Oiling out

 

Oiling Out

Hi David,

I have been making large oil paintings for a few years now I was previously a printmaker and watercolorist.  However, I have not yet applied a final
varnish to my paintings because I'm not sure of the procedure I should use.
The paintings are mostly on birch panel (a few on masonite), with a few
coats of acrylic gesso ground.  I love the look of watercolour and so have
painted in oils to achieve a similar luminous look - i.e. have saved the
whites I wanted by painting around and rubbing in or wiping off.  As a
result, I have some areas of my paintings that are either totally gesso or
have a small amount of oil paint rubbed in.  Someone once told me that I should apply (spray) a couple of coats of gloss varnish in order to seal the gesso areas and then apply a final layer if I wish a less glossy finish.  However, lately I have been reading about "oiling out" .. so am more confused than ever.  Can you advise me please -
-  Should I use a retouch varnish first, since some of my paintings are 2 or 3 years old?
-  Should I "oil out" to even the look and seal the paint, and if so, what type of oil and how; then how long to wait before final varnish?
-   Should I just follow the procedure recommended above (couple gloss coats then final coat)?
 
Thanks David, Pauline

Hi Pauline,

I would be interested to know what you are using to thin your oil paint to create those thin layers.  If it is a solvent like mineral spirits or turpentine instead of a good painting medium then you might be better off using acrylics to do those types of paintings.  The oil paint (esp if diluted with solvents) in a thin layer like that will have soaked into the gesso and become part of the ground, just like a watercolour painting is an integral part of the support (paper).  As such, future restoration of the work is very difficult. It is good that you have painted on a rigid support like masonite because such thin layers of oil with most of the binder stripped away or soaked into the gesso is very prone to cracking. 

I would not add pure oil to the painting by 'oiling out', nor would I apply picture varnish or retouch varnish to seal the painting.  Pure oil will darken and yellow with age, and varnishes are solvent based and are made to be removable, not a permanent part of a painting.  The best solution would be to 'seal' the painting with a good quality Alkyd medium like Winsor&Newton's Liquin or M. Graham's Alkyd Medium.  Then apply a coat of final picture varnish using a mixture of gloss and matte to achieve the level of desired gloss.  I recommend Liquitex Soluvar varnish that you can mix yourself and apply with a brush.  I would wait a least a month after putting on the medium before applying the picture varnish. 

Good luck, David

Hi David ... thank you very very much.  I've been worrying about this for
about a year or more and it is great to have someone in the know offer a
suggestion.  I have been thinking of switching to acrylics, but find them
hard to work with and not as rich looking as oils, so I will either have to
follow your recommendation to seal and topcoat every time, or get used to
working with acrylics.  I should mention that I try not to use too much
solvent, but rather put a bunch of paint on and then take it off - so it
does soak in.  On the few occasions I've used solvent (which gives a really
nice watercolour wash look) I noticed particles of pigment just sitting
there - did not look good from a "permanence" perspective.  I build a pine frame around the back, fill with wood filler, sand, gesso a few times before painting - so I would hate for anything to do wrong at this point.

Pauline

You are right, it is a much better idea from a permanence perspective to wipe off the paint rather than strip away too much of the binder (oil) using solvents.  And acrylics would not work well for that type of painting. 

Glad I could help out, good luck and have fun painting.  Ciao, David