Oil painting mediums

Donna T

Contributing Member
Messages
3,044
I'm wondering what, if any, mediums those of you who paint with oils use. I have Gamblin Solvent-free gel which I have used once or twice. It was good for loosening up the paint but it dried with such a shiny finish. I've been reading about Liquin and Neo Megilp and now I'm just confused. I'd love to hear what you like or don't like and why. Thank you!
 
Can’t help. I don’t use anything but cold wax and I use it as it makes the paint less sticky and it cures faster with a matte finish. I might add I use more than they recommend as well and I paint on paper when they suggest it should be used on board. That said, my paper stays straighter than some of the panels I’ve used. You could perhaps add some wax to your medium on a test piece to see how much gloss it takes away.
 
Just knowing that you paint just fine without mediums helps so thanks Wayne. Less stickiness sounds like a real plus.
 
As I've stated elsewhere, I use Liquin, but only for glazing. For other applications I use paint straight out of the tube, with no added medium.
 
Hermes, Liquin for glazing sure works well for you. Maybe I’ll see how far I can get with the oils alone and a medium won’t be necessary. Thank you.
 
I like "Archival" brand lean medium. I am very sensitive to strong smells, so this is ideal. I only use a tiny amount- it speeds up the drying of the paint and gets it the to consistency that I like. I like the shiny-ness that it give to the surface when dried.
 
Liquin loosens up the paint and makes it dry faster, but smells and becomes glossy. I use it for detail work. The glossiness doesn't bother me as I varnish with gloss anyway.

I use M Graham walnut oil based paints. Almost no smell. And can clean up with soap and water. I can use walnut oil to thin, but dry time goes up. Or I use walnut galkyd medium which is like Liquin with less smell to loosen up the paint and make it dry faster. Or I mix walnut oil with the galkyd medium. Or mix some Gamsol in for flow but usually don't do that for some reason.

Pretty sure one could use walnut oil with regular linseed oil paints, but not totally sure.

The whole thing gets pretty confusing and I have some paintings with multiple mediums on them. It all depends on what one wants to do. Usually for detail work I'll use Liquin as it makes the paint flow very nicely. But I'm a bit unsure and I'm still experimenting to find what works best and when. I probably have too many kinds.

One day I should do a test of all of them. Just make some stripes and marks and see what happens and label them. Some may yellow more with time etc. Anything that will help titanium white dry faster is a biggie.
 
Thanks for all that info, John! I wish I had bought M Graham oils but I have all Gamblin. They are good paints, I think, but the titanium white is really stiff so that’s mainly why I’m interested in a medium. I think some people replace titanium white with an alkyd version to speed up drying but maybe that’s just for plein air? If it’s possible to mix linseed oil based paint with the M Grahams maybe I could just swap out the white. It’s good to get an idea of the options and I’m surprised that many painters do without a medium at all.
 
I don't even paint with oils (oil pastels don't count) but I appreciate this discussion. There are tons of mediums out there regardless of what one paints with, and it can quickly become overwhelming. I'm glad to see so many here who consistently put out beautiful work seem to only use mediums sparingly or not at all.

Donna- it's fun to read that you're studying oils. I'm looking forward to seeing what you do! ❤️
 
Most of the time I just use the paints straight from the tube.
If I need to thin it or glaze I use a mixture of stand oil and mineral spirits. Or sometimes I thin directly with mineral spirits.
 
Most of the time I just use the paints straight from the tube.
If I need to thin it or glaze I use a mixture of stand oil and mineral spirits. Or sometimes I thin directly with mineral spirits.
16ga, I'm curious, have you noticed that the finished painting would be more dimmed when using stand oil + mineral spirits mixed together?
I've thinking a lot this question. I'm looking for answers on what dims paintings. I also use stand oil or linceed oil or sun thickened linceed oil. I used to mix those with artist turpentine from art store but not so much anymore.

Donna, you mention above that you have Gamblin oil paints. I once bought titanium white from Gamblin and it was so loose paint. If the other colors are equally loose I think you could paint directly with them without solvent. I use Old Holland paints, some Williamsburg, some M.Harding, Zecchi Colori and little bit Rembrandt.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for that, 16ga. Straight from the tube sounds like it works for so many.

Moscatel, you have a variety of brands. Is that because you prefer individual colors of some of them? I can’t do much with any solvents because even the so-called odor free ones make my headache worse. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
Donna, exactly: there's in one brand some colors that work ok for certain purpose (read: you can't live without them) and then other brands can have few more beneficial colors. You go picking what works for you. If you haven't had oil paints before you can just start with whatever - like I did when I started - and then you go and try some other brands little by little. I can't have too much paint/medium smell either because of asthma. Pleinair helps in that a little bit. 😊
 
Thanks for all that info, John! I wish I had bought M Graham oils but I have all Gamblin. They are good paints, I think, but the titanium white is really stiff so that’s mainly why I’m interested in a medium. I think some people replace titanium white with an alkyd version to speed up drying but maybe that’s just for plein air? If it’s possible to mix linseed oil based paint with the M Grahams maybe I could just swap out the white. It’s good to get an idea of the options and I’m surprised that many painters do without a medium at all.
White is a very slow drying color, and when you mix it with other colors it slows those drying times also. So I use W&N Underpainting White exclusively. It's fast drying, and when you mix it with other colors it speeds up those drying times also. It is quite thick so if you use it alone mix in some liquin or OMS (oderless Mineral Spirits). Just dipping your brush in OMS when you use the white is usually enough to loosen it up.
 
I was hoping you would chime in, Bongo. Underpainting white sounds perfect for plein air and you probably use it for studio work too so you don’t have to wait forever for layers to dry. I have so much to learn! Thank you.
 
I've been using oils for about 30 years or so. I use Gamblin almost exclusively, sans a few colors. Certain colors (for me) call for a few different brands that I prefer over Gamblin (Winsor-Newton, Daler-Rowney, Sennelier).

I use Liquin mostly for glazing and layering. Rarely, I'll use it now as a "medium" to help the consistency of the paint when it's dry, and do prefer the Gamblin Solvent-free gel these days. I understand what you mean about it having a bit of a shine, but two things: use VERY little of it. And if you're using it with the same color to cover a larger area, make sure you mix it all first so that there are no differences between the surface sheen. That can look icky--I've had that happen, especially when I've used too much of that stuff. It really needs to be used sparingly. I put a dot of it on the palette and pick a tiny bit of that dot up with my brush to mix it with whatever color that I squeezed out of the tube (or am mixing).

When I used to do this with Liquin, I used a tiny drop of stand oil if it got too runny or shiny, and it took that edge off.

I'm a big fan of that gel, however. It was like a solved problem to Liquin for me because of how Liquin dried too shiny and too quickly.

I also use the W&N Underpainting White, but only for underpainting when I plan to layer another color over it and scratch through to reveal the white (or whatever color I mixed it with) from underneath. That's something I've done for many years. Warning about that paint, though; it smells strong and can even give you a headache. It dries super fast, too. I've found that it practically surface dries on the same day, sometimes in a couple of hours, and I lay it on thick.
 
16ga, I'm curious, have you noticed that the finished painting would be more dimmed when using stand oil + mineral spirits mixed together?
I've thinking a lot this question. I'm looking for answers on what dims paintings. I also use stand oil or linceed oil or sun thickened linceed oil. I used to mix those with artist turpentine from art store but not so much anymore.
Actually. When using the stand oil mixtures I sometimes get glossy areas. It doesn't happen all the time so I'm assuming it has to do with the ratio of mineral spirits to stand oil but never really figured it out. Once varnished it all evens out so I stopped worrying about it.
I tend to use Grumbacher paints but I'm not that particular and will grab other brands if they're on sale or it what I need isn't available.
 
Back
Top