Adventures in Paint & Pastel
Posted on 1/3/2015 12:52:41 PM
By Sharon Will
18 Comments
Antique Treasures 10" x 8" plein air oil
My early painting training began in painting the figure with traditional oils for several years. But after taking a pastel class, I was hooked and worked exclusively in pastel for the next 25 years. Reaching an artistic plateau with pastel, (the plateau was not with the versatile pastel medium, but with myself) I decided to return to my first love of oil. Even thought I loved the smell of turpentine, knew I wanted to avoid the potential harmful fumes this time around, which are there even with the odorless turpentines. So began my journey with water soluble oils. I first considered Grumbacher Max. Someone at the time had mentioned they didn't care for the texture and felt they were a student grade. So honestly I never tried them. Sorry Grumbacher! That said, this is not a scientific comparison of all the available w/s oils on the market, rather my personal experience and journey with them.
I then purchased Winsor Newton's Artisan water mixable oils. I used them for a while, enjoying their texture. They are reasonably priced with Hues rather than pure Cadmiums, but they do have pure Cerulean and Cobalts. I found the tinting strength to be week in many of the colors. It seemed I had to add allot of pigment to change a value, temperature or intensity of a color. That alone was my deciding factor to try another brand. But I do enjoy the W/N water mixable painting medium even now as well as their varnishes. I like the synthetic mediums without the Linseed oil or varnishes without Damar, which can lead to yellowing over time. Though I would not recommend their "fast drying medium." While using it on a warm summer day doing plein air, it virtually was drying on the spot, but going through a very sticky stage making it impossible to paint with.
So on to Duo by Holbein. Having more of a selection with Cadmiums/Cobalts, as well as the Hues for cost considerations. I am happy with their texture and tinting strength, (although the Cad Yellow Deep Hue seems a bit weak.) I should say here that my palette is not one where I've tried every color they make. I routinely use a limited double primary palette: a warm and cool of each primary with Titanium White. (Like a Cadmium Red, Alizarin Crimson, Lemmon Yellow, Cadmium Yellow, Cobalt Blue and Ultramarine.) I do add some convenient colors such as Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Viridian, and an occasional Orange, Prussian Blue, Cad. Yellow Light or Rose Violet.
The Duo Titanium White does seem to have a stiffer texture than the other colors. So I add a couple drops of painting medium to the pile of white. It helps the texture as well as assuring a bit of gloss is added to each color as its mixed, avoiding a mat finish, which I'm not a fan of anyway.
Martin F. Weber Co. was nice enough to send me a couple tubes of their water mixable oils to try. I did like the texture, consistency and tinting strength of the two I tried. They are the best priced oils of all of them out there, with all Hues and no Cadmiums. Weber has the least selection and I was surprised to find they don't make a Titanium White. Perhaps its coming? I know in the time I've been using Holbein they have come out with many more colors.
I've heard about Royal Talens Cobra, but just recently had a chance to try it. Now I've only tried a Yellow Ochre so far, but if this color is any indication of the whole line, I have to say it is the softest texture of all the brands. No medium needed to create a creamy consistency with them. Their line offers pure Cadmiums/Cobalts but no Hues. All of the above brands of water soluble paints are available online through Dick Blick. The only other existing w/s that I'm aware of is by Daniel Smith, but like Grumbacher, I have not tried them.
I am sold on the water soluble oils. If there is any drawback, I find you can't get as fluid of an under painting wash as I did with traditional oils and turpentine. If you add too much water the pigment isn't disbursed evenly, but adding a bit of water soluble oil medium to it helps. When working with w/s oils, the same principle of "fat over lean" applies. Drying time varies with each color, just like with traditional oils. And clean up with soap and water on brushes, clothes and skin is a bonus! I put a drop or two of liquid soap in my water. It helps clean brushes off in between colors and when painting outdoors in winter, slows down the freezing of water. Most of the brands recommend if mixing traditional oils to the w/s , don't go more than 30% in order for the "water mixable" part to stay true. Today I'm enjoying working in both water soluble oils and pastels. If you have further experience with the water soluble oils, I'd love to hear from you!
P.S. For those working in traditional oils, here is a blog by Wonderstreet that has reviewed the main brands available on the market. It includes health conscious brands like M. Graham and Gamblin, which use solvent-free mediums.
