How Are Oil Paints Made?
Oil painting is a type of painting done with specially made paints. These paints are created using paint pigments and a binding oil. The way it is mixed gives a different sort of texture to your paint and, thus, your painting when using them. Although oil paints are available ready-made, it is common for oil painters to mix their own in order to cut costs or to control the texture of their paint.
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Oil Paint Properties
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An oil paint can be either opaque, transparent or translucent. To test a paint in order to see which it is, draw a black line on a white paper. Paint over the line, and if you can't see it, your oil paint is opaque. If you can partially see it, the paint is translucent, and if you can fully see the line, the paint is transparent.
Another significant property in oil paints is the drying rate. Earth colors generally dry the fastest. These are used as base colors and painted with first usually, since they dry so fast they are good for underpainting.
The property of color in an oil paint is sub-categorized into hue, value and chroma.
Equipment Needed to Mix Oil Paint
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Oil paint is made using the following equipment: a spatula, a scraper, a palette knife, a muller, a pair of pliers and a grinding slab made of glass--about a quarter-inch thick.
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Materials in Oil Paint
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The actual materials that are mixed together to make an oil paint include dry paint pigments in the color you desire, a thinner such as turpentine or pure gum spirits, pure white beeswax and cold-pressed linseed oil.
Mixing an Oil Paint
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Simply put, oil paint is made when the paint pigment is mixed with a binder--the linseed oil. Generally it is best if a glass slab is used for grinding the pigment into the linseed oil. First the oil is mixed into the pigments using a spatula, mixing until a thick paste in formed. The paste is then scraped off to the side and taken a little at a time to the center of the slab. A muller is then used to grind the paste further until it is quite smooth.
Paint Thickness
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A solvent, such as turpentine or pure gum spirits, can be used with your oil paint to thin it out. By messing around with the thickness of the paint, you can change the way it behaves on the canvas. White beeswax can also be added to the paint to change the texture.
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References
- Photo Credit Palette with oil paints image by petercoupe from Fotolia.com
