The New Oil Painting: Your Essential Guide to Materials and Safe Practices

By Kimberly Brooks

Here is everything you need to know about getting into oil painting—and maintaining a safe, solvent-free oil painting practice—in a slim, sophisticated guide.

Oil painting is an exciting and adventurous medium, but aspiring artists can feel daunted by complex setups and the thought of using harsh chemicals. All of that changes now. The New Oil Painting walks you step-by-step through oil painting fundamentals—which materials you actually need, how to mix paint, how to set up your painting space—and, most revolutionary of all, how to eliminate harmful solvents from your work and replace them with safe, effective substitutes. This instructional handbook is organized into chapters with helpful diagrams throughout illustrating various techniques and tools. Whether you're a true beginner or have been painting with oils for years, you will find that this book has everything you need to build a new, thriving, toxin-free practice.

• UNIQUE APPROACH: Not only does this book help aspiring artists build a repertoire of skills and materials, it also offers all artists, regardless of their experience levels, methods for eliminating solvents and other toxic substances from their oil painting practices. What was once a dangerous pastime is now a guilt-free, health-conscious, and rewarding activity. And using safe, nontoxic materials is better for the environment!
• LONG-TERM USE: Good art instruction can deliver over a long period of time, and this handy guide is no exception. Along with being able to use this as an entryway into oil painting, you can also use it for reference or reread sections when you need a brushup.
• EXPERT AUTHOR WITH IMPRESSIVE CREDENTIALS: Painter Kimberly Brooks was the founding arts editor at Huffington Post. As a painter, she exhibits her work frequently throughout the United States and was a featured artist with the National Endowment for the Arts. She has led oil painting workshops, and now she shares her vast knowledge of the subject in this accessible and comprehensive handbook.

Perfect for:

• Artists and art aspirants interested in exploring a new medium
• Experienced oil painters looking to eliminate solvents from their practices
• Painting students and teachers

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chronicle Books Digital
• Release date: May 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781797200675

Kimberly Brooks

Kimberly Brooks is a contemporary American painter who lives and works in Los Angeles. The New Oil Painting is her first book.

Book preview

To my students, all artists, and anyone who has ever felt the urge to paint.

See Newoilpaintingbook.com/extra to access supplementary videos for this book.

Copyright © 2021 by Kimberly Brooks.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available.

ISBN 978-1-7972-0067-5 (epub, mobi)

ISBN 978-1-4521-8479-1 (paperback)

Design by Kayla Ferriera.

Chronicle books and gifts are available at special quantity discounts to corporations, professional associations, literacy programs, and other organizations. For details and discount information, please contact our premiums department at [e-mail] or at 1-800-759-0190.

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www.chroniclebooks.com

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION • 8

WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY NEED SOLVENTS? 8

HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED 10

UNDERSTANDING YOUR MATERIALS

Your Space • 14

EASELS 17

Paint • 18

PIGMENT 20

BINDER 20

ADDITIVES 20

A BRIEF HISTORY OF PIGMENTS 22

OPACITY & TRANSLUCENCY 25

OPAQUE & SEMIOPAQUE PAINTS 27

TRANSPARENT & SEMITRANSPARENT PAINTS 28

PIGMENTS THROUGH THE AGES 29

NATURAL PIGMENTS 31

MINERAL PIGMENTS 32

MODERN PIGMENTS 33

WHITES & BLACKS 38

WHITES 38

LEAD WHITE 39

ZINC WHITE 40

TITANIUM WHITE 40

MIXING TRANSPARENT HUES WITH WHITE 40

BLACKS 41

IVORY BLACK 42

MARS BLACK 42

CHROMATIC BLACK 42

VAN DYKE BROWN 42

ROMAN EARTH BLACK 43

PAYNE’S GREY 43

TORRIT GREY 43

VANTABLACK 44

IF I HAD A MAGIC WAND . . . 46

HOW TO READ A PAINT TUBE 48

PIGMENT NAME & COLOR INDEX 49

VEHICLE/BINDER 49

LIGHTFASTNESS 50

SERIES NUMBER 50

OPACITY/TRANSPARENCY 51

SEAL OF APPROVAL OR CAUTION 51

CONGRATULATIONS! 53

SELECTED PAINT BRANDS 54

$$$ PREMIUM 54

$$ ARTIST GRADE 55

$ STUDENT GRADE 55

GREAT BEGINNER SETS 56

COLORS I LIKE TO HAVE AROUND 57

Mediums • 58

LINSEED OIL 61

REFINED LINSEED OIL 62

BODIED LINSEED OIL 62

BOILED LINSEED OIL 64

FIRE SAFETY FOR LINSEED OILS 64

LINSEED OILS 65

OTHER DRYING OILS 66

WALNUT OIL 67

SAFFLOWER OIL 67

POPPY OIL 68

CLOVE OIL 68

MAKING YOUR OWN MEDIUM 69

CALCITE/CHALK 70

CHALK, CALCITE & MARBLE DUST 72

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN PUTTY 72

ADDITIONAL ADDITIVES 74

SILICA 74

EGG 75

WAX 75

THIS IS ALL YOU NEED 76

PREMADE PUTTIES & GELS 77

CALCITE PUTTIES 77

IMPASTO MEDIUMS 78

PREMADE GELS 78

BEST PRACTICES FOR USING MEDIUMS 79

Solvents • 84

WHAT DO SOLVENTS DO? 86

ODORLESS MINERAL SPIRITS 88

OIL OF SPIKE LAVENDER 89

OIL OF ROSEMARY 90

SOLVENTS 90

WATER-MIXABLE OIL PAINTS 92

Brushes • 96

BRISTLE VERSUS HAIR 102

CHIP BRUSHES 103

Palettes • 104

PALETTE SURFACES 105

GLASS 105

PALETTE PAPER 106

WOOD 106

PALETTE KNIVES 107

Surfaces • 108

COMMON SUBSTRATE MATERIALS 111

LINEN 112

MOTHER-CHILD REUNION 112

COTTON 113

PANEL 113

THE ANATOMY OF AN OIL PAINTING 114

SIZING 115

RABBIT SKIN GLUE 115

PVA SIZING: THE MODERN SOLUTION 115

GROUND 116

HISTORICAL GESSO 116

ACRYLIC GESSO 116

ALKYD-BASED GESSO 117

OIL (LEAD-FREE) OR LEAD GROUND 117

OIL VERSUS ACRYLIC: THE GOLDEN RULE 118

STRETCHED CANVAS DEPTH 119

PANEL 119

UNSTRETCHED CANVAS 119

ORIENTATION & PROPORTION 120

CUSTOM-MADE STRETCHER BARS & PANELS 121

PAPER & CANVAS PADS 122

PREMADE CANVASES & PANELS 123

PREMADE CANVASES & PANELS 124

PAPER & CANVAS PADS 125

Digital Technology • 126

THE INTERNET 128

SOCIAL MEDIA 128

PHOTOSHOP 129

Non–Art Store Supplies • 130

COFFEE TINS & MASON JARS 131

PLASTIC SQUIRT BOTTLES 132

HAMMER & NAILS 132

STOOL, LADDER, CHAIR 133

RAGS 133

PAPER TOWELS 134

PLASTIC CUPS & CONTAINERS WITH LIDS 135

CHOPSTICKS 136

SHOEBOXES & STORAGE CUBES 136

INSTRUMENT TRAY 137

WHITE ARTIST’S MASKING TAPE 137

GLOVES 138

APRON OR WORK OUTFIT 138

CHECKLIST 139

BEST PRACTICES

Setting the Table • 142

Tone Your Canvas First • 146

Color Mixing Golden Rules • 150

TOOLS FOR COLOR MIXING: 152

LAY OUT YOUR TUBES OF PAINT IN RAINBOW ORDER. 152

ORGANIZE YOUR COLORS ON THE PALETTE. 153

WORK OUT YOUR PALETTE BEFORE YOUR BRUSH HITS THE CANVAS. 153

USE A PROPER PALETTE KNIFE. 153

AVOID CONTAMINATION. 154

COLOR MIXING PYRAMID METHOD. 154

SAVE YOUR UNUSED COLOR. 155

Light over Dark, Fat over Lean • 156

LIGHT OVER DARK 157

FAT OVER LEAN 158

Think in Three Dimensions • 160

Studies & Maquettes • 164

Cleaning Brushes • 168

BRUSH CLEANER 171

SLOW-DRYING OILS 171

VEGETABLE OIL 171

SOAP 172

NONOILY BRUSH CLEANERS 172

CLEANING BRUSHES, STEP-BY-STEP 173

STEP 1 173

STEP 2 173

STEP 3 174

STEP 4 174

STEP 5 175

AFTER CLEANING BRUSHES 175

Storing Your Work • 176

Framing & Painting the Sides • 180

Documentation • 184

Varnishing • 188

VARNISHING DOS 191

VARNISHING DON’TS 192

VARNISH 193

Safety • 194

MIXING YOUR OWN PAINTS 196

DISPOSAL 197

Art Is Love • 198

GLOSSARY • 200

RESOURCES • 205

BIBLIOGRAPHY • 206

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS • 209

ABOUT THE ARTIST • 211

INDEX • 212

Painting is like a thread that runs through all the reasons for all the other things that make one’s life.

—GEORGIA O’KEEFFE

There is no science without fancy and no art without fact.

—VLADIMIR NABOKOV

INTRODUCTION

What, you must be wondering, could possibly be new about oil painting?

What could be new about this centuries-old art that requires no screen or electricity to make or enjoy? What could be new about a medium so seductive that many who try it just once will decide instantly that it is how they want to spend the rest of their lives?

Too many oil painters don’t really know much about the materials they’re using or why they’re using them. They assume they need paint, canvas, linseed oil, and some kind of solvent to thin the paint. Too often, selecting the right materials is a hit-or-miss proposition. Some experiment with the oddly named items on the shelves. Many artists intuit which colors and mediums to use and eventually learn only by trial and error. That’s about it.

I remember the first time I ever painted in oil as if it were yesterday. Already an avid artist who had worked with pencil, pen, and watercolor and had dabbled in acrylics, I was initially hesitant to use the medium for two reasons. First, I put it on a pedestal, as if one needed special permission to try it. Second, I knew it involved materials that were somehow dangerous. But I couldn’t resist and did it anyway. And as soon as I did, I knew that I would be using this medium for the rest of my life.

After twenty-five years, I revere the medium even more, but regarding solvents, I only wish I had known then what I know now.

The pigments in paints are the same regardless of medium, whether oil, watercolor, gouache, pastel, or acrylic. Oil paint is not inherently dangerous unless ingested. I could also argue that using oil paint might even be better for the environment as it will less likely end up being washed down the drain, which is so often the case with water-friendly mediums. The problem is that so many people have been taught that in order to paint with oil, they need solvent, both to thin the paint and to clean the brushes. Only they don’t.

WHY DO PEOPLE THINK THEY NEED SOLVENTS?

There are so many reasons. Misconceptions about the lost techniques of the old masters contributed. One of those supposed lost techniques was adding resins for glazing, a unique feature of oil painting that allows the artist to put one translucent layer of color over another. Resins, such as damar, come in the form of crystals and require solvents to dissolve them. Beginning in the nineteenth century, incorporating resins (tacky, shiny, fast-drying additives) had become de rigueur. And now solvents are too often incorrectly considered vital to thin oil paint regardless of whether or not resins are present.

After years of research and experimentation; consultations with modern experts, chemists, and conservators; and investigations of the methods of many painters who lived hundreds of years ago, I learned and confirmed that commonly used stearates, driers, solvents, and resins are unnecessary. More importantly, they’re not good for us.

The New Oil Painting connects artists with the materials they use every day, the ones they should avoid, and the ones they should consider. Giving artists the sunlight of modern science will only help them become even better painters.

The New Oil Painting is not about technique. It is not about art history, composition, or how to make a sunset glow. It is about all the things we use to make the magic happen. It is both a reference manual and a survival guide, intended for experienced oil painters and for new painters who are approaching the art for the first time. I draw equally from ancient manuscripts, modern chemistry, and the history of materials, and show how things have changed and stayed the same.

HOW THIS BOOK IS ORGANIZED

The first part of the book, Understanding Your Materials, covers the history, chemistry, and properties of pigments and mediums; explores the tools the artist needs to obtain (both in and beyond art stores) for oil painting; and includes some of the great manufacturers making materials today. In the chapter on mediums, I disclose the radically simple ingredients needed to make your own mediums and steps to take