There are many art fora, resource sites, blogs, and other places on the internet where information for artists is posted. This is one of them. Often, they (we?) provide contradictory information, advice, and opinions. If you are looking for reliable advice for artists, whom do you believe?
First, with regard to safety information, don’t ever just take anyone’s word for it. I have several posts here that relate to safety. But I’m just some guy. Why would you do what I say, no matter how much authority I seem to pretend to have? This is your health and the health of everyone who comes in contact with your art stuff we’re talking about here. Just because I say that lead paint, used with reasonable caution, is perfectly safe, is no reason to think it’s true. It is true, but you shouldn’t believe me just because I say so. Only believe it after you’ve checked out the relevant information, separated out the truth from the fear-mongering, and decided for yourself what makes sense for you.
I’m not an expert. I don’t have a degree in art. I’m not a professional artist. I’ve done a lot of studying about art and I think I mostly know what I’m talking about. But you haven’t read my sources. You haven’t tried the things I have. You haven’t made the mistakes, or had the successes, that I have. All you have when you come to this website is the words and images here. You don’t know for sure whether I know what I’m talking about, or I’m a clueless blowhard.
The same goes for just about everyone else. Even people who have nice websites and appear to have some sort of credentials may be providing useful information, or garbage. Likewise, people who post on internet fora may or may not know what they’re talking about. I’ve found some pretty silly stuff in books as well.
So please read with intelligence and skepticism. Do that with everything here, and everything else you see on the internet. Try people’s advice and see if it works for you. Read other sources and compare. It’s more work that way, but a lot better than deciding that I (or anyone else) can be taken at face value. I know I have a clue, but you have no reason to believe me. Not until you try what I suggest and find out.
Tags: art technique, personal
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Wise words. The internet has placed an endless supply of information right at our fingertips, but like many other sources of information, e.g. TV, magazines, your next door neighbour, you sometimes have to do some extra sourcing to sort out the fact from fiction.
I like your blog :)
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Thanks, Triecia. I like your blog, too.
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Long time no “speak”! Here’s a very good topic to tackle for your next blog topic. You spoke of blacks in one of your prev. posts. Now, let’s talk about whites: which white do you use? Which white is the brightest, whitest white? Do you use a different white(Doak’s flake white for instance) for underpainting, despite the fact that it yellows due to lead? Love!(your blog!)
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Angel,
I already have a post on whites.
My primary white is lead white, but I also use titanium and zinc when appropriate.
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Hi David. Angel’s question on WHITES, brings up an important issue for oil painters, the ‘Washing” of linseed oil. Linseed oil is FOREVER yellow, and the brighest minds have tackled the issue and failed. My website has a new addition, a lengthy essay on the ‘Washing” of ;linseed oil. Here below, I include one part of the essay. Interested readers can read the entire essay on my site.
thank you= Louis Velasquez
Author of :
‘Oil Painting with ’ Calcite Sun Oil”: Safety and Permanence without Hazardous Solvents, Resins, Varnishes, and Driers”
One can google the title and link to my site.PART SIX: SHOULD LINSEED OIL BE WASHED?
This brings us back to the original question: Should Linseed Oil be âwashedâ?My answer is reflected in my THIRD CONCLUSION which I repeat here: âThe washing of linseed oil was ONLY for the purpose of removing cloudy mucilage, and foreign particles from the oil. The yellowish color of linseed oil is accepted as a normal condition, and it cannot be completely eliminated. Nature provides solutions to minimize the yellow color, through bleaching in sunlight exposure, and treatment with mixtures of certain clays, and hanging oil paintings in well lighted dry rooms.â
There is a website that shows HOW TO WASH LINSEED OIL. The steps are simple, non-mechanical, time consuming, and the websiteâs author says shaking the large hot container will wear you out..
The website gives these steps: Place oil in a large 5 gallon container ( photos show a transparent container ) with twice the amount of water. Place [ transparent] container in tub of very hot water. Add almost boiling water into the container. Hold hot container with a towel. Shake the container for 100 shakes. Then, place the [ transparent ] container outside in the sun, in 100 degree heat weather for several days until the clear oil raises to the top and large amounts of opaque whitish-yellow, colored matter settles between the clear oil and the water level. Place in a large freezer for several days until the water is frozen. Since oil does not freeze, pour out the clear oil into a clean 5 gallon container and repeat the process 3 times. The website author says that two-thirds of the original amount of the oil is LOST! And that the whole process takes 8 weeks, resulting in a watery-thin oil. Photos show a very pale oil as the âfinishedâ, âwashedâ oil
The website author calls the whitish matter âgunkâ and says it has an âaqueousâ quality. This is incorrect, as it is clearly a âfattyâ not an aqueous substance. The website author also says the âgunkâ is the portion of the oil that yellows, yet offers NO proof of this. The website author later exposes some of the finished âdegunkedâ oil to the sun and air for several days to THICKEN and to BLEACH it âeven clearerâ.
What is perfectly clear to an experienced person, is that the continuous exposure of the 5 gallon transparent container to the summer sun for several weeks caused the oil to slowly become less yellow and less yellow as the weeks passed, and NOT DUE to any removal of what is called âgunkâ, from the oil. The website author ADVISES to store the finished oil in a clear storage bottle. An easy experiment will show that if this internet authorâs finished âdegunkedâ oil is stored in a dark bottle or kept in a dark closet, it will regain some of its yellow color, even though it had been âwashedâ and degunked three times (or even if washed 10 times), and bleached water-clear by continuous exposure to the sun for weeks. The website is causes inexperienced persons to mistakenly believe that the oil was washed clean of its yellow. Had this internet author performed all his laborious efforts, and Not exposing his oil to the sun, the finished âwashedâ oil would be bright yellow. -
Louis,
While I’m not completely unconcerned about the yellowing of linseed oil, I take heart when I walk through museums filled with oil paintings that are hundreds of years old. While very slight yellowing is often detectable, I’ve never seen a painting and thought, “wow, the whites are so yellow it detracts from the quality of the painting.” That’s with oils that were probably much less pure than modern cold-pressed or alkalai-refined products. So I don’t think that a properly-made oil painting, made without excessive addition of oil to the paint, is likely to yellow to the degree that some art materials pundits want you to worry about, especially if the painting is kept exposed to light.
A bigger problem, in my opinion, is the increasing transparency of oils with age, especially when ground with traditional flake white. Fortunately for artists, that issue pretty much never occurs until long after they are dead.
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Hi David,
Seems you missed the boat. Im quoting your statement in part
“oil paintings that are hundreds of years old. While very slight yellowing is often detectable, Iâve never seen a painting and thought, âwow, the whites are so yellow it detracts from the quality of the painting.â Thatâs with oils that were probably much less pure than modern cold-pressed or alkalai-refined products. “OILS MUCH LESS PURE than todays?
I think you will enjoy reading the full essay on my website, as it will clear up misconceptions of today’s linseed oils..refined or other.My current experiments show SUNFLOWER SEED OIL to be COMPLETELY free of any yellowing. Even when kept in the dark for weeks.
sincerely=louis
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I stopped using Maroger because of it’s toxicity and I’ve switched to titanium white to avoid flake and it’s lead. I get pretty fixated when I am creating something and I am always concerned that I will have paint on a finger that I unthinkingly put in my mouth (I bite my nails sometimes).
As far as safety, a great source is Mark D. Gottsegen’s book, The Painter’s Handbook. If you paint with acrylics another great place to get info from the horses mouth is Mark Golden’s blog. You can ask him questions there (via a comment) and he’s extremely responsive).
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Interesting issues … David and Louis, some info for you
First thing that should be considered is that different oils have different values and specifications. Not all oils do the same job, rendering comparison of oils useless.
Louis is correct about the color of the oil up to a certain point. linseed oil is yellowish. However washing it reduces SOME of the color that is in the “mucilage”. The site that mentions washing has some points but fails to mention that the light color oil is actually sun bleached. The sun bleached oil does not become as yellow as it was by age. Oils is dark places and dark bottles are not a good idea as have no place in painting. No one keeps a painting in a very dark place. Oils will become a bit dark by age.
The yellowing of many old oil paintings from the masters is due to varnish and not necessarily the oil.
Louis mentions sunflower oil. I hope he means safflower NOT sunflower. Safflower is Carthamus tinctorius and while it is a great oil and is used for lighter pigments such as whites and some yellows it is not as “tough” of a film as linseed. It does allow longer drying time so it is a wonderful oil to be mixed into the linseed oil and some of the quick dry pigments such as earths to allow flexibility in time.
Using safflower by itself is not a good idea. Unless you mix your own pigments and oil you can not avoid linseed oil with exception of a few makers that use walnut oil.
Sunflower is Helianthus annuus and has no place in painting! Salads and some cooking is where it should be used.
Washing oil with “hot water” is not correct. Heating oil above 120 deg Fahrenheit (~50 celsius) is not advised since it start a molecular change. Freezing oil below 33 deg Fahrenheit (-1 celsius) is not advised either as it does change the oil’s structure. Never store your paints in a freezer!!
The old system of washing oil is to use very warm water and shake the oil in moderate amounts, NOT huge bottles. Allow separation and pour off the oil on top. Do not be greedy and leave the “gunk” in. Then pout the rest of the oil near the gunk to another container and you can clean it in the next batch of oil. Repeat the process until you are satisfied with the results. Do allow the oil in the sun for a few days to propagate it and give it some oxygen. Or as it was called in the old days, “aired”.
Here is a few things about oils that might help you.
Raw - oil that has been made by heating the flax seeds to get more oil. Filtered by many methods.
Cold Pressed - The seeds/ nuts are just pressed to squeeze the oil without any heating.
Boiled - oil that has been boiled after extraction to change chemically. All oils that are boiled are tougher and make a more flexible film. They are darker. Used for industrial based paints, i.e. house paints. The darkness is not a concern at all. They are bleached by exposure to sunlight especially in lead pigments they work very well. NOT suitable for fine arts painting.
Refined - oil that has the mucilage or impurities removed from it by means of different processes including, filtration, chemical (alkali as example), heat, pressure and a combination of such methods.
Sun bleached - oil that has been exposed to sun to allow the color to vanish. The oil will be lighter and yellows less. The yellowing is not chemical but it is due to reduction of the volume during oxidization. Dries faster and works well as a medium.
Sun thickened - the same as above except that it is allowed to contact the air and it semi oxidized by the contact with air, it is stirred often to allow change in consistency, thick oil and it mixed with turpentine to create a medium. normally is mixed with balsam oil, venice turpentine or wax.
Stand Oil - Oil that has been polymerized by process of heat and pressure, i.e. in a pressure cooker to about 300 deg. The characteristic of such oil is that it is a “leveling” oil, meaning that the brush strokes will disappear. Making it a very suitable oil for glazing thin and very smooth painting. It is thicker than oil and is mixed with turpentine and other oils to make mediums.
Thickened oil - Oil that has been thickened by exposure to air but not sun light. While is partially oxidized it is not bleached and is as yellow as it was before. It is wonderful for mixing to turpentine for a medium without becoming as thin as regular oil and turpentine mix. It is faster drying but not as leveling as stand oil.
Oil Sources
Linseed - Flax seed oil - The strongest and toughest of oils, yellowish, medium drying time.
Walnut - From the nut - The second strongest, less yellowish than linseed, more difficult to make, a bit longer to dry than linseed. Walnut oil is also used by old masters, van Dyck, Rubens, Rembrandt to name a few.
Safflower - From the plant, a moderate oil and is better to be used in a mixture as a binder for making paint and preparing the paint. Not as strong as the two above, less yellow than the the previous oils.
Poppy - from the seeds, The thinest, weakest and lightest of the oils above and is great for a mixture in the paint making process for whites. It takes the longest to dry so it is perfect to be added a drop or two in preparing the amount of paint on the palette for Burnt umber, burnt sienna, naples yellow (especially genuine), jaune brilliant to keep them from drying too fast on the palette.
There are other oils that are used by some but none are proven in a test of time such as lavender, etc. -
Ivan,
Thanks for the comments. I personally avoid safflower and poppy oils, because I am concerned about their limited binding strength and use a tiny bit of clove oil if I need to retard drying time.
Your URL doesn’t appear to work, by the way.
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David,
Thanks for the note. As I mentioned the saffflower and poppy are not oils to be used alone. There is no harm in using a tiny amount of poppy to retard the drying time. The ninding of these would be fine in mixture of the Linseed, walnut or both. Clove oil is not recommended as it does become brittle and detriorates faster than other oils. Some people use it for the smell factor. In damp conditions it can rot easily.
Thanks for the heads up on the URL. I corrected the spelling! -
HI DAVID AND IVAN,
WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?
I WAS JUST READING OLD SITES AND SAW THIS FROM ONE YEAR AGO.
IVAN GIVES LOTS OF GOOD ADVICE, BUT IS IN ERROR ON A FEW POINTS. ;ET ME EXPLAIN:
IVAN SAID:
Louis mentions sunflower oil. I hope he means safflower NOT sunflower. …..Sunflower is Helianthus annuus and has no place in painting! Salads and some cooking is where it should be used.WELL IVAN, IMNOT SURE OF YOUR SOURCE, BUT LET ME GIVE YOU MINE ON WHY I DO MEAN ‘SUNFLOWER’, AND NOT SAFFLOWER. ‘THE MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES OF PAINTING’ BY KURT WEHLTE.YOU CAN BUY IT AT SINOPIA.COM. THE BEST INVESTMENT YOU WILL MAKE FOR LEARNING OF TECHNICAL/CHEMICAL MATTERS ON PAINTING MATERIALS. MAKES RALPH MAYERS BOOK LOOK SIMPLE.(NO DISRESPECT TO RALPH).
PAGE 382:.( REFERENCE SUNFLOWER OIL) ..CLOSELY RESEMBLES POPPY OIL..THE ENTIRE RUSSIAN PRODUCTION OF ARTISTS’S OIL PAINTS IS BASED ON THIS MATERIAL, AND THE PICTURES PAINTED WITH IT ARE WELL PRESERVED’. SO WHELTE PROVIDES PROVEN FACTS ON SUNFLOWER SEED OIL. YES IVAN MAY WISH TO USE IT ON SALADS BUT WE DO THE SAME WITH FLAX OIL AND WALNUT OIL. ALL ARE NUTRICIOUS AND TASTY.
IVAN S LETTER HAS OTHER ERRORS;
(IVAN SAYS): …… Walnut oil is also used by old masters, van Dyck, Rubens, Rembrandt to name a few.
THE SCIENTIFIC STUDIES MOST RECENTLY SHOW REMBRANDT USED WALNUT OIL HAPHAZARDLY..AS IF HE WAS POSSIBLY OUT OF LINSEED OIL AT THE MOMENT, OR QUITE FRANKLY JUST GRABBED WHAT HE HAD ON HAND. I SAY THIS BECAUSE ART ‘EXPERTS’ ON THE WEB, AND IN BOOKS WILL INSTRUCT ARTISTS TO USE WALNUT OR POPPY OIL WITH WHITE AND BLUE PAINTS; THE WALNUT OIL IN REMBRANDTS PAINTINGS…AND THERE WAS VERY LITTLE FOUND.. WAS IN SOME DARK PAINT. THE SOURCE IS FROM THE NATIONAL GALLERY / LONDON. “BOOK ART IN THE MAKING; REMBRANDT “TWO EDITIONS, 1988 AND REVISED 2006.AND FINALLY IVANS REAL ERROR:
(IVAN SAYS): There are other oils that are used by some but none are proven in a test of time such as lavender, etc.
LAVENDER OIL IS NOT AN OIL, IT IS A SOLVENT. ONCE EXTRACTED FROM THE LAVENDER FLOWERS, IT IS CALLED ‘SPIKE’. LIKE TURPENTINE, IT IS NOT A BINDER AND EVAPORATES WHEN EXPOSED TO AIR.MY WEBSITE, RECENTLY WAS UPDATED WITH MY RESERACH ON HOW FRANCISCO PACHECO ( VELAZQUERZ TEACHER) CLEANSED HIS OIL.
THE MAGIC INGREDIENTS WERE ‘AGUA ARDIENTE, LA QUE SE LLAMA DE CABEZA’ AND” LA FLOE DE ALHUCEMA”. TO THOSE WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND SPANISH, THEY ARE: ALCOHOLIC LIQUOR AND THE LAVENDER FLOWER. THE PROCESS TO CLEANSE THE OIL IS ON MY WEBSITE.SORRY TO GET TO IVANS LETTER SO LATE- I WAS UNAWARE OF IT
RESPECTFULLY, LOUIS -
This is more info in regards to the Luis’ response to my mistakes:
1. Sunflower oil production in Russia was started by Bokaryov in Alekseyevka, Belgogorod, Russia in 1828. In 1833 the first factory of making sunflower oil started and in a few years it became popular. The process was pressing.
Today sunflower oil is produced by use of heat and pressure. While many of Russian painters used the sunflower oil it was made by pressure alone and not heated systems. Sunflower oil has a very high content of Oleic acid up to and around 40%, vs. Linseed (around 18-20%). Also sunflower has a high amount of Linoleic acid, around and up to 75% vs. Linseed oil (around and up to 24%). When heated this will produce oil that while works for painting it does cause a faster chemical reaction between pigment and oil. In case of some pigment this is more than others. Cold press linseed oil is much more available than cold press sunflower oil due to industry as well as the significant difference in the amount of oil that can be produced via heat from sunflower vs. cold press. While Russia is the largest producer of sunflower oil in the world the entire artist paint industry is NOT based on sunflower. If KURT WEHLTE says so that is great. Unfortunately I am from there, went to school there and know a thing or two about it. The largest manufacturer of artist oil paint in Soviet was Yarka (and is) and they use Cold pressed linseed oil.I still think sunflower oil is more suitable for salads. Also note that flax oil that is sold under that name is suitable for salad. Mainly flax oil is not refined the way that it is cleaned for painting use and named linseed oil. (I am not saying linseed oil is made from anything but flax seeds.)
2. I have mentioned that Rembrandt used walnut oil. I did not say he used ONLY walnut oil. I am very well aware of the use of it in some of the paintings that we have in Hermitage. Hendrik van Balen was using it and his student Anthony van Dyck was also a very well known user of it as well as others. Also note that walnut oil dries slower but it works well in a medium with turpentine.
The use of poppy and walnut for whites is due to its less yellowing color. The reason for recommending it for blues is the 3% Stearic acid of it, which helps to lower the separation of oil. Separation was not an issue in oil painting until the invention of tubes in 1841. Today the painters who do prepare their paints by rubbing it out after exit of the tube do not have this problem. It is only a problem for using the paint directly out of the tube.3. Finally my real error! There are 2 products made from Lavender: Lavender oil and spike oil of Lavender. I have seen many painters thinking of the Lavender oil to be used for painting, as it is oil. That is the one that you may buy for use as lotion and cure for insomnia, alopecia (hair loss), anxiety, stress, postoperative pain and Aromatherapy. That is what I am warning you about.
Spike oil of lavender is a distilled product and it is thin and a diluting substance. It should not replace the binding agent in oil paint: the oil. It is a thinner. While you can use the spike in place of turpentine for making medium for the smell factor, I would not due to the process that is used today in making spike oil vs. turpentine.
The lower amount of medium is used the better it is for the paint durability and health. Paint that was made prior to 1900 by hand or before that by the apprentices or the painters themselves had a higher amount of oil as binder since it was not made by machinery. As it was going to be mixed with medium it did not have a thickness as it is made and sold today. Most painters today who prefer to mull their own pigment and oil do not make it that thick either.Unfortunately I have no products that I could sell to you.
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Louis,
I’d like to bring to your attention a point of internet etiquette—specifically, your habit of typing in ALL CAPS. All caps, besides being harder to read, is generally interpreted as yelling. I’m sure that’s not how you want to present yourself.
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Hi David, greetings to you and your readers.
Yes David, I am aware of NETIQUETTE. But allow me to say you are correct…I am not yelling. And I thiabnk you for your understanding. Its my habit to type with all caps because I never learned to type. I type with one finger. But I can type real fast….IF..I just use caps or lower case..and time is so short and precious. I will try not to use caps in the future on your blog. At the moment I am very short on time and tho I would like to respond to Ivan, I cant at the moment. Suffice to say I appreciate him sharing his knowledge with all of us. Im sure Ivan is a sincere, dedicated, educated artist…much like you David. Thanks again. - Louis
PS: Please see the new methods on cleansing the Unrefined Flax oil on my website. IT'S FREE !! Like Ivan, I have nothing to sell except knowledge, and authors deserve the fruits of their labors. As Abraham Lincoln said, " An attorney is worth his time and knowledge". Oh yes, I do sell the finest Superior Linseed/Flax oil, but not to anyone or everyone.-
Louis,
Thanks.
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