Hobby, crafting, or art no-buy and reviews (perennial self-accountability thread)

M Graham walnut oil review

one brush, one hour, limited palette, oil painting

I am sad to finish this bottle of walnut oil as it will be difficult to get more in the future.  More of that at the end of the review.

I use walnut oil for three main things in oil painting.

To start with, it's excellent for cleaning brushes while painting.  Dipping a brush in the oil and wiping off the excess paint with a rag.  For today's painting, my experiment was to use just one brush, and this oil came in handy.

The second use is to adjust flow of the paint or improve working time (open time / slow drying time).  It doesn't act like a solvent, but rather, makes the paints feel more painty. Like when I wanted to do the thin lines pretending  to be words in this painting.  Diluting the paint wth a drop of oil made that technique easier.  It helps that I'm not in a hurry and I like longer drying times.  For those in a rush, linseed oil is probably better.

And most important to me, extending the open time.  Or, the length of time the paint can be worked.  Walnut oil dries slightly slower than linseed oil.  Mixing in a drop of oil per half inch squeeze of oil paint, can give me an extra day or three to use that paint.  Which means wasting less paint and saving money.

I would completely recommend this, especially for people in the usa and left coast of Canada as it's a local company from Oregon.

M Graham walnut oil is especially nice as it feels ...how to say?  More viscosity?   Less greasy? More slippery?   There is something here that linseed doesn't have, which makes it an essential ingredient to solvent-free oil painting.


That shop I mentioned upthread, that is closing out their fine art supplies.   They used to sell this oil at $17 (after loyalty discount).  To buy it now is going to be about $40 per bottle.   I bought two more bottles at the old shop as soon as I discovered their plans.  Each one seems to last me a year.  By then, maybe things will be different.

r ranson wrote:I've been thinking of going on a no-buy for my hobbies starting in the new year.  I'm just waiting on a black Friday sale to get a few more watercolours,  and that should keep me happy for at least a year.

Only now, it looks like a postal strike might squash those plans and my no-buy starts early.

So what are my no-buy guidelines?
- no new art or crafting supplies
- unless I used up completely the previous one AND it's something essential like yellow ochre or paper
- proudly show off empty package of finishes supplies
- it's okay to buy supplies for classes but see if I can make do with what I have first
- birthday treat okay. But just one.
- allowance for life because life is messy
- thrift store and second hand okay
- that charcoal pencil I adore but is always out of stock is okay so long as limit to $35 or less for the year.

That seems like liveable guidelines. I wonder if they would work.

Basically the goal is to save up for some big things I want to get next year black Friday while getting to know how to use what I already have.  I've started wasting crafting time researching new things I could get when really,  I probably have what I need already.

Anyone else doing a no-buy for their hobby, crafting,  or art?  What guidelines will you follow?

The thrift-store allowance is smart too — it scratches the itch without derailing your goals. And giving yourself a tiny yearly budget for that elusive charcoal pencil keeps things motivating rather than restrictive. With structure and compassion built in, this looks like a no-buy you can actually enjoy and stick to.

Review: Paul Ruben 170ml titanium white oil paint

Aka, the big one



I give the paint 10 out of 10, but the container would be hard pressed to get a 3 out of 10.

This is a good mid-grade white paint.  A workhorse paint with decent tinting strength.  It works well with all student oil paint brands I have tried and can hold it's own with professional grade oil paint.  The open time is about two days (time the paint stays workable at room temperature)  but is easily extended to weeks with a clove box.

There was no binder separation (oil oozing out), and the moderate drying time and texture makes me feel there is no excess filler or additives.

It's also a massive amount of paint for $10 canadian.  (Winton, cheapest student paint around here, 200ml is about $30cad).  I bought three.

This titanium white is much higher quality than any of the other paul rubens paints I tried.  Even their other whites.  

I used this paint for studio studies and even some of my more time worthy paintings. I would love to use this paint en plein air (on the go), except the tube itself is a pain.

After a week or so, little pinpricks holes started forming at he back end of the tube (it's good to squeeze from the back).  It took a while to figure out why I kept getting paint on my hands.  When I tried using a paint roller key where we roll the tube around the key shaped thing to push the paint forward, the tube ripped.  I am gentle with my paint tubes and haven't had this happen before or since.  Trying to crimp it and fold over the broken bits caused more holes, so i patched it with gaffer tape.  And over time the oil desolved much of the tape, but whatever.

If only that was the only issue I had with this tube.  

Before I bought my first paint, I learned that caps are the main failure point.  Cracking of plastic caps was a historical norm, as most plastics do badly when exposed to oil.  Always keep old caps that survived. Always keep you threads clean, inside and out.  Always be gentle when applying, careful to not cross thread and never tighten in anger.  

I took these lessons to heart, so I was shocked to see this lid split apart between the inner and outer shell.  In the end, I had to let ths paint build up as it acted as a barrier like the lid was supposed to.   Although it also means I can't leave the paint idle as eventually, all the paint would harden in the tube.  Good thing I like the paint.



In the end, I got so frustrated with the packaging, i put the remaining paint in some spare tubes (we can buy empty tubes from art suppliers like Kama).  There is probably about 30 to 40ml of paint left.  There is probably another 10ml i couldn't get out of the old tube.  We load the new tubes from the back of the tube, keep tapping the air out, then crimp and turn the open end to seal it.  The same repair that didn't work on the paul rubens tube.  

If you ever see this paint, it's a good quality at an affordable price...even including the spare paint tubes.  

Holiday purchase was for one tube of oil paint, some clay for reasons, and some soft pastels.   I have one more big purchase planned for birthday,  but otherwise, i should be able to make the rest of the year a no buy.

It's odd.  I haven't ordered my birthday paint yet.  I feel like now is the wrong time.   Partly because I have enough and partly because I feel like I will need it this summer.

So I officially reserve my birthday paint for later in the no buy.

It turns out that I really like charcoal and similar black dusty mediums.  I've tried a lot of different kinds, from homemade ,  to almost waxy drawing charcoal that feel more like coloured pencils, to conte crayons which I adore but are well beyond my budget for daily drawing.  I even found a few sets by winsor and newton at a yard sale that are lovely.  

And yet, I almost always reach for my derwent set when drawing.   It just seems to be a good match for me. It's not as dusty as some and the pencils have nice feedback on the paper.  The sound is more pleasant than other charcoal.  There, but less scratchy.  Not as high pitched or as annoying as graphite.

As you can see, some are getting a bit short.  

The medium and dark have duplicates in the set, which is perfect for moments when I'm drawing and don't want to stop to sharpen.  I can just grab the other dark.  The light, alas, only has one and that's going down fast.  The shortest pencil is now too small for the charcoal pencil friendly sharpener.

I had hoped to buy two pencils to replace the dark and light when they finally are used up.  But it turns out, it's more expencive to buy two pencils than a whole new tin with 6 pencils and a sharpener.

One can never have enough tins, I suppose. It still feels wasteful.

But I love 'em and will use them.

Where am I with my no buy (low buy) art supplies this year?

Birthday shopping still waiting for later.  I haven't needed anything yet.  

I bought a frame and could spend $40 shipping, or add $25 more stuff to my order for free shipping. I added some earth colours as I go through them a lot, like yellow ochre and raw umber.  Does it count if I'm saving money by buying these?  I don't need them, yet, but the idea of wasting money on shipping from a shop I already have mixed emotions towards, just felt wrong.

Emotionally, I feel anxious about the disruptions in the middle east, as many minerals and ingredients for pigments only come from there.  Colbalt for sheep nutrition is already out of stock everywhere.  Colbalt blue paint has been intermittently in stock these last 6 months, and I expect in a few months from now, it will be difficult to get or phased out entirely like so many other mineral colours these last few years.  

I've often wanted to try that colour. But also, I can't see it being one I would use often, especially if it is hard to replace.  So like limited edition paints, I avoid falling in love with it.

On the whole, I feel comfortable with my art supplies that if something happened in my life, and I couldn't buy more, I can keep going for years.  That's a good feeling.  Like a full panty and the first snow of winter. I know it's going to be alright.