I think I’ve come to the end of my very brief love affair with oil paints. I feel like we were pressured into dating by well-meaning mutual friends, had an astonishingly great second date, and then the whole thing just fell apart soon afterwards and we realized we were better off as friends (I think you still owe me money, though). I wonder if acrylics will take me back…
In all seriousness, it’s not as if I don’t like this painting (poor photography aside – fresh oils are a bitch to photograph). It’s just… lacking in oomph. And maybe it’s a little overcooked.
Well, it had to happen eventually: I finally conducted an experiment that ended up being a near-total failure. This one definitely put the PAIN in painting.
We have two bottles of oil (both Holbein products) that go with our Holbein water-soluble oil paints. The first one contains linseed oil (which I have used with some success), but the other contains a darker liquid, and it’s called “Painting Oil Medium – Water Soluble Blending Oil”. This confused me somewhat because that sounded an awful lot like what linseed oil was supposed to do. Were these products interchangeable, then? Short answer: NO.
First of all, even with proper ventilation, this stuff REALLY stinks… which kind of defeats the whole point of using non-toxic water-soluble oil paints, no? Secondly, it didn’t deliver on its promise of being a blending oil. Oh sure, it extended the paint somewhat, at first… and then it started to clot and gunk up on my palette. Behold the beautiful results above!
Anyways, between the smell and the clumping, I ended up rushing through the painting. My only goal was to approximate a portrait, then get it downstairs to off-gas in my garage as quickly as possible.
Oh, did I mention that I chose to paint on an ultra-smooth panel? Well, guess what? I now know that oil paint doesn’t like being scraped across ultra-smooth panels! Who knew?
On the plus side, I do like the unfinished clothing and the eggshell white background.
I must be a sucker for punishment because I opted to try another oil painting tonight. Overall, the results are much better, and unlike the last one (which I pretty much SOAKED in linseed oil – because what do I know about oil painting, right?), this painting might actually dry sometime this century!
What chuffs me about this painting:
it kinda reminds me of a mid-century pin-up
What bums me about this painting:
the hair is a little too unfinished, but maybe I should’ve thought of that before I chose to copy a picture of a woman with wild hair, and so much of it!
List some teachable moments:
don’t expect oil colour and acrylic colour to behave the same way! Maybe it’s just the brand I use, but I really hate their cadmium red (to be fair, it is a cadmium red hue). It’s a fluffy, candy red that I find very difficult to control.
still trying to figure out how to make a brilliant white highlight with oils. If anyone has any tips, please share!!
Anything else to share with the class?
I listened to a collection of Stars tracks on CBC Radio 3 while I painted this. Just FYI.
Face Study no.6 – acrylic and water-soluble oil on panel, 6″ x 8″
You read that right, folks -“acrylic AND water-soluble oils”. Now, I wouldn’t normally do this, but according to the information pamphlet that came with our set of Holbein Duo Aqua Oils, mixing these paints with acrylics is perfectly fine. They blended together on the palette just fine, and adhered to the panel just fine, too. So far, everything is FINE.
But if this painting eventually ends up flaking and sliding right off the canvas, I promise you: the good people at Holbein can look forward to some scathing hate mail from yours truly. I shall keep you informed.
Just kidding! I actually really, really wanted to experiment, especially after my disappointment with using oils for September 10th. I was really keen to find out if adding some water-soluble oils to acrylic would help with extending the “open” time, and thus allow me to get that coveted “wet-in-wet” look that always seems just beyond my grasp… and not give me an “oil paint smell” headache while I’m doing it.
Unfortunately, given the time and opportunity, I just went right back to my detail-oriented, dry brush, nit-picky ways. So my results are, uh… inconclusive.
What I like about this painting:
all those shifting colours in her fleshtones
all the “unfinished” bits – her hair, her fuzzy sweater
What I like less:
the “lineart”, which for some reason I just keep adding even though it doesn’t often work
What I learned from this painting:
I concentrate SO HARD on the eye that’s in the light, and tend to fudge and slur my way through the eye that’s in shadow. This is becoming a habit.
re: mixing water-soluble oils with acrylics – I thought it best not to use linseed oil, so I used only a little water to help extend the paint. As it dried (and if it was scraped thinly enough across my palette, it most certainly did), as some reviewers have pointed out, it would also become a little sticky
speaking of my palette, I have yet to clean it. I think this is where the [water-soluble oils/acrylics mix] is going to hit the fan, if you catch my meaning.
We have a set of Holbein Duo Water-Soluble Oils that have been sitting around since, oh, forever. I decided to give them a go even though I have practically ZERO experience with oil paints. You can see where this is going…
I should ‘fess up right now that today is my husband’s birthday, and at this moment, I am full of roast beef, wine, sweet potato, wine, chocolate cake, and wine. Also, wine. Talk about the WORST time to close yourself up in a small room and fiddle with art supplies that give off headache-inducing fumes. But, oh… I SO wanted to get that fat, buttery, wet-in-wet oil paint look.
And I kinda, sorta, in some way succeeded… I think.. maybe? There are parts where there’s clearly too much linseed oil, and I didn’t approach the picture with much confidence and it shows. Perhaps it’s just a question of more practice… and nose plugs… ok, and maybe less wine.
What I’m happy with:
I’m just thankful that the painting is not a big blob of formless goo
What I’m less happy with:
believe it or not, the whole wet-in-wet thing got REALLY ANNOYING REALLY FAST. After the first few confident strokes, it was a real letdown to realize that any little accidental smudge after that meant that you’d have to do the whole area over again. And how the Hell do you put white highlights on a surface that’s so slippery?
What I learned with this painting:
that I really, really, REALLY love having control and painting this way with oils gives you as much control as herding stoned cats.
EMMA PITTSON 