GrahamPaints

[Bernard Victor]

Does anyone have experience of these walnut oil based paints. How do they
compare with water soluble oils like W&N Artisan.

[Marc Sabatella]

"Bernard Victor" <bsvi...@onetel.net.uk> wrote:

Well, they are much more comparable to other traditional oil paints than
to any water soluble oil paints. That is, the consistency, the way they
can be thinned or otherwise modified with mediums, the way they handle,
the way they clean up, etc. They actually handle better, I think, than
most other oils, at least for alla prima work as I do - it is easier to
cleanly lay wet over wet using these paints than W&N or others I've
tried. And supposedly the pigment load is unusually high. The only
drawback is the longer drying time, although you can address this by
using the alkyd white they also produce, or using their alkyd medium. I
use the alkyd white, and paintings are dry to the touch in around a
week - sometimes a little less or a little more, depending on how thick
I painted and what pigments predominate. Without the alkyd, it's always
at least a week.

The only real point of comparison with water soluble oils is that
MGraham promotes the idea of not using solvent with their paints - you
clean up using walnut oil, and well, you just don't "thin" your paints
(you can make them more fluid by adding walnut oil, but that's not the
same as thinning with solvent). And this *does* work, although it takes
a little getting used to. I'm quite happy painting this way, and it's
been a year since I've even looked at a jar of solvent.

But there is actually nothing magic about MGraham paints in this
respect. You can use any oil paint in this solvent free manner. I
suppose walnut oil is a bit more fluid than linseed oil, and assuming
there is some reason to have your medium be the same as the binder for
the paint itself, that might be a reason why this technique works better
with walnut oil & walnut oil paints. but I know people who do this
using orindary oil paints and linseed oil. Actually, any oil can be
used in cleanup - including cheap grocery store vegetable oil - but you
don't want to use anything like that as a painting medium, as it won't
dry. And if you do use it to clean your brushes, you'd better wash it
out of brushes well with soap and water before painting again.

--------------
Marc Sabatella
ma...@outsideshore.com

The Outside Shore
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