PAINTING MEDIUMS - OIL

for the painters... recipes to play with

A basic shopping list: 
Linseed oil, Gum Turpentine, Damar Varnish, Stand oil, Bees wax, clean jars and labels
Also ... baby oil or cheap vegetable oil can be used for cleaning brushes (won't work well in paint though)

About the ingredience:
Oils makes paint flow- make it shinier and dry slower
Turpentine makes paint thinner and dull - and dry faster
Damar Varnish makes paint very shiny but thinner - dries more quickly
Stand Oil is luscious and thick like honey - makes pint glossy, very slow drying time though
Bees wax makes paint THICK! and a bit dull... sort of waxy duuur
These 'items' can be mixed together to make  various mediums - all the recipes below can be tweeked to suit your needs ... experiment ... test ... try out

Leanest Basic Painting Medium:
1 Part Linseed Oil + 5 Parts Gum Turpentine

Leaner Basic Painting Medium:
1/2 Part Linseed Oil + 1/2 Part Stand Oil + 5 Parts Gum Turpentine

Lean Basic Painting Medium:
1 Part Stand Oil + 5 Parts Gum Turpentine

All Purpose Lean Painting & Glazing Medium:
1 Part Stand Oil + 1 Part Damar Varnish (5 lbs. cut) + 5 Parts Gum Turpentine

Fat Stand Oil Damar Concentrate:
1 Part Stand Oil + 1 Part Damar Varnish + 3 Parts Gum Turpentine

Very Fat Stand Oil Damar Concentrate
2 Parts Stand Oil + 1 Part Damar Varnish

Very Fat Medium
1 Part Stand Oil + 1 Part Linseed Oil + 1/4 Part Soft Wax

Very Fat Medium
1 Part Stand Oil + 1/5 Part Damar Varnish + 1/4 Part Wax

Old World Glazing Medium
9 Parts Damar Varnish + 9 Parts Turpentine + 4 Parts Stand Oil + 2 Parts Venice Turpentine

Retouching Varnish
5 Parts Damar Varnish + 13 Parts Gum Turpentine

heres some more...

Bill Martin´s Glazing Medium

1 part Linseed Oil (anybody's brand, as long as it is artist quality). This is a fast-drying oil.
1 part Walnut Oil (I use M. Graham's,) This is a slow-drying oil.
1 part Venice Turpentine (This is not "turpentine", in the usual sense of the word, but is the "resin" in this mix.)
2 parts Oil Of Spike (This is the solvent--it is NOT a drying oil such as Linseed .)

or

Lean (5 parts Turpentine, 1 part Venice Turpentine, 1 part Stand Oil)
Medium(2 parts Oil of Spike, 2 parts Venice Turpentine, 1 part Linseed Oil)
Fat (2 parts Oil of Spike, 1 part Venice Turpentine, 2 parts Sun Thickened Linseed Oil)


Ralph Mayer´s

1 part stand oil
1 part damar
5 parts turpentine.

The turpentine can be increased to as much as 7 parts for more fluid underpainting and reduced proportionally in each successive layer as above.


Glossier glaze medium

2 parts sun-thickened or stand oil
2 parts damar
1 part Venice turpentine

dilute with spirit of turpentine.


Slow drying medium - soft blending

1 part stand oil
1 Venice turp
and spirit of turpentine.


Atttributed to Rubens (at least some of his work)
3 parts Venice turpentine
2 parts sun-thickened oil
1 part damar
For the glossy look of the Flemish painters, the use of Venice turpentine is advisable in place of resins that have a greater tendency to darken and crack (amber, mastic, copal, etc.)


Damar & Beeswax Medium and or Varnish

2 parts damar varnish
1 part beeswax
3 parts turpentine

1. With the exception of the turpentine, combine and warm the ingredients over an electric unit, stirring them until they combine completely.
2. Once the ingredients are combined, remove from the heat and slowly stir in the turpentine.
3. Cool the mixture and pour into a bottle.

This combination of resin and wax is excellent for final paint layers. This medium serves to thicken tube oil paints and help produce pleasing impasto effects. It reduces gloss and dries in one half hour.
Proved over many centuries for its permanence and impermeability, beeswax combines well with resins and oils, and reduces some of the high gloss while it thickens the paint. A great aid to paint handling.
Have fun!!!!