Oil painting without solvents

I am the author of the book titled, ” Oil Painting with ‘Calcite Sun Oil’: Safety and Permanence without Hazardous Solvents , Varnishes, Resins and Driers”, with details on my website at… http://www.calcitesunoil.com

Please review my site as it refers to the content of this article. Thank you= Louis

Louis,

You state on your site that solvents can be replaced by the mediums described in your book. I have not read the book or used those mediums, so I don’t feel qualified to comment.

This is the best, concrete information I have found so far about oil painting without solvents. For the past year, I have not used any medium - just safflower oil to clean brush before washing. How long will your oil/egg yolk mixture keep? Thank you for all the useful information you post on your website. You may not realize just how valuable this can be to someone learning how to oil paint.
All the best.

Suzette,

Thanks for the kind words.

An egg/oil emulsion (basically, mayonnaise made with linseed or other drying oil) can keep for a week or so, if refrigerated. There are many recipes and they have a very long history in oil painting. They can be made in just a couple of minutes, so it’s easy to make up small batches.

Thanks, David. Your website is a treasure trove! I also have pics of roosters on the road towards Dun Angus (sp?). Have painted them in both watercolor and oil - oil being MUCH easier.

Hi Suzette and David, Since the readers will recognize my previous introduction, I will not repeat. I cut and pasted the important parts of David’s writing ( and TADS paragraph), in order to make comments. Ill preface Davids/ Tads writing with an # and mine with an *…

#Using regular oil paints without solvents
There isn’t any one approach to solvent-free painting.
* This is true.

1. The most appropriate methods will depend to some degree on your style of painting and which materials you feel comfortable working with. Here are some ideas:
   Use paints that are smooth and creamy, not thick and pasty. Avoid brands like Old Holland and Williamsburg which, while of high quality, are often difficult to work with without dilution.
2. I do not think this is good information because the Emulsion itself is the thinner of the paint. One can add as much of the non-solvent based thinner ( the emulsion)as one wishes, so the firmness of the paint grind matters nothing.

1. Instead, use paint brands like Doak, Studio Products, and (notwithstanding what I said above) M. Graham. These paints are more like fresh-mulled paint and are far easier to work with without additives.
2. Yes, the paint is not firm, yet the problem with the tube used straight from the tube is that it is ground with a very slow drying alkali refined oil. The purpose of the emulsion is not only to change the paints consistency from firm to smooth…but it has several other very important properties that my book describes as best as I can describe.

   #For the initial layers of a painting, use lean mediums that contain no solvents. Emulsions using egg yolk, hide glue, and small amounts of oil are very lean and can be effective, fast-drying dilutents for oil paints if you prefer initial layers to be loose and easy to apply.

3. This recommended mixture has some problems. First is that this advice does not describe the exact oil to use. There are many forms of just linseed oil ( not to mention the various forms of the other drying vegetable oils artists use), and each of these oils has its own properties. Egg yolk is fine for EGG TEMERA because the YOLK is the oil, the ‘glue’ that binds the pigment powders together. Yolk is very oily and when mixed with water and painted thinly, it dries fast…but takes some weeks to set hard. There is no reason to mix YOLK oil with more OIL ( linseed or other). You do not benefit by this mixture. In fact yolk dries very slowly when mixed with vegetable drying oil such as linseed oil. A better choice is use of GLAIR. It provides the linseed oil with an adhesive property.

1. I sometimes make a medium consisting of 3 parts egg yolk to 1 part black oil or linseed oil, for example. It can be slightly diluted with water and, mixed with oil paints, allows free application of a lean underpainting layer.
2. Adding water to the mix provides no technical benefit. It serves no purpose at all. In fact, the water causes some loss of control. We are oil painting, not water color painting which uses flowing broad color wahes that bleed and dribble and run if painted on a vertical surface.

#Tad Spurgeon provides this recipe:
If you want to use your regular oils without solvent you can create an emulsion using 1 part egg yolk and 2 parts warm glue solution (3T glue to 2c water, above) and paint with that on panels. The emulsion will set as it cools but still be workable: you can add a bit more water if this feels too thick: warm slightly and shake it well to re-emulsify. You can also add a bit of oil to this (first, before the water) and/or a small proportion of one of the water soluble wax products sold for tempera.
* I have covered my objections to use of water and yolk sufficiently, and adding wax is another item that serves no purpose in oil painting. If one wishes to work with encaustic, thats another medium. Sir Joshua REynolds worked with wax additions to his paint.. to the dismay of its permanence..

#You can also emulsify Canada Balsam or Strasbourg Turpentine into this but I developed this for students who paint in community places where solvents are forbidden
* SOLVENTS FORBIDDEN? The two balsams mentioned are both solvents in CRUDE form. In the old manuscripts, the Balsams are called TURPENTINE and the distilled turpentine we know today was called oil of turpentine. Balsams are distilled to produce the solvents we know today. Balsams are…solvents and contain the same toxicity.

#Do initial layers of a painting on panel in egg tempera or tempera grassa. You can then glaze over the initial very lean layers with oil paint (to which you can add a small amount of oil when necessary).
* this is good advice

#Keep your paint warm. I’m not kidding. Warm oil paint flows a lot more smoothly than cold oil paint. You can keep paint on a glass palette on top of an electric hot plate. Just be careful never to use an open flame or an exposed heating element near oil paint or any solvents.
* Goodness! What a difficult way to paint is this advice, and so unnecessary!. I have not experienced a properly mixed oil paint to change consistency/flow, within the environment of a normal household. Maybe outside in the snow it might, but not indoors at normal room temperature.

#You can thin your paint with an alkyd-based medium such as Liquin or Galkyd. I don’t like alkyd mediums for multi-layer painting. I also hate the way they smell, so I don’t use them.
* These are solvent based synthetic resin concoctions. They are not needed if one uses the CORRECT linseed oil that is a natural fast drier.

#There is no reason why you can’t paint effectively with oils without solvents, although you will have to adjust your materials and methods.
* Yes..the materials are the key. Methods are not the key.

#You will have some limitations,
* Incorect. You will have no limitations and in fact, your mastery of the oil paint will increase dramatically…SAFELY .. and with archival PERMANENCE.

1. but they are not so severe that you will need to give up painting in oil.
   Find this site useful? Support is much appreciated.
2. Please see my website and write to me. I will answer questions for painting without solvents.

sincerely = Louis R. VBelasquez

Hi, David

It’s great that you’re investigating other options for solvent free oil painting and sharing your info with people. I have a method using purified linseed oil and stand oil that I’ve used for almost twenty years if you’re interested in checking it out http://www.baughnormanoils.com/solvent_free_oil_painting.htm

Best Regards,

Terri

Hi
I find your site very informitive. Question, I am presently enjoying painting thick with a palette knife: I do not want it drying right away during the 3 hrs I will work on it. I like to scrape out what I do not want and work back into in the painting so I have been using a slow drying medium SD. as an experiment. I do not want the painting to crack right away and I do not want it to take forever to dry. I have thought about trying lukas medium 5 but I do not want the paint to dry in a few minutes. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

thank you judy

Judy,

I’m not familiar with those mediums. I’m not sure whether you’re using mediums to adjust drying time or to change the handling properties of the paint. If you want to slow down drying, then adding a very small amount of clove oil (such as a small drop per thumbnail-sized blob of paint on your palette) will increase the paint’s open time (the time it stays workable).. Open time also depends what kinds of pigments and oils are used in the paint.

If you’re trying to adjust the handling properties, well then the right medium depends on what you’re trying to get the paint to do.

Hi David, Hi Judy;
Regarding what Judy asked, I’d like to respond. Ill use CAPS:
“Question, I am presently enjoying painting thick with a palette knife:
IF USING TUBE OIL PAINTS, THIS IMPASTO APPLICATION WOULD NORMALLY BE SLOW DRYING PAINT, REQUIRING SEVERAL HOURS AND OR DAYS.
I do not want it drying right away during the 3 hrs I will work on it.
NORMAL OIL PAINT IN IMPASTO DOES NOT DRY WITHIN THREE HOURS, UNLESS IF AN ACCELERANT DRIER IS MIXED WITH THE PAINT..
I like to scrape out what I do not want and work back into in the painting so I have been using a slow drying medium SD. as an experiment.
IMPASTO OF NORMAL TUBE OIL PAINT, BEING A SLOW DRYING PAINT, AND THEN ADDING A SLOW DRYING MEDIUM TO IT, WILL CERTAINLY NOT DRY WITHIN 3 HOURS.
P I do not want the painting to crack right away
SLOW DRYING IMPASTO TUBE OIL PAINT WILL NOT CRACK BECAUSE THE SLOW DRYING OF THE OIL WILL INSURE IT TAKES ITS TIME TO DRY THROUGHOUT ITS THICKNESS, VS, THICK PAINT WHICH MIGHT BEGIN THE DRYING ON TOP, WRINKLING AS IT DRIES IN THE LOWER STRATA.
and I do not want it to take forever to dry.
ADDING A SLOW DRYING MEDIUM WILL ONLY DELAY THE DRYING EVEN MORE, SUCH AS ADDING CLOVE OIL.
I have thought about trying lukas medium 5 but I do not want the paint to dry in a few minutes.
SINCE I USE NO PAINT MEDIUMS WITH SOLVENTS, DRIERS, RESINS OR ANY MIXTURES OF THESE , I CANNOT TELL WHAT LUKAS #5 WILL DO. BUT IT SOUNDS AS IF IT WOULD ACCELERATE THE DRYING TO WITHIN MINUTES.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
HERE I WOULD LIKE TO RECOMMEND THE ’ SUPERIOR LINSEED OIL’ OF THE OLD MASTERS. UNREFINED, COLD PRESSED, ORGANICALLY CLEANSED, SLOWLY SUN THICKENED IN THE SUMMER SUN. IT DRIES WITHIN 30 HOURS, OVERNIGHT, AND EVEN WITHIN 6 HOURS IF SOME PIGMENTS SUCH AS UMBER ARE USED. ALSO, IMPACTING THE DRYING OF ANY PAINT ARE THE 6 FACTORS: 1. THE MEDIUM USED 2. THE PIGMENT USED 3. THE THICKNESS OF THE PAINT 4. THE HUMIDITY 5. THE TEMPERATURE 6 THE VENTILATION.
THE SUPERIOR LINSEED OIL OF THE OLD MASTERS IS FULLY DESCRIBED ON MY WEBSITE, AS IS THE CHANGING OF THE CONSISTENCY OF PAINT BY USE OF TWO SIMPLE SAFE EMULSIONS AND DRY CALCIUM CARBONATE POWDER. RATIOS AND MIXING TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIO METHODS ARE IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE PUZZLE.
GOOD LUCK= LOUIS

Hello:

I use “simple green” instead of solvents. I cannot say how it affects the longevity of the paints-thus I only use it to clean my brushes and for erasing back my underpainting.

What is nice, is that (minus the sludge) simple green can be dumped done the sink. It is biodegradable.

I almost gave up painting in oils because I was getting so sick from the fumes. I went on-line and discovered that a company was marketing “earth-friendly” and “health-friendly” solvents. Really, it was nothing more than simple green with a price increase.

Hope this helps.

-cheers!

David,

I’m trying your egg medium with oil paints, but I have some questions:

Is there any problem if I use it in the first layer on hardboard primed with acrylic gesso, or should I use “true gesso”?

Do I have to wait till this first layer is dry to continue the painting with a second layer in oils?

Can I use the egg medium again in a third layer over the oil paint (to dilute the painting for fine detail)?

Thanks,

Jose

Sarah please be aware that Simple Green cuts oily substances because it contains alkaline chemicles. This means it can have an extremely high ph value which as David pointed out can be harmful to your finished work…especially over time.

If you have a problem with the fumes you might try an artist’s grade of orderless mineral spirits. I’ve been using it for the last year and it works quite well and unlike turpentine is not nearly as toxic. Just make sure to buy the artist’s grade as the type you buy in the hardware store has trace minerals that aren’t refined out. Use the hardware store mineral spirits for cleaning brushes and the like!

And please don’t pour your used Simple Green down the drain! Even though you’re removing the paint sludge first, the pigment contaminants can still linger in the solution!

TOXIC FUMES AND HARZARDOUS MATERIALS:
For Sarah and others who wish to discard use of hazardous materials in oil painting, and gain 100% control of the oil medium. Ive written extensively on this subject on this site. Several persons have found this link and contacted me on the same issue Sarah has expressed. Some persons are ultra-sensitive to any amount of toxic fumes from solvents, some becoming very ill. Ive heard these ill stories for years, and yes, though some companies garner profits with low fume solvents, the fact remains they are still toxic to many in the instant, and to many others who profess ‘safe use’, over time. I welcome dialogue, but please read my website first, in order to fully understand the issues.

respectfully, Louis R. Velasquez.
You can reach my site by Googleing my name…
or the name of my site … calcite sun oil.

( EXCERPT FROM SARAH’S LETTER)
I use “simple green” instead of solvents…….I almost gave up painting in oils because I was getting so sick from the fumes…….

Mr. Velasquez your website says that your Calcite Sun Oil creates rich translucent colors.

How do you achieve this by mixing powdered calcium carbonate (which is an opaque white mineral) into oil?
When I look very closely at your website photo of the 2oz. sample package of premixed Calcite Sun Oil it appears to be a murkey grey!

Your entry above states that Calcite Sun Oil will give me 100% control of oil paint.

Your testimonial comments on your website claim that Calcite Sun Oil produces thick stringy paint.
Another seasoned artist’s testimony claims that ” It’s going to take me a while to experiment with it to figure out how best to handle it”

I am confused……

Hi Andy,
Please call me Louis. Thank you for the questions and for looking at my site. Good questions with very easy answers.

(Andy asked): your website says that your Calcite Sun Oil creates rich translucent colors. How do you achieve this by mixing powdered calcium carbonate (which is an opaque white mineral) into oil?
(My Response): I did not ’ invent’ the addition of dry calcium carbonate to oil. it has a long history in oil painting. Before the 1600s, it was used as an inert additive to lead white, to extend the more expensive lead white. The problem they had..and what they discovered..is that too much calcium carbonate powder added to the opaque lead white,..made the lead white translucent. The ratio quantity to add was seen as a problem to control if they wanted the white to remain opaque. But, later painters like Rembrandt, and even more so, Velazquez, used it to create sumptuous translucent textures that could be rubbed in to create a thin color glaze like Velazquez did, or…used as impasto to create rich thick impasto, like Rembrandt did. The brief answer is that in Aqueous Hide Glue..the dry CC powder remains pure white…but when mixed with oil..it is 98% transparent. Jacques Maroger, famous and infamous in his time…. looked deep into Velazquez paint and thought it was WAX..modern science has proven there is no wax in Velazquez paint nor in Rembrandts ( as Maroger incorrectly assumed)..but what Maroger did not know is that the translucent material he was seeing was, as science from the late 1980 has proven.. Calcium Carbonate powder in the oil. What my formula has done is made a new modern mixture in correct proportions , as a ready made gel-like mixture of just those two ancient archival artists materials…the superior oil and the calcium carbonate powder. The superior oil is not the industrially produced alkali refined linseed oil you buy at todays art stores….but since the oil is adequately described on my site, ill not repeat it.

(Andy asked): When I look very closely at your website photo of the 2oz. sample package of premixed Calcite Sun Oil it appears to be a murkey grey!
(My response): yes. its really tricky to our logical way of thinking. One would ask,’ WHAT? add that to my paint? No way!” But here are the facts and the reasons why great asters like Velazquez ( no relation to me) used it profusely, extensively, with all colors. The dingy beige color you see has no tinting strength at all. Add it to black, and the black oil paint stays as dark as the black from the tube. but, the black mixed with the CSO becomes a DEEP, RICH black that dries faster and harder than tube paint.White is another matter, it will get slightly off…but there are easy ways to restore the purity of the white. Its all in the book.

(Andy asked): Your entry above states that Calcite Sun Oil will give me 100% control of oil paint. Your testimonial comments on your website claim that Calcite Sun Oil produces thick stringy paint.
(My response): yes. Once the ‘Calcite Sun Oil” ( called CSO for short) is mixed in equal amounts with tube oil paint, you get a viscous stringy oil paint..just like the paint you see in the masterpieces of Rubens, Rembrandt and others. But, the CSO is only part of the equation..the two Emulsions I formulated are the crucial second half. The Emulsions have several important functions, one of which is to thin the paint..so it is less stringy. CSO without the Emulsions is not fully succesful. But when both are used in conjunction, it allows you 100% control of the oil paint. I appreciate that you use references written by professional painters that are given on my web site’s TESTIMONIAL page……but you must be fair..as you are leaving out the numerous other highly positive comments made by those who express their delight with effusive language, in using the CSO and the Emulsions. But your reference is fair on its own merits and here is what I need to say. The comment about having to experiment on “how best to handle it”… is a natural response by a highly experienced professional oil painter of the highest talent..who is faced with a NEW and REVOLUTIONARY method..that he will have to LEARN. He needs to learn something brand new that he has never done before. But let me say: The method is so SIMPLE, you will laugh once you understand it and do it. Its so simple, but its foundation is very profound, and though if I were with you I could teach it to you in 15 minutes…. but, it needs a book to explain its academic foundation.

Andy, thanks for your questions. I hope I cleared up some of the confusion. With CSO and the Emulsions, you can discard all the hazardous solvents, resins, varnishes and driers…and you will be amazed at the control you will have of the paint, with Safety and Permanence.

sincerely, Louis Velasquez / calcite sun oil . Google either for direct contact to my website. thanks again and thanks to David also for his website.

Thanks David and Loius!

Its great to have other artists to talk to about this stuff!

So even though the oil mix with calcite may appear cloudy it dries clear!
If I understand you correctly it’s like when acrylic emulsion is wet it too appears cloudy but dries clear. Right?

But I have seen Chalk or limestone submerged in water and they still appear white while under water! Oil must refract the light differently!

All else aside I do admit I have heard in the past that cold pressed oil is superior but these sources also stated that it was a darker drying oil.
Maybe because it hasn’t been cleansed in the manner your method describes!

Thanks for the thoughtful response Louis. Sorry to be so blunt before!

Hello Andy, Thanks again for your previous and current letter. I appreciate questions..I taught High school as a second career, late in my life… High School ART. Questions stimulate the classroom and our minds..even if we are only listening to others dialogue. Its really magic. There are no ‘dumb’ questions, is what I would tell my students. We all learn differently too. Some can process all types of info, others not.

To respond to your current questions and observations. The acrylic medium is milkey white when wet and dries clear. The CSO is clear when wet or dry IF MIXED with color paint. Acrylic dries by evaporation of the water content. The CSO doesnt, it goes through an oxidizing process. It cures and the molecules change. Im not a chemist, but the academic sources explain it much better than I ever could.

Cold pressed flax ( linseed ) oil is a murky oil when pressed due to the particulate mixed with it. The heavier particulate settles quickly, but the mucilage remains in suspension…fooling you into thinking the oil is clean because it is clear and transparent. Industry uses caustic chemicals to cleanse the oil. This causes problems, altering its structure.

Unrifined oil needs to be cleansed of the mucilage, which is invisible to the unaided eye when dispersed in the oil. In the fresh state the gravity clarified oil is a bright yellow color. Cleansing the oil by traditional means, like the Old Masters, can result in the oil being of various yellowish tints. Some of my experiments result in a water white clear oil. ..and its never been out in the sun. The normal yellow color is bleached when placed out to sun thicken it, causing the oil to become water clear white…but when removed from the sun, it reverts to a beautiful pale straw color…and never back to the original bright yellow color. YOU mention DARKER oil…… oil can be made darker…permanently…by boiling it. I see boiling oil as unnecessary though ancient sources say some Northern artists would heat the oil over fire in a kettle. They were careful not to allow this to be for long, and they kept the temperature low. The reason they did this was to thicken the oil and to cause some evaporation of the inherent moisture in the oil that caused it to be a slow drying oil.
THanks again to you Andy and to David.
sincerely, Louis

What I meant when I mentioned DARKER oil was that I have heard that AFTER drying…. cold pressed oil had a tendency to darken more than some other oils. NOT a trait I would desire in my oil! Thats why I then mentioned your organic cleansing method as a remedy to this!

Unfortunately time wise a lot of us don’t have the option of hand grinding our own paint pigments and slowly aging our linseed oil…..we just want to get painting!
After all even the Old Masters had thier apprentices do that stuff!

To get back to the original topic…..I personally have no problems with modern solvents and practice the reasonable precautions as mentioned in the above article. I use oderless mineral spirits in place of turps though. Some may find as stated in the article above,that it doesn’t interact with the paint the same as turps…..this might be because it’s solvency power is less than turps. OMS will not disolve dammar crystals.

The proof is in the pudding!

All else aside let the finished piece of art be the proof! If paintings this old have stood the test of time then cold-pressed oil is fine to paint with!

If I use cold-pressed oil( the kind that is available at my local art supply store) what have you found it’s drying time to be like compared to alkali-refined?

Do you recommend any brand of cold-pressed ( that would be readily found in an art supply store)?

HELLO DAVID AND ANDY,
MAY PLEASE TYPE IN CAPS? IM NOT SHOUTING, JUST TRYING TO MAKE READING EASIER. YOU BOTH HAVE MADE VERY GOOD COMMENTS, AND I HOPE MINE ARE OF HELP.

ANDY SAID; What I meant when I mentioned DARKER oil was that I have heard that AFTER drying…. cold pressed oil had a tendency to darken more than some other oils. NOT a trait I would desire in my oil! Thats why I then mentioned your organic cleansing method as a remedy to this!
LOUIS SAYS; ANDY, IVE COME TO THE UNDERSTANDING, AFTER SOME TESTING AND RESEARCH, THAT UNREFINED FLAX OIL (THIS BEING THE OIL USED BY THE OLD MASTERS) MUST BE CLEANSED OF ALL ITS PARTICULATE CAUSED BY THE PRESSING…AND OF ALL THE NATURAL INHERENT MUCILAGE THAT IS PART OF THE OIL’S STRUCTURE. THE OIL IS VERY COMPLEX, FULL OF NUMEROUS FATTY ACIDS, MOISTURE, MUCILAGE AND ONCE PRESSED, MUCH PARTICULATE. MUCH OF THIS REMAINS IN PERFECT SUSPENSION IN THE OIL, AND GRAVITY BY ITSELF ( GRAVITY SETTLEMENT LED TO THE OIL BEING CALLED ‘STAND’ OIL..BECAUSE IT WAS ALLOWED TO STAND STILL FOR MONTHS AND YEARS)..GRAVITY ITSELF WILL NOT FULLY REMOVE IT ALL.

MY TESTING , SEE PHOTOS ON MY WEBSITE..SHOW THE DISPERSED MUCILAGE IS INVISIBLE, BUT ONCE FLOCCULATED BY SOME MEANS.. IT IS A FUZZY WHITE SUBSTANCE, VERY COMPLEX IN STRUCTURE, PART AQUEOUS AND PART OLEAGINOUS. THIS MUCILAGE , ONCE EXPOSED TO AIR AND ITS MOISTURE..VIA THE LIVING BREATHING FILM OF EVEN DRY OR WET OIL…WILL FERMENT AND DECOMPOSE, AND TURN AMBER BROWN. THIS WILL LOWER COLOR CHROMA, HUE AND VALUE. AS YOU SAY, YOU DO NOT WANT THAT IN YOUR OIL. THE OLD MASTERS LIKE THE VAN EYCKS, WHOSE EXCELLENTLY PRESERVED 600 YEAR OLD PAINTINGS STILL SPARKLE, FOUND WAYS TO REMOVE THE MUCILAGE. SADLY, THEY DID NOT WRITE THEIR METHOD DOWN..OTHERS HAVE WRITTEN THEIR RECIPES, AS YOU MUST KNOW. I JUST WENT TO SPAIN IN FEBRUARY, AND THOUGH YEARS AGO I READ THE BRIEF EDITED VERSION OF VELAZQUEZ’ TEACHER, FRANCISCO PACHECO, I NEVER KNEW HIS METHOD OF REMOVING THE MUCILAGE FROM THE UNREFINED OIL. I AM BILINGUAL SPANISH/ENGLISH, I BOUGHT THE UNEDITED VERSION OF THE BOOK, ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1649. PACHECO WROTE ONE PARAGRAPH ON THIS ALL IMPORTANT SUBJECT; PARAPHRASED , ITS THIS; ONE POUND OF [SETTLED] LINSEED OIL. 2 OUNCES OF STRONG ALCOHOL [ LIQUOR]. 2 OUNCES OF LAVENDER IN GRAIN FORM. PLACE IN THE HOT SUN 15 DAYS, EACH DAY STIRRING IT. THEN DECANT. AS YOU KNOW, SPIKE OIL IS MADE FROM THE LAVENDER FLOWERS, AND IT IS A MILD SOLVENT. I AM STILL WORKING ON THIS METHOD- NO FIRM RESULTS YET.

ANDY SAID; Unfortunately time wise a lot of us don’t have the option of hand grinding our own paint pigments and slowly aging our linseed oil…..we just want to get painting!After all even the Old Masters had thier apprentices do that stuff!
LOUIS SAYS; SO TRUE. I AM NOT ADVOCATING ARTISTS THROW AWAY MODERN OIL PAINTING DEVELOPMENTS..BUT I AM TRYING TO EDUCATE OTHERS OF WHAT THEY ARE USING…AND OF A VERY IMPORTANT OPTION. ITS NOT FOR EVETYONE. MANY OIL PAINTERS ARE NOVICES, MANY REALLY DO NOT CARE ABOUT ARCHIVAL PERMANENCE, AND MANY FEEL THAT IF THEY ARE CAREFUL WITH THEIR MATERIALS, THEY CAN BE SAFE.

TO THE GENERAL POPULATION, THE CSO/ EMULSIONS OFFERS 100% SAFETY ( I TAKE INTO CONSIDERATION SOME PEOPLE ARE HYPO-ALLERGIC TO MANY SBSTANCES IN THE WORLD), AND ARCHIVAL PERMANENCE. I DONT THINK THE VAN EYCKS REALLY KNEW THEIR PAINTINGS WOULD STILL BE HERE ALMOST AS FRESH AS WHEN PAINTED…. AND I WILL NEVER KNOW IF MY FORMULATIONS ARE EQUAL TO THEIRS…. AS IT WILL TAKE HUNDREDS OF YEARS TO PROVE OR DISPROVE..BUT I CAN STATE WITH CONFIDENCE THAT MY FORMULATIONS ARE BASED ON THE ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE OF THE OLD MASTERS.

ANDY SAID; To get back to the original topic…..I personally have no problems with modern solvents and practice the reasonable precautions as mentioned in the above article. I use oderless mineral spirits in place of turps though. ..[ ( PARTIALLY DELETED].
LOUIS SAYS; I THINK YOU ARE MAKING THE CHOICE BEST FOR YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES.

DAVID SAID; Andy, Go to a museum where they have paintings from the 15th-19th centuries. They were mainly made with cold-pressed linseed oil. Have they gone bad? No? Then cold-pressed oil, used with reasonable care, is fine for painting with.
LOUIS SAYS; THERE IS NO BETTER PROOF.

DAVID SAID; I have no fetish for cold-pressed vs. modern alkali-refined oils. But a good quality cold-pressed oil is perfectly OK stuff for painting, unless you add way too much to your paint or use it as a varnish.
LOUIS SAYS; AGAIN, GOOD ADVICE…BUT ONLY IF YOU UNDERSTAND THE ISSUES ON THE ALKALI REFINED LINSEED OIL. AND UNDERSTAND THE PROPERTIES OF THAT OIL. ONCE YOU HAVE USED THE ’ SUPERIOR LINSEED/ FLAX OIL’, WHICH IS UNREFINED FLAX OIL WHICH HAS BEEN COLD PRESSED, ORGANICALLY CLEANSED, AND SLOWLY SUN THICKENED IN HOT SUMMER SUN…….YOU WILL KNOW ITS GREAT VALUE..AND THAT THIS OIL WILL ALLOW YOU TO DISCARD THOSE SOLVENTS, DRIERS, VARNISHES AND RESINS. THEY BECOME UNNECESSARY..AND IF USING ALKALI REINED OIL, THEY ARE SO NECESSARY.

ANDY SAID; The proof is in the pudding! All else aside let the finished piece of art be the proof! If paintings this old have stood the test of time then cold-pressed oil is fine to paint with!
LOUIS SAID; YES, BUT ONLY IF ITS ORGANICALLY CLEANSED. TO USE IT AS YOU BUY IT, WHETHER FLAX OIL, OR WINDMILL EXPRESSED ‘OLD HOLLAND’ BRAND OF LINSEED OIL…TO USE IT OUT OF THE BOTTLE, FULL OF MUCILAGE, AND PARTICULATE..IS A BIG MISTAKE.. AND JUST LOOKING AT THE CLEAR OIL IN THE BOTTLE, AND THINKING IT IS CLEAN, WILL FOOL YOU COMPLETELY.

ANDY SAID; If I use cold-pressed oil( the kind that is available at my local art supply store) what have you found it’s drying time to be like compared to alkali-refined?
LOUIS SAID; BOTH OF THE OILS, WHETHER ALKALI REFINED LINSEED OIL..OR..THE UNREFINED FLAX OIL.. ARE VERY SLOW DRIERS AND ARE EQUALLY SLOW TO DRY. ANDY, THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS THAT IMPACT DRYING OF PAINT…AS IMPORTANT AS THE OIL ; THEY ARE; VENTILATION/ HUMIDITY/ HEAT… AND THEN THICKNESS OF THE PAINT… AND THE COLOR USED ( SOME COLORS ARE SLOW DRIERS OTHERS FAST DRIERS.).

ANDY SAID; Do you recommend any brand of cold-pressed ( that would be readily found in an art supply store)?
LOUIS SAID; GAMBLINS IS VERY INEXPENSIVE..OLD HOLLAND IS VERY EXPENSIVE. I KNOW ILL BE THOUGHT OF AS REPEATING; THE ‘COLD PRESSED OIL YOU BUY IN THE ART STORE MUST BE CLEANSED BEFORE USING IT.

SINCERELY, LOUIS

Louis!
I intentionally used quotes from your website previously and edited them in a way that served my viewpoints so that you might see how it feels when you take other people’s posts and use fragments to solicit your product. But judging from your last entry I don’t think you got that at all!
I started posting on this site because it seemed to be a free exchange of ideas amongst artists ……emphasis on the word FREE!
Must every statement you make be bent around to an infommercial?