If oil paint was just now being invented, and had to sell itself to the marketplace as a new medium, it would probably have an incredibly difficult time – especially if we knew beforehand that its list of problems would include yellowing, cracking, wrinkling, flaking, embrittlement, hydrolysis, fatty acid crystallization, protuberances and delamination caused by … Read more
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Archive | Oils
It’s been a problem for a very long time. At least according to the historical record. Blotchiness. Sinking in. Dead spots. For oil painters these are well known terms, conjuring up images of skin disease as much as painted surfaces, but whatever words are used the implication is clear – it’s an undesirable nuisance; a loathsome … Read more
Oil painters concerned with fat over lean will often turn to information about the oil absorption values for particular pigments as a way to compare how oily or lean certain colors might be. However this has led to many misconceptions and outrightly wrong conclusions which seem to persist in various forums and articles. In what follows … Read more
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) recently published its final decision that Cadmium pigments will not be restricted in artist paints. You can read the entire document here: http://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=8530&lang=en In two previous issues of Just Paint we shared information concerning the possibility of Cadmium pigments being banned in artist paints. Just Paint Issue 4 (October 1996) … Read more
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From the earliest times, the darkest shades of natural brown earths, known as Umbers, have been a part of the artists’ palette. Ranging in tones from the greener Raw Umbers, which produce a range of neutrals when mixed with white, to the warmer, dark chocolate notes of Burnt Umbers, which create tans and tawny beiges … Read more
Changes are difficult. As much as you want decisions to be based on facts and facts alone, there is still a wrestling that can happen. Paints, and especially color, escape being easily tied down to just quantifiable clean choices. Rather, one can be caught having to choose between love and lightfastness, between beauty and … Read more
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Editor’s Note: Added April 26, 2022 For some time, our recommendation for artists using oils over acrylic has been to work over harder, matte acrylic surfaces and avoid working on softer gels and gloss products. Our intention was to optimize the level of adhesion that would be achieved on a toothier surface as well as … Read more
“Do you like oil paint?” It’s a seemingly, almost deceptively simple question, and one that I use at the start of almost every Williamsburg lecture and demo. It’s adapted from an anecdote in The Writing Life by Annie Dillard, where a young student, wanting to know if they could become a writer, is asked: “do … Read more
Williamsburg Handmade Oils announces the release of five Special Edition colors that continue to expand the range and options for oil painters. As mentioned previously in this edition of Just Paint, Williamsburg is proud to have one of the broadest variations of pigment grinds available in artist oil paints. This allows artists to determine what … Read more
A tube of paint is opened, pressure is applied, material comes out and it just works. It is this consistent function of a product that allows artists to focus on larger issues such as what to paint and how to achieve it. As both an artist and a Formulator, I am still amazed every time … Read more
