There are a number of oil painting mediums based on synthetic substances called alkyds. Alkyds can also be used as a binder for paints, but I’m specifically talking about mediums made for mixing with regular oil paint. These include Liquin, Galkyd, Neo-Meglip, and a number of other products.
Although they are popular, I don’t use them, for several reasons.
- I don’t think they’ve been around long enough to prove themselves. While the first popular alkyd medium, Liquin from Winsor Newton, has been around for decades, it has apparently been reformulated several times. So we don’t know what modern alkyds do to paintings, exactly.
- I have heard a few (not many, but a few) reports of delamination in multi-layer painting that artists have blamed on alkyds. It appears that under some circumstances, one layer of oil paint containing alkyd medium may not reliably adhere to another layer of paint containing alkyd medium. This issue is probably not a concern for for single-layer alla prima painting. If you do choose to use alkyd mediums in multi-layer painting, my recommendation is to reconsider. But if you do choose to willfully ignore my excellent advice, you should at least scuff the dried paint in between layers with a kitchen scrubee pad to encourage mechanical adhesion.
- I like using traditional painting materials. I use some modern pigments, but I don’t like using modern binders or mediums. That’s just me.
- I don’t particularly like the way the couple of alkyd mediums I’ve tried handled.
- I hate the way they smell. It’s not a strong odor, but it’s insidious. Compared to, say, Canada balsam and oil of spike (one of the best smells in the world), alkyds smell like a distant petroleum refinery.
- Used excessively, alkyd mediums can cause yellowing. So do many of the more traditional mediums, of course, but alkyds do not have “don’t discolor” as an advantage. As with any additive to oil paint, only a very small amount of alkyd medium should be used.
- It’s hard to say whether alkyds are “fat” or “lean.” Fat mediums dry slowly and are relatively flexible. Lean mediums dry quickly and are more rigid. Alkyds dry quickly and are flexible. In multiple-layer painting, the rapid drying of alkyds could cause problems when used with other, slower-drying, fat mediums. If you use alkyd mediums in multi-layer painting, my recommendation is to use the same medium formulation throughout the painting, simply using a bit more from one layer to the next. Don’t use other mediums as you go.
- Some artists seem to use alkyd mediums mainly for their property of causing the paint to dry more quickly. If that’s what you are looking for, there are a number of more technically sound methods.
Although they are cheap and easily accessible, I don’t see any particular advantage that alkyd mediums have that might balance out these concerns. If you are using mediums correctly, the amount that goes into any painting is so small that the expense of even a relatively expensive bottle of medium is miniscule. I admit that I’m a bit of a painting materials snob, but I’m OK with that. In my view, alkyd mediums are the fast food of oil painting. They are cheap and you can get them almost anywhere, but they aren’t very good for you.
I have heard of some artists who become so enamored of alkyds that they use them as a medium and also as a final varnish. That’s an especially bad idea, as most of the companies that make alkyd mediums will tell you. If used as a varnish, alkyd mediums may cause yellowing. Also, it will not later be possible to remove the varnish when cleaning the picture, which is a critical property for a varnish to have.
Update
1/31/07: rewrote with some additional information.
I will definitely give the “sound methods” a try. I’ve been painting, however, with alkyd mediums(namely, the one called “Galkyd”), and I am loving it. It dries fast, and I am able to practice layering. It doesn’t smell(at least I don’t smell it), if it smells well the smell is barely there! You could compare it to Damar medium. AND, it doesn’t smell one bit as badly as the dreaded TURPENTINE. Surely, you can put the Spike of Lavender in it to mask the odour, if it seems “insidious”, the way the old masters did to turps. ??? What are your other concerns about Galkyd? I add such a tiny amount to my blobs of paint that are just meant to speed things up, that I am NOT noticing any of the bad effects you are describing. (and I varnish with Damar varnish)… I know, R.Doak doesn’t recommend alkyds, but he’s an old fashioned guy who doesn’t use computers, and you seem to work with computers just fine! I use Galkyd in conjunction with Damar medium, and again, in MINISCULE amounts. There are only positive things that I am noting every time I paint: beautiful sheen, and alkyd’s main function, the speed of drying. Don’t tell me Buorgurou would not have used Galkyd if it was available in his times — I know of at least three “bad reputation” “sixatives” is what he called his speed drying mediums. Now I am not sure at all if he would have accepted the computers, hehe!!! What I’m trying to say is, Galkyd is not a fast food of mediums, as you are trying to portray it — however, in oil painting the best medium is what suits your needs! So an artist should choose using his/her own research/judgement, not just some MERCHANTS words:”this stuff is bad, but the stuff I sell is great”
Angel,
It’s good that you use only a small amount of Galkyd—that’s a smart thing to do with any medium. I am not saying that an alkyd medium will cause your painting to explode, just that it could cause problems with multi-layered painting. Different people have different sensitivities. I much prefer the smell of good turpentine in a well ventilated studio to the smell of alkyds.
I’m not trying to sell anything (I get no kickbacks, unfortunately), and I don’t think that Robert Doak knows everything there is to know about which painting materials are best (I’ve had several friendly arguments with him about such matters).
I guess we’ll just have to disagree on alkyd mediums. I hope they work out well for you.
Hi David,
I have read your article with great interest. I have done all of the bad things you mention above with griffin alkyds, and have not noticed any adhesion problems, and very faint yellowing of the whites in a four year old picture. Do all oil paints yellow slightly or is it just alkyd type paints that are prone to this?
Which brand of ready made up oil paint would you recommend as the most stable?
best regards Dave P
David P.,
This post refers to the use of alkyd mediums with regular oil paints, not the use of alkyd paints. For a post that does talk about alkyd paints, see this post.
Alkyds are not oil paints. However, they do share the property of yellowing slightly over time (although noticeable yellowing in four years would be pretty quick with regular oils). That’s especially the case with paints ground in linseed oil (which is the strongest of the oil binders). I don’t have enough experience with alkyds to say whether they yellow more or less than oil paints.
Any artist-quality oil paint should have good overall stability. Like most painters, I have preferred brands, but not because I think one brand is more stable than another.
Something I’ve been wondering — for all their disadvantages, alkyds have a reputation for extraordinary flexibility — wouldn’t this eliminate the risk of cracking in medium rich glazes?
Of course yellowing would be another issue…I’ve painted test swatches and the claims of “non-yellowing” are indeed spurious. I guess they mean no more yellow than they already are? :P
“Incompetent,”
Lots of people use alkyd mediums and swear by them. I’ve outlined my biases above. 100 years from now, conservators will either sing their praises as the saviors of late 20th century and early 21st century painting, or complain about how they’ve caused all sorts of problems. I don’t know which way it will go, but for my part I will avoid them.
I’ve heard the non-yellowing thing, too, and that does seem kind of silly.
alkyd sucks & everyone is free to screw their art with that garbage.
Cheers ^
Im using the old holland stuff now which seems to give better results than alcid, it took some getting used to but fine once you learn how the linseed oil behaves, and know when to add a bit of stand oil. V. good pigment load :-) regards Dave P
I am using liquin and it gives the results I want but I know how toxic it is. You give 8 good points but no clear alternative or solution. I know linseed oils are good for drying but is it the best or non toxic/least harmful in a studio with little ventilation? Also, is there any non toxic/least harmful way to accelerate oil painting drying time?
liquin,
I don’t know about the toxicity of Liquin. I’d suggest you check with the manufacturer.
One way to accelerate drying time is to use quick-drying pigments and oils while avoiding slow-drying pigments and oils. For example, titanium white is a slow drier. Poppy oil is a slow drier. Umbers are fast driers (and accelerate the drying time of paint mixtures. Linseed oil is a relatively fast drier. If you understand the properties of your materials, you can do more with them.
The alternative or solution I’d recommend is the set of traditional painting methods described throughout this blog. Take a look around.
Who cares?
Please ignore that question. It is not for you to answer.
A future generation’s perception of you as an artist and the artistic merit of your work….. these are the primary factors for the longevity of your art.
All materials, even the very best, will fail over a relatively short time.
All paint will fade or yellow, every ground will fail, and dirt gradually diminish the return of light in every work of art.
The somber reality is that every work of art will require restoration or at least major cleaning in 100 to 150 years.
The main culprit is the very ground. Canvas will need to be replaced in that period, and this is a difficult and expensive task. Only art that is highly prized will receive “relining” in the future.
We place such emphasis on paints and mediums when it is in fact the ground that will first fail.
If our art is considered great in time, then we need not worry unless we are using house paint, as even today’student oils will outlive the canvas. Someone will be trying patiently to restore our celebrated works and undo any technical mistakes we have made, within two centuries time.
Of course, if our art is not considered great, then even our Old Holland and traditional mediums will not restore themselves.
So, I suggest we relax and try out those alkyds, resins, and polymers…..
or, stick with the techniques of the old masters….
perhaps we are creating something great enough to catch the restorer’s eye in 2160.
Ken,
I’ve made the point before that the most archival property a painting can have is to be valued so much that rich people will buy it and pay experts to keep it in the best possible condition.
Nevertheless, I don’t personally think that using marginal materials is a good idea. I believe in painting as a craft as well as an art. Artists who value their own paintings will make them well, in all senses of the word.
I like you. You are like the “Sheldon” of painting. Bazzinga! Just a joke.
I am using alkyds right now for an impasto I am trying. I can say that I hate the odor and the refinery smell is accurate, but the results are great. Who knows if it will outlast me? but I honestly do not care. There are so many things to try out there that there is no sense on limiting ourselves with what’s been proven good. Who knows? there might be great things to discover yet.
Hi David,
Thanks as always for the thoughtful discussion and useful counterpoint to a pervasive practice. I don’t currently use alkyd medium in my regular work, but am experimenting with it in a few studies and tests. Regarding point number 2 (delamination), do you think an application of retouch varnish would mitigate that problem?
I also found I couldn’t stand the smell of Liquin, so I bought a small bottle of M. Graham’s walnut alkyd medium, which disperses the resin in walnut oil. I have no idea what that does for it’s other properties, but it handles very nicely, and the only odor I can discern is that of the walnut oil itself, which it to say almost none.
All the best, Jeff
Jeff,
I have not tried the Graham walnut alkyd. Glad it has no objectionable odor and is working for you.
I love to use an alkyd and walnut oil medium with oil paint made with walnut oil rather than linseed. Very good quality easy to use. Look at M Graham oil paints.