Painting With Artist Oil Paints

[Mottles]

Hi All:

A few weeks back I was asked by our carving club President if I would show him how to paint with oils on wood. While working with him I had several other members join-in and many questions were asked. So I thought maybe it would be beneficial to create a informational sheet on my methods of working with Artist Oil Paints on wood.

So for your interest this is what I came up with:

OIL PAINTING ON WOOD

SUGGESTED EQUIPMENT

COLOR WHEEL

BOILED LINSEED SEED OIL (USE TO MIX COLORS ON YOUR PALETTE) ALSO AFTER YOU FINISH CARVING AND SANDING DIP OR PAINT SOME BLO ON YOUR CARVING LET DRY

OIL PALETTE PAD (USUALLY COMES 12 SHEETS TO THE PAD) OR SEE BELOW (FREEZER PAPER)

TURPENOID (ORDORLESS)

BABY OIL (CLEANING AND CONDITIONING BRUSHS AND HANDS)

BRUSHES (BRISTLE, ARTIFICAL SABLE, AND SABLE) SIZE OF BRUSHES DEPENDS ON THE SIDE OF THE AREA YOU ARE GOING TO PAINT. BRUSHES FLAT (CHISEL), ROUND TIP,

LIST OF OIL PAINT COLORS (BRAND IS UP TO YOU, STUDENT GRADE WILL WORK JUST FINE AND IS CHEAPER. ‘WINSOR NEWTON WINTON’ OR 'GRUMBACHER ACADEMY' (There are many other brands, but I have actually used these to brands.) When painting on canvas I used the Professional oils that these folks make.

TITANIUM WHITE
CADIUM YELLOW LIGHT
CADIUM RED LIGHT
ULTRAMARINE BLUE
PERMANENT GREEN LIGHT
YELLOW OCHRE
BURNT SIENNA
BURNT UMBER

WITH THIS LIMITED PALETTE YOU CAN MIX THE FOLLOWING COLORS WHEN YOU NEED THEM..

ORANGE: CAD YELLOW LIGHT + CAD RED LIGHT
PURPLE: CAD RED LT + ULTRAMARINE BLUE
GREEN: ULTRA MARINE BLUE + CAD. YELLOW LIGHT
YELLOW - GREEN: CAD. YELLOW LIGHT + PERMANENT GREEN LIGHT
ARTIST BLACK: ULTRAMARINE BLUE + BURNT UMBER (a rich black)
BURNT SIENNA: WHEN ADDED TO RED WILL GIVE YOU A SEDONA RED EARTH COLOR.
BURNT UMBER IS A BEAUTIFUL RICH EARTH BROWN MIX WITH BLUE AND IT WILL BECOME DARKER.
CAUCASION FLESH: MIX YELLOW OCHRE WITH A SMALL AMOUNT OF RED AND ADD WHITE TO LIGHTEN
LATIN FLESH: BURNT SIENNA, SMALL AMOUNT OF BURNT UMBER AND WHITE TO LIGHTEN.
BLACK FLESH: BURNT UMBER AND ULTRAMARINE BLUE (Can add Cad. Red Light to warm the flesh tones).
PERMANANENT GREEN LIGHT IN A VERY SMALL AMOUNT ADDED TO THE FLESH COLORS AT THE HAIR LINE IS VERY EFFECTIVE FOR A NICE SOFT SHADOW.
GRAY: ULTRAMARINE BLUE + BURNT UMBER + WHITE

EXPERIMENT MIXING COLORS TO MAKE GRAYS YOU'LL BE AMAZED HOW MANY GRAYS YOU CAN MAKE.

ALWAYS MIX YOUR COLORS ON YOUR PALETTE FIRST. SAVE YOUR LEFT OVER WOOD FOR TESTING YOUR MIXED COLOR BEFORE APPLYING TO YOUR CARVING.

BY HAVING THE SUGGESTED PALETTE COLOR IT WILL KEEP YOU FROM HAVING TO DO A LOT OF MIXING TO CREATE COLORS IF YOU DON’T NEED THEM SUCH AS MIXING RED AND BLUE TO CREATE A PURPLE…IT’S UP TO YOU…TO MIX OR NOT TO MIX.

WHITE MIXED WITH ALL OF THE ABOVE COLORS WILL LIGHTEN AND MAKE THEM OPAQUE.

STORING YOUR PALETTE:

THERE ARE PALETTE KEEPERS WITH LIDS THAT CLOSE VERY SLIGHTLY THAT WILL KEEP YOUR OILS WORKABLE FOR WEEKS. THEY ARE MADE IN VARIOUS SIZES AND YOUR OIL PALETTE PAPER SHEETS/PAD WILL FIT NICELY INSIDE. EASY TO TRANSPORT

YOU CAN ELECT TO JUST COVER YOUR PALETTE PAD WITH THE OILS WITH PLASTIC WRAP AND PLACE IN THE FREEZER. YOUR OILS WILL BE PRESERVED UNTIL YOU’RE READY FOR THE NEXT PAINT SESSION. JUST REMOVE FROM THE FREEZER TAKE OFF THE PLASTIC WRAP LET SET FOR A COUPLE MINUTES AND YOU’RE READY TO PAINT. KEEPS FOR WEEKS!

ANOTHER SUGGESTION IS YOU CAN PURCHASE WAX COATED (ONE SIDE) FREEZER PAPER AT YOUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE. TAKE A PIECE OF CARD BOARD CUT IT TO A SIZE YOU WOULD LIKE FOR YOUR PALETTE AND COVER THE CARD BOARD WITH SAME SIZE FREEZER PAPER TAPED TO THE BACK OF THE CARDBOAD. THERE YOU HAVE IT A NICE DISPOSABLE PALETTE.

RESOURCES

LOCAL PRESCOTT, PRESCOTT VALLEY
MICHAELS, WALMART (HAS SOME SUPPLIES)
HOBBY LOBBY
LOWES
ACE HARDWARE
GROCERY STORE (FREEZER PAPER, PLASTIC WRAP)


ONLINE

www.jerrysartarama.com
www.dickblick.com

EACH OF THIS BUSINESS HAS GOOD PRICES AND SERVICE I HAVE USED THEM FORYEARS. CHECK EACH ONE FOR THE BEST PRICE.

JERRY’S ARTARAMA HAS A STORE IN TEMPE, AZ. FAIRLANES VILLAGE, STE. 1-3 4421 SOUTH RURAL RD. (INTERSECTION OF HWY 60) TEMPE, AZ. (480) 775-6787 (I HAVE NOT BEEN TO THE STORE)

WELL MY FRIENDS THAT IS ALL I CAN THINK OF FOR NOW IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS JUST LET ME KNOW. IF YOU NEED HELP JUST LET ME KNOW THAT TOO! BRING YOUR PROJECT TO A PWBC CARVEALONG AND LET’S TAKE A LOOK.

You can respond to this thread by posting or send me a PM on this site. I would like to state also that this is my method--other's may have a differnt procedure.

SINCERELY,
KATHY ROBBINS

barkladyaz@yahoo.com

[SLJ]

this is helpful. thanks. Ive wanted to try oils, but have always been afraid to cause of the dry time.

[SlowMover]

I'm with SLJ...what is the dying time for the oils, and what special method do you use to hold it to keep from smearing the oils?

[Mottles]

SLJ & SlowMover

Actually the dry time is much shorter when painted on wood as oppose to painted on canvas. True, oil doesn't dry as quickly as say acrylic paint and for some it's a disadvantage for sure.

There are two methods I use one is a darning needle attached to the bottom of say an ornament. Prior to painting the ornament I also go a head and add the screw eye a top the head or hat. Once the ornament is painted I enlist the help of one of those metal free standing display hangers and just hook the ornament to it. YES, I have a lot of them....drying time for an ornament would be a couple days.

Another thing I have used is a small block of oil clay and just leave the darning pin in the bottom of the ornament and stick the darning pin into the clay. One can get pretty creative when one has too.
Hope this answers your questions if not fire again.

Also I made a typo in my mixing of colors to make other colors instruction, 'Claude' was kind enough to send me a PM and I thank him for noticing my mistake.

Should read: ORANGE: CAD. YELLOW LIGHT + CAD RED LIGHT if you have made a copy for yourself please make the correction.

[Robson Valley]

Up here Opus Art Supplies | Resources for the Creative Individual is probably the best place to shop on line.

Gamblin FastMatte oils, in thin layers, will dry in 18-24 hrs. I can only imagine that W&N
or Grumbacher Artist are slower.
If you use Gamblin Refined Linseed Oil as the medium it will retard drying.
Stevenson Cobalt Drier will give you a quick dry but impasto cracks.
Both Artisan and Cobra make water mixable oil paints and mediums.

[Mottles]

Thank you, 'Robeson Valley' for your input all good information.

The wood really draws the oil from the paints and gives the 'finger test touch' of drying faster. If painted on canvas it would take much longer.

[Robson Valley]

My Dad thought he was a painter in his retirement, especially in the summers. I inherited suitcases (literally) of the stuff., but just oils and acrylics. He had everything.
He really must have liked my watercolor paintings: I caught him razor-blading pages out of my sketch books (I wondered where they went), then he'd go home and get a dozen framed!

[Mottles]

Originally Posted by Robson Valley

My Dad thought he was a painter in his retirement, especially in the summers. I inherited suitcases (literally) of the stuff., but just oils and acrylics. He had everything.
He really must have liked my watercolor paintings: I caught him razor-blading pages out of my sketch books (I wondered where they went), then he'd go home and get a dozen framed!

One can easily collect a treasure trove of paints that is for sure. He must have really admired your watercolor paintings and what a neat thing to do for you. We Artist know the cost of framing. The closest I have come to watercolor is gouache which I love. Next to woodcarving it's my medium of choice. I began with oils and still use them on paintings and of course wood.

I also use acrylics on wood too, but have been leaning back toward using the oils on all my carvings now.

[Robson Valley]

He never said a word about all the paintings that I sold, I took pictures so he could see what I had been doing. His preference was to raid my sketch books. Coil-bound, hard cover, all the same to him and his razor blades.
Dad also went through a long "silk-screen printing" period. Thank goodness I didn't inherit the stash of paint and screens from that. He could have opened an art store. I have always enjoyed the transparency of watercolors plus the wet-in-wet appearance of washes. He's the one who gave me the $70 Grumbacher #8 round w/c brush.

I tried some w/c on wood, WRC to be specific. Can't see a reason to try again.
For some reason, I don't like acrylics to work with. I do just fine, working time is never an issue. BUT, they do seem quite suited to adding the acents that I want in wood carvings (which I hope you will soon see more of.)