Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

MATERIALS & METHODS - Painting - Oil Painting - Binders and Diluents - Drying Oils - Linseed Oils

Characteristics - Painting Methods & Techniques - Materials and Equipment - Work Space & Storage - Manufacture of Pigments - Protection of the Picture

From: Kay, Reed. The Painter's Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.

Binders and Diluents
Sun-thickened oil
Since the twelfth century, sun-thickened oil has been made by exposing cold-pressed or refined linseed oil to the action of sun and air. The resulting product becomes partially oxidized and bleached, is thicker and more viscous, and dries more rapidly than does the original oil. When used in the diluent or painting medium, it gives a honeylike consistency to the paint and a characteristic quality to the brush stroke and tends as well to retain the surface textures of the paint films. It may be bought in an art supply store or made in the studio in the following way:

Pour cold-pressed linseed oil into a shallow porcelain-finished pan to a depth of about one-half inch. Cover the pan with a sheet of glass raised on blocks in order to keep out dirt and admit air at the same time

Leave the pan on the roof or on a window ledge where the oil will be exposed to the sun for about two or three weeks. Stir the oil every day or so to prevent the formation of a skin. After the oil has become sufficiently thick, filter out any dust or any mucilaginous precipitation through filter paper or fine cheesecloth. [p. 34]

[Kay, Reed. The Painter's Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.]







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