When painting with thick paint, when layers can be half an inch thick, it's important to have access to good quality, inexpensive paint. In a recent post several readers made comments that alerted me to sources of very inexpensive supplies. I checked the sources and discovered they were much cheaper than the supplies I have been using. I review these price saving sources and tips in the following video (with links below).Over time I will expand this blog entry to include other inexpensive painting supplies. I hope you will make comments and let me know of any alternative sources you may know about.
Inexpensive paints in tubes, jars, cans, and dry pigments: RGH Artist's Oils
Stretched canvases up to 30" x 40", gallery wrap in two thicknesses: Artist Brand Canvas
Canvas in rolls: Allens Canvas
G-gel, alkyd painting medium: Gamblin Colors
Burnt Plate Oil #8: Graphic Chemical
If you order from RGH Artist's Paints please mention my name. I appreciate your support.
Special thanks to Robert Britton, Jr., Robert Votch, Steve Ladd, and Mark Robison.
Brad Teare June 2013
Brad...I like jars too; they're easy to get paint out of and reuseable. They may not be as practical for plein aire work but I don't find tubes so easy to deal with either as their caps often leak linseed oil and the tin metal can be pinched & poked by anything sharp causing more mess. I learned the value of straight-sided jars during my buon fresco phase a few years ago, one can get every drop of pigment out of jars that don't have 'shoulders.'
ReplyDeleteI've been meaning to ask you about your increasing thicker work, does it ever dry? And how do you store it during the curing period?
No doubt, the straight sided jars are the way to go if you are using lots of paint.
DeleteRegarding drying, using thick paint does increase drying time. But my current gallery will take them as long as there is a dry film over the underlying wet paint. Shipping could be a problem but my gallery is within walking distance and I just carry the paintings over.
The underlying paint probably takes up to a year to completely dry.
Brad, Just wanted you to know that I did indeed order RGH paints after visiting your blog and they really are everything you said they would be. However did you know that when people mention you on their order you get 15% credit in paint for their order. Sooooo..... you have a credit coming. Thanks for your blog and helping out other artist... Kudos
DeleteI just made another order Angela and I got the discount because of you mentioning my name. Many thanks for the help!
DeleteBrad, thanks for the tip of the hat.
ReplyDeleteThere's some valuable info you have here. I keep my brushes in a jar with vegetable oil in it. It probably works just like Mineral Oil. The brushes, stored upright sit in about 1/2" of oil which helps the pigment to flow out of the brush. I try to keep the oil deep enough to come close to the ferrule but not much higher as I don't want it hitting the wood of the shaft of the brush. It's amazing how much additional pigment will fall out and the bristles aren't brittle afterwards.
I was curious, too, if you use driers or if the g-gel has a drier in it?
Yesterday, I just did my first painting with Walnut Oil. Loving it so far! Today, I'm going to see if the paint is still open. I have a little blending I need to do.
Thanks for the materials post. Quite informative and helpful!
I keep a mustard squeeze bottle of walnut oil near my easel to add to mounds of paint to give a more buttery consistency. I will definitely have to try the vegetable oil cleaner idea. I love not having to wash my brushes every session and my brushes are staying usable for years where before I had to buy new brushes quite frequently.
DeleteYour post got this whole discussion started for which I'm very grateful. I don't think I could have continued the abstract project without RGH Paints.
Are the brushes standing up on the bristles? Does this cause a problem? Also, any vegetable oil? the cheapest? and then do you do something special to get it out before painting again??
ReplyDeleteIt's just regular vegetable oil...Wessen. I clean the brushes with OMS and wipe first, then swirl them around vigorously on the bottom of the jar of vegetable oil to get the oil all over the bristles in every nook and cranny. Then I let them sit there overnight. A lot of the pigment just falls off. In the morning, I just swirl again, wipe with a towel, and your ready to go.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember where I learned of this from. Not sure. But it works great. Paul Strisik recommended soaking in Kerosene, a petroleum product that helps keep the brushes from being too brittle as well as cleaning. But I don't want that smell in my studio or toxicity.
Trust me...it works great! The bristles don't become distorted sitting up right in my experience btw...
Judy,
DeleteJust be sure to only do this with hog bristle bushes. Other types (sable, camel hair) will get pretty badly bent I would imagine.
To keep the bristles of any brush from bending at the bottom of a jar of oil or cleaner, a hard foam one-inch thick 'doughnut' circle can be shaped to fit snuggly at the top of the jar with slits cut into it and the brush handles fit into these slits, allowing the brush head to be suspended in the mineral oil so that the bristles never touch the bottom. The art store version is the metal container with the horizontal spring above which is supposed to hold the brush handle, but I found that the spring doesn't hold the hard slick wooden handle but instead 'squirts' the handle out of the holder. Any cheap cooking oil works fine but I like the clearest kind ( Mazolla ). My wife asks: " Where's that oil I just bought?"
Delete:) Funny, Steve, about the oil and the wife!
DeleteI tested my brushes first when I learned of this. I have hog hair (mostly) and some mongoose. I've not noticed any bending, but again, I would use what Steve recommends if you can. It's a good idea!
Lots of good tips today! I like the idea of using a roller for the couche. Thanks, Brad.
DeleteWhen printing a woodcut I used a brayer so it was natural to use it on the canvases when I needed an even layer. I find a very even layer is easier to paint into and will take a thicker stroke.
DeleteI use exclusively synthetic brushes. Some are as stiff as hog bristle (e.g., Princeton catalyst series), while others are less so. I use a small, inexpensive paint roller pan (from Lowe's, Home Depot, etc.) This way, the brushes recline horizontally in the oil with no pressure on their toes.
Delete-- Dave
That sounds like an excellent idea especially with the softer brushes.
DeleteBut wait, I'm worried about non-drying oils getting into my paintings. I have used baby oil (mineral oil) to "rinse" my brushes in, but if one were to paint with mineral oil the painting would never dry, right? So we need a way to really get ALL of the mineral or vegetable oil out of our brushes before we paint with them again. Anyone able to explain the chemistry of this to me? Thanks.
DeleteIT is ok to store your brushes in mineral spirits as well. I worked as a billboard painter for several years as my first job out of art school and it was a wonderful experience! By far my favorite of any 9-5 job I have had in my career! But what we did there was clean our brushed then wrap then in paper to protect the bristles and store the brush wrapped in paper in a bucket of paint thinner and they were always soft, clean and ready to go.
ReplyDeleteGood to know Kim. I checked out your work. Very nice! Those billboards you did are art works in their own right. Really amazing!
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