am solving is that my earlier layers were pretty darn good and only need a bit of detail.  Instead of painting over all of it, the oiling ou let's me optically blend with the dry paint.  The oil also let's me see how that section will look when varnished so I can match colours well.

The problem I keep having (and it's a sign that I'm waiting plenty of time for the painting to dry, and have a strong paint layer) is that the oil doesn't want to stick to the painting.   The oil beads up, and the paint sometimes does this aswell.  It makes things challenging.

Previous solutions (all work, but not as well as the one I'm about to share)

1. Choose different paint for early layers

Earth colours and ones that sink in (turn dull when dry) seem to be more friendly towards receiving future layers.  They are also usually faster drying and dirt cheap (because made out of dirt).

And I usually go earth heavy for the first layer or two.  But usually, I don't oil out until the last layer, which is usually over top of colours that have a more polished finish when dry.

2. Use less medium in early layers

Most mediums, especially liquin, make a glossy surface which makes layering  more difficult.   Heck, even linseed oil adds to this.  

3. Calcite medium in early layers

This needs more experiments, but it has potential.   But then again, I'm too lazy to use it just for this and usually forget.

4. Scrub scrub scrub

When oiling out, take a firm brush and scrb the oil into the dry paint for about 10 to 15 min until the surface tension gives up and lets us oil out properly.


There are about a dozen other solutions.   I've tried a few, but the above seem to work for me.

Until this week when I discovered an even better way (after reading the archives of wetcanvas)

5. Rub the oil onto the canvas with fingers.  

Instant adherence.

I don't know if this would work so well on a smoother painting surface.  My paint layers are fairly smooth but the canvas texture shows through and it's enough to break up the issue.  Maybe it's something in my skin chemistry that makes this work?  Texture of fingerprints?

As I'm careful about my paints and materials, there is no fear touching the paint.  

Complete game changer for this technique.   I've used it a few times this week, and today I decided that this will be a tool I use more in the future.  Very happy.

Seeing this thread bumped up reminded me of my oil paint experience a few months ago. I had my history students (aged 5-12) paint with oil paint. We only used linseed oil to thin (this did cause some yellowing). But, one thing I hadn't really expected (and should have) was how much paint the kids would get on their hands.

The first class I did this with, I wasn't sure how to get the oil paint. The normal "get hands wet and add soap and wash in the sink was not working." Then a parent suggested using dish soap. Magic!

What we learned to do was to put some strong dish soap with a little water on the kids hand. They were then told to make as many bubble as possible. You need a strong, thick lather! It's the soap that is going to release that oil.

Then, after a lot of soapy bubbles and thick lather have formed, the kids then wash in warm water. This really did a great job of getting the oil paint off!

Of course, this story doesn't help with the process of painting, but it does with the clean up of brushes. Use dish soap (or a soap bar) and really lather than thing with soap. Rinse and repeat until the oil paint is off. It can come off without solvents--you just need soap as a surfactant.

Dish soap has magic skills at breaking down oil.

One thing I find helps first is to remove it on an old cloth as much as possible before getting to the soap and water stage.  Works for hands and brushes.  

A bit like wiping down a greasy dish before putting it in the sink.  

I had a discussion in painting class with a fellow student about why I still use student grade Winton paints when my skill level demands that I level up to real paints for grownups?

There are a lot of advantages to using winton oil paints.  

Not least, they can be better quality than several "professional" brands I've tried (at least 4 brands so far have less pigments and other poor behaviour that are not suitable for a professional paint).  

The divide of student vs professional is a poor one and not respected by every brand.  However, winsor and newton (makers of winton) have nearly 200 years of getting new artists addicted to painting and to their brand, so they know if they make cruddy student paints, they won't get the brand loyalty when we "upgrade".  

I know many a career artist that sticks with winton oil for their professional painting as it's just that good!

The winton white is especially good for portrait work as it shares a lot of qualities of a soft mixing white, if a bit more opaque, it's low tinting strength.

And most importantly, for a classroom setting, it's bone dry in a week when applied thinly or even with moderate impasto like a monet.

From a personal point of view, I don't do well if my class box paints and my studio paints overlap.   Most students bring all their paints to every class and there is no small pride in their collection.  And a joy to share their collection with fellow students.   Whereas I have a small box of paints and supplies specifically for class.  I know how each paint behaves and can mix the specific colour quickly. I've gotten to the place where I now am replacing my starter set and find that winton is the best for class (although 1980 has proven better for some of the more transparent colours like red iron ox and indian yellow).

In the studio, I use a very different selection of paints, as my focus in studio is on pigment behaviour rather than just colour (hue, saturation, and value) like we do in class.  

In the studio, drying time is less important.   But there is no point bringing slow drying paints to class as we work on it every week,  in the studio, the paintings are larger and I can work on other areas while the early ones dry.

In studio, the method and order of painting is so different, it's like an entirely different medium.  But I still go to class because basics need solidifying and it helps me improve to paint something I wouldn't choose for myself.

But, I think my fellow student didn't want to hear any of that, so I said "i like em better for class work because they have predictable drying time." And when she pressed the issue, I askec "Why? Is there something wrong with my painting?"  To make the conversation end.

I did the paint snob thing with watercolour paints.  It got old.  Now i choose the paints that do my bidding, disregarding prestige of their brand name (or lack thereof)