28/08/13 10:13 PMMichael Harding

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Painting Mediums and Recipes

Sun Thickened Linseed Oil

Knowing how to make and use this oil medium is probablythe greatest secret a painter can learn. It is truly remarkablestuff, and yet it can be made easily by artists with minimalcost and effort. Before I tell you how to make it, I have toextol its virtues, because if you understand and learn toappreciate its potential it will have a profound effect onyour paintings. I cannot emphasise this enough. It willallow you to form a glaze to stretch out colour without itever breaking or failing. It can mix with your paint to formsuch a delicate and fine layer that the colour reduces to apoint where your eye can no longer be sure it’s actuallythere. Or to put it another way, imagine creating a shadowon the side of a face with burnt umber, which you want itto fade very softly at the edge where it meets normal light.Linseed oil mixed with colour will allow you to fade it in awonderfully controlled way, without the colour smudgingto nothing on the canvas or, as may be the case, onto thedried paint of the cheek below your shadow. It also speedsup the drying of all paint and mediums with which it isused.

What you will need:

1 cooking pan, measuring 10 x 7 or 7/8” and about 4inches deep (do in metric too please.)1 glass sheet, slightly bigger than the pan4 pieces of wood - matchsticks are ideal_ Litre or _ pint Linseed oil

Method

Take a litre or so of refined linseed oil and pour it in ametal tray. Enamel cooking ones are ideal. Pour enough oilin to create a depth of half an inch (12mm). You will needa glass sheet slightly bigger than the pan to cover it over.Place 4 small pieces of wood (discarded matches are ideal)

28/08/13 10:13 PMMichael Harding

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to act as spacers so the glass sheet is slightly lifted off thecooking pan. This allows the passage of air and keeps mostairborne rubbish out, although any errant flies will have tobe removed by the butler! Leave it in a window in directsun light and stir or whisk it every other day for a minute orso, just as you would eggs. This will aerate it, and you willfind after 10-15 days it is becoming thicker and moregloopy in texture. The longer you continue the process thethicker the texture will become. The density of the textureis a matter of personal preference. The thicker the viscositythe greater the handling power and it is something you willhave to explore until you decide what is best for you.

The best general all purpose glaze

A

Damar Varnish - 1 part (15%)Stand Oil - 1 part (15%) or sun thickened (sun-thickened oil will do even better)Pure Gum Turpentine - 5 parts (70%)

B

Damar Varnish - 1 part (33%)Stand Oil - 1 part (33%) (sun-thickened oil will doeven better)Pure Gum Turpentine - 5 parts (33%)Cobalt Drier - 12 drops (optional not recommended)

Gum Damar: is very simple and much more economical tomake yourself than to buy. Damar resin is tapped from thedamar fir tree mainly in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.It comes in lump form and dissolves in gum turpentine.You simply wrap the resin lumps in a white cotton cloth(tied with string) and soak in turpentine for about 24 hours.The resin dissolves leaving the dirt and foreign bodieswithin the cloth. The medium then must be stored incontainers that do not allow the passage of light as this willresult in yellowing and cloudiness because of the water thatis naturally present.

Pure Gum (Portuguese) Turpentine (Pinus Maritima): Thisis the purest form of turpentine. It is extracted fromPortuguese marine pine trees and is the least prone of allturpentines to oxidise. It is also the closest equivalent to theold turpentine traditionally used.

Ordinary Turpentine: Hardware shop grade for decoratinguse is not really good enough for artistic works.

Cold Pressed Linseed Oil: A yellow/brown oil which isextracted without the use of heat. In its unrefined form itwill exaggerate yellowing in paintings. It is used to reduce

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the consistency of oil colours, increase gloss, flow andtransparency, whilst reducing brush marks. The furtherrefinement of this oil creates refined linseed oil - which iswhat we use in the making of Michael Harding artist oilpaint.

Recipes for fast-drying painting mediums

A

3 egg yolk1 part stand oil1 part damar

B

1 egg yolk1 part stand oilN.B. Egg yolk is one of the most ancient andpermanent materials.

Method

Wash your hands before you start the process. Separate theyoke from the white by gently passing the yoke from onehand to the other - discard the white. Place the yoke in aclean small jar. Puncture the yoke; mix stand oil in drop bydrop stirring into emulsion vigorously.

Recipes for slow-drying painting mediums

Poppy Oil: will keep pale colours from yellowing, but doesnot have the physical strength of linseed oil and shouldonly be used in moderation for finishing off layers of paint.It will keep pale colours bright and clear.