Minimizing drying of water-mixable oil paint
Tony W.
when it's still on the palette?
I thought it might work to use the Masterson Sta-Wet paper and sponge
system (along with storing the palette in the Masterson Palette Seal
box) , but I consulted Masterson and even it doesn't know if that would
effectively keep water-mixable oil paint moist longer.
An employee at an art supply store suggested freezing the paint in my
refrigerator freezer and thawing it about an hour before each painting
session. He said that works for traditional oil paint, but I don't know
about water-mixable oil paint. (That system -- even if it worked --
wouldn't be ideal because I'd always have to plan at least an hour
ahead before each painting session, and wouldn't be able to start
painting spontaneously).
Flying_Naked_People
> Subject: Minimizing drying of water-mixable oil paint
> From: "Tony W." <ton...@hotmail.com>
> Newsgroups: rec.arts.fine
This is going to sound silly and I have no idea if it will work. But have you
ever seen (Lol) "Curl Caps"?
Ok, so during the 80's, African Americans styled hair as a "curl" and to keep
the wet-look and the hair moisturized (at all times believe it or not), the
hair is covered with these thin plastic caps - sorta like what the lunch
ladies wore. Only they're plastic - not tissue.
So what if you were able to fit a palette inside one of these caps? The bottom
circle that fits around the head is bunched together, while the top stays
poofed, and could prevent the plastic from touching the paint. I guess to keep
air from seeping through the bottom, you could set the palette on something
flat.
I dunno. I'd try it. You can probably find these "caps" at a beauty store. <g>
Chris
just cover your palette with saran wrap. I find doing that keeps oil paints
workable for quite along time The big problem is sealing off the airflow so
that the oil paint doesn't polymerize, and saran wrap - if laid closely but
not too tight - seems to work well at that.
Chris
"Tony W." <ton...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:3F14D3A4...@hotmail.com...
Mani Deli
wrote:
>An employee at an art supply store suggested freezing the paint in my
>refrigerator freezer and thawing it about an hour before each painting
>session.
Close but no cigar!
Use an icepack under your pallet. (for acrylics) Not the best way but
fairly good. Also use High walled containers for the mixing colors.
You can also cover the paint piles with pieces of Saran on your
pallet.
Get a brand of paint that is low drying and try retarders.
...no skill no art!
Want to get away from the indecipherable imbecilities and absurd pretensions of the modern art establishment?
Check out my web page http://www3.sympatico.ca/manideli/
Tony W.
>
> On Wed, 16 Jul 2003 04:23:17 GMT, "Tony W." <ton...@hotmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >An employee at an art supply store suggested freezing the paint in my
> >refrigerator freezer and thawing it about an hour before each painting
> >session.
>
> Close but no cigar!
>
> Use an icepack under your pallet. (for acrylics)
Thanks, Mani.
My question is about water-mixable oils.
> Also use High walled containers for the mixing colors.
My question was about how to keep the paint on the palette moist longer,
and there are no high-walled containers on my paper palettes.
> You can also cover the paint piles with pieces of Saran on your
> pallet.
I've done that but the paint still dries too quickly. Just leaving it
for a few days makes the paint too dry.
> Get a brand of paint that is low drying and try retarders.
Mixing retarders into the paint on the palette doesn't make sense,
because when I paint, I want the paint to dry quickly on the board I'm
painting on.
Tony
Tony W.
The palettes are 12 by 16 inches, so they wouldn't fit into the caps.
I already have the plastic Masterson Sta-Wet palette box to enclose the
palette when I'm not painting, but that doesn't work well enough.
Tony
Tony W.
> > when it's still on the palette?
> >
> > I thought it might work to use the Masterson Sta-Wet paper and sponge
> > system (along with storing the palette in the Masterson Palette Seal
> > box) , but I consulted Masterson and even it doesn't know if that would
> > effectively keep water-mixable oil paint moist longer.
>
> slighltly damp sponge. keeps my acrylics workable for WEEKS. it would
> probably work just as well with the water mixable oils. (I'm not using
> the sta-wet papers/sponges b/c I hate them. just an ordinary palette,
> and just put a plain old kitchen sponge in the box with it). Just an
> idea...
Thanks, Strongbad.
An interesting approach. I'll try it.
Tony
Tony W.
>
> I don't use water mixable oil paints, so I don't know if this would work -
> just cover your palette with saran wrap. I find doing that keeps oil paints
> workable for quite along time The big problem is sealing off the airflow so
> that the oil paint doesn't polymerize, and saran wrap - if laid closely but
> not too tight - seems to work well at that.
>
> Chris
Thanks, Chris.
I've tried that but I still have to throw out lots of dried paint. The
paint becomes sticky in just a few days -- even with the plastic wrap
and sealing in my Masterson palette box.
Tony
Chris
"StrongBad" <Stro...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.197f3cadf...@netnews.upenn.edu...
> > when it's still on the palette?
> >
> > I thought it might work to use the Masterson Sta-Wet paper and sponge
> > system (along with storing the palette in the Masterson Palette Seal
> > box) , but I consulted Masterson and even it doesn't know if that would
> > effectively keep water-mixable oil paint moist longer.
>
> slighltly damp sponge. keeps my acrylics workable for WEEKS. it would
> probably work just as well with the water mixable oils. (I'm not using
> the sta-wet papers/sponges b/c I hate them. just an ordinary palette,
> and just put a plain old kitchen sponge in the box with it). Just an
> idea...
>
You don't have problems with mildew & mold? I've seem some horrible acrylic
palettes....I understand you can add a little bleach, but how would that
react with the paint?
Chris
à-la-votre
>when it's still on the palette?
I think you're asking the question all wrong.
Don't you want to MAXIMIZE the drying time?
From what you say, that is your goal - to keep
the paint from drying for as long as possible.
If I were you, I'd look at the commercial
RETARDERS sold by the supplier of the brand of
paint you are using.
à-la-votre
>Mixing retarders into the paint on the palette doesn't make sense,
>because when I paint, I want the paint to dry quickly on the board I'm
>painting on.
>
>Tony
Retarders, if used properly, will retard the
drying time of the 'globs' on your palette
but have relatively little affect on the
thin layer you apply to the canvas. Try it.
You may have to experiment with the amount
of retarder you add to the 'globs' on the
palette, but you should be able to achieve
the result you are striving for. But any
retarder is NOT going to keep your paint 'fresh'
for days on end. I don't know of ANY paint that
is going to do that for you unless you choose
to switch to watercolors, exclusively. The
suggestion for freezing you palette in the
freezer of your fridge at the end of each painting
session is one you should try. It works great
for oil paints and may work well for the water
soluble oils too.
Andrew D
<Stro...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>In article <3F14D3A4...@hotmail.com>, ton...@hotmail.com says...
>> Does anyone know how to minimize the drying of water-mixable oil paint
>> when it's still on the palette?
>>
>> I thought it might work to use the Masterson Sta-Wet paper and sponge
>> system (along with storing the palette in the Masterson Palette Seal
>> box) , but I consulted Masterson and even it doesn't know if that would
>> effectively keep water-mixable oil paint moist longer.
>
>I take a Masterson palette seal box, put my palette in, and toss in a
>slighltly damp sponge. keeps my acrylics workable for WEEKS. it would
>probably work just as well with the water mixable oils. (I'm not using
>the sta-wet papers/sponges b/c I hate them. just an ordinary palette,
>and just put a plain old kitchen sponge in the box with it). Just an
>idea...
While acrylic dries purely as a result of evaporation of the water, oils
dry through oxidation. Simply wetting them or keeping them wet for lengthy
periods is unlikely to stop the oxidation process if they are exposed to
oxygen.
Mixing a water soluble stand oil or other slow-drying medium might be all
that's required.
Andy D.
"I'm a great speller - but a hopless tpyist!"
Andrew D
<ton...@hotmail.com> wrote:
[snip]
>Mixing retarders into the paint on the palette doesn't make sense,
>because when I paint, I want the paint to dry quickly on the board I'm
>painting on.
Then you probably need to only squeeze out as much paint as you're likely
to use in one sitting then clean you palette and remix colours on
subsequent sittings. Since oils don't darken as they dry (like acrylics
do), you can put dobs of crucial colour to one side to act as a remixing
reference.
Other than that, the cling-wrap idea to lock out all the air seems most
likely to succeed (though messy). I don't think I'd try freezing your
palette if you've used any water on it - sounds like a tragedy waiting to
happen.... not to mention a pain in the backside.
Seagull Manager
"Andrew D" <right@the_end.of.my_tether> wrote in message
news:right-17070...@i204-085.nv.iinet.net.au...
For someone who for some reason can't get out of the habit of mixing large
amounts of colour, other solutions include putting the mixed paint in jars
with a little water on top (dodgy?), or putting it in tubes. You can buy
metal tubes for paint at some art supplies stores.
Tony W.
> > when it's still on the palette?
> >
> > I thought it might work to use the Masterson Sta-Wet paper and sponge
> > system (along with storing the palette in the Masterson Palette Seal
> > box) , but I consulted Masterson and even it doesn't know if that would
> > effectively keep water-mixable oil paint moist longer.
>
> slighltly damp sponge. keeps my acrylics workable for WEEKS. it would
> probably work just as well with the water mixable oils. (I'm not using
> the sta-wet papers/sponges b/c I hate them. just an ordinary palette,
> and just put a plain old kitchen sponge in the box with it). Just an
> idea...
A problem with that approach is that I wouldn't be able to cover my
palette entirely with paint. I'd have to leave a section free of paint
for the sponge to rest on.
Tony
Tony W.
> >slighltly damp sponge. keeps my acrylics workable for WEEKS. it would
> >probably work just as well with the water mixable oils. (I'm not using
> >the sta-wet papers/sponges b/c I hate them. just an ordinary palette,
> >and just put a plain old kitchen sponge in the box with it). Just an
> >idea...
>
> While acrylic dries purely as a result of evaporation of the water, oils
> dry through oxidation. Simply wetting them or keeping them wet for lengthy
> periods is unlikely to stop the oxidation process if they are exposed to
> oxygen.
>
> Mixing a water soluble stand oil or other slow-drying medium might be all
> that's required.
> Andy D.
Mixing a slow-drying medium into the paint is not a solution, because I
want the paint to dry quickly (in a day or two) once I've painted it
onto the board I'm painting on.
Tony
Tony W.
>
> In article <3F157E60...@hotmail.com>, "Tony W."
> <ton...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> [snip]
> >Mixing retarders into the paint on the palette doesn't make sense,
> >because when I paint, I want the paint to dry quickly on the board I'm
> >painting on.
>
> Then you probably need to only squeeze out as much paint as you're likely
> to use in one sitting then clean you palette and remix colours on
> subsequent sittings.
I always have some excess paint on the palette at the end of my painting
sessions. This is unavoidable because I don't want to have to squeeze
tiny amounts of paint from the tubes every minute and having to mix in
water and linseed oil every minute. If I don't put enough paint onto the
palette, then I keep running out of the color mixtures I want and have
to remix more and that's inefficient and frustrating.
So what I want to preserve is the excess paint that's inevitably left on
the palette at the end of a painting session.
> Since oils don't darken as they dry (like acrylics
> do), you can put dobs of crucial colour to one side to act as a remixing
> reference.
> Other than that, the cling-wrap idea to lock out all the air seems most
> likely to succeed (though messy). I don't think I'd try freezing your
> palette if you've used any water on it - sounds like a tragedy waiting to
> happen.... not to mention a pain in the backside.
>
> Andy D.
>
Why do you think it would be a tragedy?
Tony
Tony W.
>
> In article <3F14D3A4...@hotmail.com>, ton...@hotmail.com says...
> >
> >Does anyone know how to minimize the drying of water-mixable oil paint
> >when it's still on the palette?
>
> I think you're asking the question all wrong.
>
> Don't you want to MAXIMIZE the drying time?
>
> From what you say, that is your goal - to keep
> the paint from drying for as long as possible.
You're right; I made a mistake. I want to slow the drying time while the
paint is still on the palette.
> If I were you, I'd look at the commercial
> RETARDERS sold by the supplier of the brand of
> paint you are using.
But I want to speed the drying time when the paint is on the board, so a
retarder would counteract that goal.
Tony
Seagull Manager
"Andrew D" <right@the_end.of.my_tether> wrote in message
>
> [snip]
> >For someone who for some reason can't get out of the habit of mixing
large
> >amounts of colour, other solutions include putting the mixed paint in
jars
> >with a little water on top (dodgy?), or putting it in tubes. You can buy
> >metal tubes for paint at some art supplies stores.
>
water-resistant so are likely to dissolve, I
> suspect.
Doh! Maybe a layer of oil medium would do the trick, though I suppose it
would mean an increase in the fattiness of the paint, since it would be
presumably not be possible to drain away all the oil.
Andrew D
<ton...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>Andrew D wrote:
[snip]
>> Other than that, the cling-wrap idea to lock out all the air seems most
>> likely to succeed (though messy). I don't think I'd try freezing your
>> palette if you've used any water on it - sounds like a tragedy waiting to
>> happen.... not to mention a pain in the backside.
>Why do you think it would be a tragedy?
I don't know that it would or necessarily think that it would - it just
sounds risky "freezing" a water-based medium that dries by oxidation. Call
it a "gut feeling" if you like.
Plus, oil paint usually gets really stiff when it's cold.
Andrew D
<ton...@hotmail.com> wrote:
[snip]
>You're right; I made a mistake. I want to slow the drying time while the
>paint is still on the palette.
[snip]
>But I want to speed the drying time when the paint is on the board, so a
>retarder would counteract that goal.
Basically you want a fast-drying, slow-drying paint that stays wet until
it dries so long as it doesn't dry until it's no longer required to be wet
- and not before?
Andrew D
<seagull...@nospamthanksbecauseisayso.demon.co.uk> wrote:
Plus it might counteract the reason for using mater-based oil in the first
place, whatever that reason might be in this case.
But as the thread has worn on it looks like Tony is after a really pale
pencil that makes really dark lines or a really small brush that makes
really broad strokes or a half-size bus that carries twice as many
passengers.....
Mani Deli
<ab...@whitehouse.gov> wrote:
>Genesis heat-set oils?
Has anyone here tried these? Opinions?
Andrew D
Clitoris <ab...@whitehouse.gov> wrote:
>In article <right-21070...@i172-006.nv.iinet.net.au>,
>right@the_end.of.my_tether says...
[snip]
>> Basically you want a fast-drying, slow-drying paint that stays wet until
>> it dries so long as it doesn't dry until it's no longer required to be wet
>> - and not before?
>Genesis heat-set oils?
And I thought I was being facetious.... You may have a good point there.
Anyone used them?
Andy D