Anthony Z. Velasquez

Intro

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These are my personal notes on the materials and methods of oil painting that I have collected over the years from various sources and personal experience. The contents of these notes are not to be taken as fact or law, but simply as my method of working. I am open to constructive criticism and welcome any suggestions that would improve my working process.

Diluents

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A mixture of 1 part oil of turpentine or oil of spike to 4 parts Canada balsam or Strasbourg turpentine are used as a diluents of oil paint. One should never dilute oil paint beyond the consistancy of house paint.

The best quality oil of turpentine is distilled from turpentine which is obtained from the Maritime Pine (Pinus pinaster) or the Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris). It has a light odor of crushed pine needles, is colorless, and if blotted on paper, does not leave a stain after evaporating.

Oil of spike is ethereal oil obtained by distillation of the flower spikes of the lavender species lavandula latifolia. It is colorless and smells of lavender. It evaporates slower and is more chemically avtive than oil of turpentine, and like oil of turpentine, helps the paint to dry from the inside out, which produces a strong paint film. The provinces of Cuenca and Guadalajara in Spain produce the highest quality spike oil.

Both should be stored in a tightly sealed amber glass bottle filled with marbles, in a cool, dry area, away from direct sunlight.

Medium

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Medium is used to improve paint handling, drying time, and the finish of a painting’s surface. It must be employed in measured amounts to each color and layer of paint equally, getting “fatter” with every layer. Medium is not to be used as a thinner of paint, for this is done by the addition of spike oil or turpentine oil.

Tools

Hot plate
Saucepan
100g or 200g heatproof Beaker
Washcloth
Stir stick
Empty bottle with dropper attachment
Gauze
Rubber Band

Ingredients

2 pts. Sun Thickened Walnut Oil
1 pt. Canada balsam or Strasbourg turpentine
1 pt. Oil of Spike

Preparation

Combine spike oil and Canada balsam or Strasbourg turpentine in the beaker. Fold the washcloth and place it in the bottom of the saucepan. Place the beaker on top of the washcloth and fill the saucepan with water to the height of the medium. Put the pot on a hot plate and heat to about 90º F. Now add in the sun-thickened oil and stir. Attach gauze the to mouth of the bottle with a rubber band, make a hollow, and pour the medium into the bottle through the gauze. Label the bottle with the recipe and date. Oil/resin mixes often separate upon sitting so shake it up before using.

Add one or two drops of medium to each thumb size blob of color and mix it in with a palette knife. Increase amount drop by drop with each layer.

Support

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Before any preparation is made for the support, the format must first be chosen. The formats I use regularly are based on portrait formats used by Titian, Velasquez, Rembrandt, and Van Dyke.

Full Length
200cm x 120cm

Half Length
100cm x 80cm

Head and Shoulders
60cm x 50cm

MATERIALS:

Linen

Best grades are produced in Belgium. When held up to the light, linen clearly displays its attributes. Spaces between the threads should be tight. Warp and weft of linen should be of a constant symmetrical weave and of equal thread width, weight (more than seven ounces per square yard), and thread count (at least fifty threads per square inch) in both directions to ensure that expansion and contraction are equal in both directions. Thick, heavy and coarse linen is used for large paintings while thin, lightweight, and fine weave linen is used for smaller pictures. Do not bleach or wash linen.

Stretcher bars

Stretcher bars must be made of a lightweight, soft wood with a low absorption of moisture, and kiln dried. Basswood or Obeche make excellent stretcher bars. Crossbars should be used for sizes over 92cm.

Lead White primer

METHOD:

Assemble stretcher bars

Tap the bars together with rubber mallet and wooden block, then square them up. Fasten the corners to prevent any skewing. If crossbars are being used, first assemble them, then mark the middle, countersink using a drill, and drive in a screw. Then, tap them into the stretcher bars, making sure the screw head faces away from back of canvas, and square up.

Stretch linen

Lay out the linen and place stretcher bars on top, front side down, making sure to align corners of stretcher bars with the warp and weft (the horizontal and vertical weave of the linen), leaving 10cm of canvas on all sides. Hand stretch linen without canvas pliers. Staple from the back, triple staple the corners for extra support, and iron the corner edges.

Size

Linen fibers contain the same oil that is found in the plant's seed. The oil preserves the fibers and keeps them flexible. Linseed oil becomes acidic as it dries and if applied to unsized Linen, will attack the cellulose of the fibers causing the canvas to decompose. Glue size protects the Linen fibers from oil absorption and binds them together causing the fibers to react to environmental changes in unison.

To prepare glue size pour 20 grams of rabbit skin or sturgeon (isinglass) glue into a container then add 1 Liter of warm water. Cover and let sit until it expands and is of a gelatin consistency. In a double boiler, heat to no hotter than 57º C stirring constantly until it is the consistency of a uniform liquid. Add 3 tablespoons of titanium white, stirring constantly as the titanium pigment sinks to the bottom quickly. If glue size congeals it can be returned to a liquid state by warming, however repeated warming can weaken the glue. For very thin portrait linens, let glue cool for about 40 minutes before application and for thicker Linens, apply while warm. Brush on a thin layer of size to the canvas to act as a buffer for subsequent coats. After about 15 minutes apply a moderate amount of size to the front and sides of the canvas being sure to not let the glue sink into the back side of the linen. At this point it should look streaky and be tight as a drum. Let it dry horizontally overnight and then give it a light sanding with 220 sandpaper.

Prime

Pour primer into a butcher’s trey. Add a little spike oil to thin it to the consistancy of house paint. Scrub in a 3cm border of primer and, using a squegee, apply the primer from the edge to the center. For a twill weave canvas, apply primer in a circular motion with a rag. Let dry for at least 1 month, however the longer it dries the better. If needed immediately, add 3/4 tbsp lead dryer to 1 pint of primer and it should dry in a week or two depending on climate.

Oil

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When it comes to flax, the Netherlands and Baltic countries have the monopoly on quality whether it be the production of linseed oil or linen. As for linseed oil, first, the ripest flax seeds of the white flower variety are carefully separated from any other species that might have found their way into the bunch. Next, they are washed, ground up, put into sacks, and cold pressed. The oil is of a dark to light amber color. It is the fastest drying, most durable oil. The only downside to linseed oil is its tendency to darken and yellow, however I have never been visually offended by the darkening and yellowing of paintings by Jan Van Eyck, Tiziano, Velasquez, Rubens, Rembrandt, and the list goes on.

Walnut oil is made from the nuts of the Juglans regia variety. First, the skins are removed by soaking the nuts in water. They are then dehydrated, crushed, and cold pressed. The oil is of a pale topaz like color. It yellows less, is a bit more brittle, and dries slower than linseed. It is great for grinding with white and blues.

The artist buys these oils fresh, i.e. unrefined, purifies them of any mucilage and sediment, and sun bleaches them. The oils may be sun thickened as well for use as ingredients for a medium.

Purifying linseed oil

Materials

1 part unrefined cold pressed linseed oil
1 part purified water
Handful of marbles
1 clear sealable container

Method

Fill half of the container with equal amounts of oil and warm water, and a handful of marbles. Seal container and shake up the oil and water. Let the container sit in a warm place until the oil and water separate and an emulsion forms, which will take a couple of days. Put the container in a freezer. When water is frozen, pour off the oil and repeat the whole process a couple of times

I recently came across a website which has some interesting information about the washing of oils and I would like to try his method.

http://www.calcitesunoil.com/WashingLiinseedOil.html

Sun thickening oil

Materials

1 glass pan
1 glass sheet, slightly bigger than the pan
4 toothpicks, the cubic ones
Linseed oil
Method

Method

Pour a liter or so of refined linseed oil into pan to a depth of half an inch or 1/8 deep. Cover it with the glass sheet, placing the toothpicks in between glass and pan to act as spacers. Place the container in direct sun light and every other day, stir or whisk it for a about a minute. In 10-15 days it should be the consistency of honey and ready for use.

Turpentine

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The viscous liquid that exudes from an injured conifer is an oleoresin called turpentine or balsam. When processed, it is first separated from any debris by filtering it warm. Soaking the debris in warm alcohol, filtering the liquid, and boiling it will give you even more turpentine. The purified turpentine is then distilled to isolate the more volatile oil of turpentine (spirits of turpentine), leaving behind the hard rosin (colophony, pitch).

Canada balsam, which comes from the Balsam Fir (Abies Balsamea), varies in color from pale greenish yellow to crystal clear. The only known differences between it and Strasbourg Turpentine is that it is paler in color, dries faster, and is more expensive. It is collected in the summer by puncturing blisters that have formed on the trunk as a result of previous injury. The liquid is collected into metal cans that are attached to the trunk. The trees are then allowed to recuperate for couple of years before tapping them again.

Strasbourg turpentine, which comes from the European Silver Fir (Abies Alba), is collected in the same way as Canada balsam. It is paler in color than Venice turpentine, is non-yellowing, quite durable, and along with Canada balsam, is more flexible than most other resins.

See the medium section for info on proper usage.

Brushes

2007-10-09T10:42:00.000-07:00

I use hog bristle rounds for the vast majority of my work. By nature, I am a very tight painter so I use an egbert when I want a looser, more broken look. For very delicate blended passages I would prefer badger hair, as it is stronger and thicker than sable, however it is extremely difficult to find high quality, genuine, badger hair paintbrushes.

Quality hog bristle brushes are made with the hair of wild hogs of the Chunking region of China. The hair is curved and splits into two or three points at the end. Look for brushes with 80-90 percent flagged bristles. The hairs are interlocked which forms a tuft with a fat belly that comes to a point. When soaked in water, the tuft should hold its form and the tip should become slightly darker.

The best badger hair bristles come from the neck hair of the Eurasian Badger. The bottom half of the hair is cream, the middle is brown black, and it ends in silver/white tips. Individual hairs are narrow at the butt with a thick belly and end in a fine point. Badger hair is most often imitated with dyed goat, hog, and synthetic hair.

The metal ferrule of a brush should be composed of brass or copper, perfectly symmetrical from top to bottom, seamless, and the edge where the hair protrudes out must be properly finished so as not to cut into the hair. Crimping should bite firmly into the handle to prevent any looseness.

I use my ruined brushes for rough work and large areas. Avoid getting paint into the ferrule while working by rinsing out your brushes in Oil of Turpentine frequently. As soon as you are finished painting, rinse out your brushes once more, wash them in linseed oil soap (keep handles dry), comb them out, reshape them, dry in an upright position, and condition them regularly with safflower oil.

With all this in mind, Richeson 9617 Signature brushes are, in my opinion, consistently the best brushes that I have been able to find. The Da Vinci 7706 Maestro is a very long handled brush that I have a lot of fun with.

Pretty much everything I know about brushes comes from Jaques Turner’s book, “Brushes: A Handbook for Artists and Artisans”. I have poured over every classical and modern text I could get my hands on, and have found nothing as complete. Here are a few links of interest.

http://www.kolinskyartbrushes.com/brushmaking/index.shtml
http://www.richesonart.com/cat3.pdf
http://www.davinci-defet.de/artistbrushes/kuenstlerpinselmachen.html
http://www.raphael.fr/gb/08visiteguidee/visiteguidee.htm
http://mito0.20megsfree.com/brushes.html

Pigments

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Ground Glass

FAST DRYING

Lead White
Naples Yellow
Yellow Earth
Vermilion
Red Earth
Cypress Umber
Malachite
Cobalt Blue
Black Iron Oxide

SLOW DRYING

Titanium White
Cadmium Yellow
Raw Sienna
Cadmium Red
Alizarin Crimson
Bunt Sienna
Viridian
Ultramarine
Ivory Black

Guidelines

2007-10-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

ALL paintings darken, crack, yellow, etc. to some degree eventually, when and how much is the question. One can postpone and reduce considerably the effects of time by following a few simple guidelines.

• Learn to discern between materials of high quality and those of poor quality

• Take no shorts in the selection and preparation of the support. Wood panels are more durable than linen, however they can be extremely heavy in large formats and difficult to transport.

• Use only linseed or walnut oil that has been cold pressed, properly cleaned, and sun bleached for grinding pigments. For mediums avoid boiled oils and stand oil, rather use only sun thickened oil.

• Natural earth and mineral pigments of random particle size and shape produce stronger paint films and more luminous colors.

• Know which pigments are high in oil and which are low, which are fast driers and which are slow. Pigments that contain heavy metals generally dry faster than those without, as do coarsely ground pigments compared with finely ground ones

• Use as few layers of paint as possible to achieve the desired effect.

• Never paint over a tacky paint film. Paint in thin layers, which contain successively slower drying pigments and/or greater quantities of oil to insure that the under-layers will dry before the top layers.

• If you must use a drier, it should be a lead drier used in extremely small doses, and only in the under layers.

• Use only 1 part Oil of Turpentine or Oil of Spike mixed with 4 parts Canada Balsam or Strasbourg Turpentine as diluents. Never dilute beyond the consistency of common house paint.

• Keep your medium extremely simple using only oil, resin, and a diluent.