Blending skin tones in oil

[Josef Sy]

Hi Ruth,

I usually use fan sable brushes to blend. I have also use synthetic nylon brushes and they do a gret job too. A couple things to remember though when blending oil:

1. The paint being blended has to be lean enough. Too much oil or medium will cause the paint pigments to run around.

2. Make sure the brush used for blending is dry or has minimal oil, medium or turps in it.

3. Clean the blending brush between blends.

I hope this will help you.
Good luck.

[Ruth Monsell]

Originally Posted by Josef Sy

Hi Ruth,

I usually use fan sable brushes to blend. I have also use synthetic nylon brushes and they do a gret job too. A couple things to remember though when blending oil:

1. The paint being blended has to be lean enough. Too much oil or medium will cause the paint pigments to run around.

2. Make sure the brush used for blending is dry or has minimal oil, medium or turps in it.

3. Clean the blending brush between blends.

I hope this will help you.
Good luck.

I appreciate your suggestions so much, Josef! Many thanks. I will run out and buy a fan sable and some nylon brushes. When you say the brush needs to be dry, yet the paint lean, I'm a bit lost. Right now my surface is still semi-wet (yesterday tacky). Do I have to wait until it's dry to do more blending? How can the paint be lean yet have minimal turps or medium in it???

[Josef Sy]

Hi Ruth,

Lean paints means that they have minimal binders (or oil). It is paint straight out of the tube.

The more you add medium, the more washy it becomes (like watercolor) and it is harder to blend. Same thing happens if you add too much turps to the paint.

And the brush has to be dry means that there is more turps. You can try to experiement with this and you will see the difference. It will have a bleeding effect if you try to do it with a brush with turps in it.

And if the paint is tacky, its best to let it dry completely. If you try to blend, you might take off chunks of paint.

Hope I am helping than confusing you.

Regards,

[Ruth Monsell]

I immediately tried some of your suggestions and feel I made some real progress! Her cheeks and skin look much better blended now. Thanks for elaborating more on the meaning of lean, etc., too. I think I'm getting close to finishing this one now! Thanks again.
Ruth

Originally Posted by Josef Sy

Hi Ruth,

Lean paints means that they have minimal binders (or oil). It is paint straight out of the tube.

The more you add medium, the more washy it becomes (like watercolor) and it is harder to blend. Same thing happens if you add too much turps to the paint.

And the brush has to be dry means that there is more turps. You can try to experiement with this and you will see the difference. It will have a bleeding effect if you try to do it with a brush with turps in it.

And if the paint is tacky, its best to let it dry completely. If you try to blend, you might take off chunks of paint.

Hope I am helping than confusing you.

Regards,