How do you use painting medium?
 

When I was in school, I was taught to mix painting medium with the paint on the palette. I have, on occasion, read that medium should be applied to the canvas, then painted over. Yesterday I found a painting demonstration that urged painters to return to the lost technique of applying the medium to the dry canvas (or dry underpainting), and then painting wet on wet into it.

Do any of you use this technique? It seems logical to me. I am not painting yet, but I want to know these things in advance.

Here's the demo:

http://studioproducts.com/demo/demo.html

After having been subjected, in training and in the real afterworld, to all manner of recipes for mediums

Hi Jeff,

It's been a while since you have posted anything. I thought about you the other day and, "Aha! I bet Jeff is starting to paint and is VERY busy!! " Looks like you are getting closer.

I went to the Cennini Art Forum and saw the article and that there is a video of this type of painting. It sounds very interesting, especially since I struggle to squint and get the masses set before drawing detail. The life drawing and portrait drawing classes are helping me to work from the outside in, buiding detail later in the drawing. This is so against how I taught myself to draw portraits. A kind of starting at square one for me. And at my age!

Nice to see your post, hope to see some drawings you have completed lately as I always enjoy your work.

Following your pencil...
Pat

The medium is the message,
 

The subject of mediums is very tricky as alluded to by Steven. Mediums cannot draw, paint or compose. The hand of the artist controlling the brush determines the outcome of the picture.

It's been recently confirmed through rigorous scientific testing that painters before the 18th century used nothing but linseed and walnut oils. No secret mediums were employed. As a result their paintings have fared far better against the ravages of time than did much of the works that followed.

There is a lot of controversy concerning Studio Products and the claims they make. Both pro and con. I would caution against blindly following what manufacturers claim to be THE answer since their prime motivation remains fiscal health.

The other thing I caution against is following rules that contain admonitions such as always and must . There is no right way to apply paint. Any artist that thinks their way of paint application is the only correct way, is mistaken. This is the one area where the individuality of the artist can manifest and helps distinguish inherent uniqueness.

Mediums serve many functions. They alter the drying time of paints (slower and faster). They also can change the consistency of the paint by making it more transparent, translucent, stickier and/or smoother flowing.

Some of what we call mediums are simply just oils added to the paint. Some are combinations of various additions to the oil such as varnishes, synthetic resins, solvents and just about anything else imaginable.

The choices of appropriate pigments can somewhat mitigate their need. For example flake white dries quickly and may not be the best choice to keep a painting open longer. (titanium dries far more slowly).

The idea of painting over a medium can be tricky resulting in a fatter layer. However judiciously rubbing a little oil into dry paint film will decrease the sinking in of darks and allow the paint a little more flow with less drag.

Certain applications such as glazing and scumbling require more medium since the paint needs to be veil-like for these to succeed. Anyone who says that it is wrong to have oil mixed in with the paint has never had the opportunity to create paintings like Bouguereau, who used scumbling to create his luminous flesh.

Keep in mind that too much medium in all of your layers will lead to a much weaker paint film.

The bottom line is figure out what you want to achieve, pick appropriate whites for your technique and keep the KISS philosophy in your mind at all times.

Good luck!

Jeff, I agree with Messrs. Steven and Marvin - the subject of mediums is fraught with opinion and contention, and it's also easy to get a desired result using any number of methods.

I use Maroger because it enables me to more easlily achieve a luminous tonal effect with subtle edges. I can also throw around some painterly brushwork if I want to, and I usually want to do that - the luminosity AND the painterliness - all in the same painting. (But that's my own taste in painting.)

I apply a thin layer of Maroger every morning before I begin to work, and then I apply another layer of paint, scumbling over the surface. The surface is usually dry the next day and I work over it again and again... . Is this "better" than my alla prima work? To tell you the truth, I don't know for sure, but I have really come to love working this way.

For example, the attached painting reflects at least 15 coats of paint on the face. My paintings are done on panels and I'm not worrying about cracking or layer separation, unless somebody can give me a convincing reason to do so.

"Jolie", 20" x 16", Oil on panel

It's so good to have this forum for those of us just beginning our journey into painting. Thank you Steven, Marvin, Linda for your perspectives, it helps me remember there are no secret formulas but many approaches suited to varying tastes and personalities.

Every day is an education for me on this forum.
Thank you!

I had to re-read my post. I never claimed that there was a big secret, although the demonstration I cited claims that the method had been largely abandoned because of the influence of the Impressionists.

All I wanted to know was whether this is a traditional use of medium, and whether anyone here does it that way.

In a parallel universe somewhere, there's a guy posting a question about sight-size painting, only to be chastised by responses urging him to avoid so-called "secrets of the masters".

If I haven't learned it yet, it's still a secret to me.

I know how you feel, bro. I haven't had that feeling here yet, thank God/the Buddha/Mohammed. But I have had that feeling other places. I think it's often due to the difficulties in conveying intention/meaning via the written word, and also sometimes due to the rather strong predjudices and opinions many accomplished artists hold.

When I first started drawing in pastel I had someone YELL at me in all caps to "STOP SMUDGING IMMEDIATELY!", as if my children would certainly be born naked, bald-headed, and unable to speak the Queen's English. Artists, I am learning, are an opinionated lot. Not as bad as pilots, who will fist-fight over 'power v.s. pitch'. But still very opinionated. :D

Most folks mean well, though. And I usually learn much, even when my original question is misconstrued or otherwise unanswered.

Minh

The more you read about the use of mediums the more you'll find that there are as many approaches as there are artists.

I trust the input of artists like Virgil Elliott who work with the ASTM, studying longevity of artists materials. He recommends a philosophy of "less is more" with mediums. Fewer extraneous ingredients and less of whatever you do use. He especially cautions against including any varnish in the paint layers which causes dramatic darkening over time (and that includes all the mastic varnish in the Maroger's).

I use paint and a bit of linseed sometimes. That's it. I can paint alla prima, glaze or scumble with different proportions of oil and paint, but either way, I don't use much linseed.

I will sometimes rub a very thin layer of it into any sunken in darks and then wipe much of it off. It does restore the gloss and depth of color in the darks and it allows me to blend wet edges, but I use this technique only once in a while.

Jeff,

You are right, the site did imply this was some "great" way to process through a portrait painting. They sucked me in until I read the posts here. Some days (most days, I'll admit) I feel like a boat adrift needing direction.

Oh, and since no one's yet weighed in on the actual question:

I started lubing the canvas prior to painting into it last Winter, as opposed to mixing the Maroger into the paint like David Leffel teaches. But I only do it because that way the paint pile stays open and usable for a couple days if I cover and refrigerate it. An interesting side note (like you needed another one): I was told that Odd Nerdrum, Rembrandt's red-headed stepchild, grinds his medium into the paint or mixes it into the piles. He says "that's the way it has always been done".

But then again ... he's probably opinionated, too.

:D

Minh

For what it's worth ...

I use oil paint (of varying brands and denominations), odorless mineral spirits and linseed oil.

In the very early stages I may thin the oil with spirits to apply thin washes but from then on it's just paint and that perfect amound of linseed oil to create the consistency that I need for the particular passage I am working on.

I went through a stage of using Liquin but have abandoned it mostly for the sake of simplifying my ingredients. Also, I think it has made my hair start to fall out on top, gain unwanted pounds around the middle, and generally have less energy than I used to have.

If a thread goes south, it is surely a small effort for the originator of the topic to just say,

Peggy Baumgaertner, in her video series, rubs a little oil into the surface of her dry painting before adding the next layer of paint.

Soft edges by Michele
 

Hi Michele,

I hope you don't mind me quoting you from over half a year ago! I was reading through old posts after doing a search on scumbling and I came across this post.

I am wondering how you get your soft edges? I'm thinking specifically of your recent work "Flowergirl", the edges were so lovely and soft. Instead of me assuming I could know how you did this, could you explain your method of getting those soft edges? I would have thought you used lots of layers with linseed oil?

I am just starting a painting and I'm going to try out the 'layering' method, layer upon layer of scumbles over my 'underpainting'. So, before I start my scumbling, I'm reading about how it's done.

Any information is greatly appreciated,

Thank you,

Joan

I do generally "oil out" dry paint layers with a 50/50 mixture of linseed and mineral spirits nowadays, and wipe as much of it off as I can. Then I put on the new layer of paint.

I "oil out" mostly so the old colors come up to their original saturation. Then I can match the new colors to the old paint more accurately.

Then I paint on the new layer and blend one color into another with a fuzzy old sable brush, and then go over it with a synthetic fan blender, to get the soft edges. I put relatively thin layers of paint on the canvas (compared to what I used to, anyway!) because thick paint is much harder to blend.

Most parts of my paintings typically have one to four layers of paint on them by the time I'm done.

Oiling out
 

Thank you Michele for your thorough answer. I just learned a tough lesson when I put too much paint on my last portrait. It was very hard to blend, what a mess, so I scraped that off after working on it for 2-3 days. So now I'm experimenting with thin layers.

I've read a lot of posts about 'oiling out' and I am wondering why use the linseed oil and the mineral spirits instead of just straight linseed oil?

Of course, when I went to the art supply store to buy linseed oil last week they had cold pressed linseed oil and refined linseed oil! So I came home and found a post by Marvin about what the heck the difference is. After learning what the difference was I am prepared to go buy the cold pressed linseed oil. Should I be mixing it with mineral spirits? Hmm.

Thanks again,

Joan

You want as little linseed as possible in your paintings, to minimize yellowing. Just enough to have good binding with the pigments.

Oiling out with 50/50 linseed and mineral spirits helps me keep the oil layer thin, as the mineral spirits just evaporate away.

Ah-ha!
 

Michele,

Now I get it!

Thank you,

Joan

I've read time and again that traditional Maroger medium (aka megilp) has serious problems over time, notably a tendency to darken unpredictably as a result of the "black oil" (linseed oil cooked with lead) component and a proneness to cracking because of the mastic element. Apparently, artists began to be aware of the drawbacks well over a hundred years ago and its use was largely abandoned. (I got most of this from Ralph Mayer's "Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques") In spite of the negative info, though, a number of current artists, yourself and David Leffel among them, seem to embrace it. Am I missing something? I know that modern substitutes are available, Gamblin makes one, as does Schmincke. Is that what you are using, or are you sticking with the original?

William, who are you addressing when you refer to "you" in your question. If you mean me, I don't use Maroger for the reasons you mention. I use linseed mixed with OMS.

William, Maroger use is heatedly debated on other on-line Forums, notably the Studio Products "Cennini Forum". You can find many arguments along these lines at www.studioproducts.com.

Michele and Linda,
I was actually trying to reply to an old post of Linda's where she spoke of using Maroger. After reading much of what has been posted here and on the studioproducts.com site (a much less civil site than this one), I confess that I'm more confused than ever. In addition, now I'm growing wary of using alkyd materials! As with too many issues today, the false and unsubstantiated info seems to get equal time with the well-researched and tested, and pretty soon nothing is clear, you don't know what to trust, and people are just arguing with each other. Help!

In my day job, there are MSDS's (Material Safety Data Sheets) available on every chemical (even some wood) we use. I'm sure that you can find the same info on any medium for painting. If it isn't readily available, one could probably contact the maker and request one. I think it is law that they have to have this info available. Of course, this info does not tell you what will happen to the product a hundred years from now. However, as much as I love painting, I value my own longevity over the longevity of anything I produce.

As far as what will last, what will yellow, what will darken, what will crack, I am taking the safe route and using the "less is more" approach to mediums. If I were really concerned about getting the most accurate information I could about this, I suppose I would go talk to a Preservationist or Painting Restorer working for a Museum. Short of doing that, I've been watching and listening around here and I've chosen who to listen to and whose opinions to trust.

I had never heard of "oiling out" until I found this forum. I'm going to try it, ala the Michele Rushworth method. (I don't like to be bothered with mixing my paint with medium, anyway.)

Or you could talk to the people who talk to those people. I use Gamblin products because the people at that company work closely with the conservators at the National Gallery/Smithsonian. That's good enough for me.

And I do trust your knowledge and opinions, Michele. :)