Wow ! Never thought about it ! I have to give it a try ! Thanks Fabrizio !

Florent Farges - arts Just make sure you let some of solvent wick away by mixing it (prior to adding the oil) on some newsprint or paper towel. Then add the oil.

You just described Rothko's favourite medium. He is known to use heavy turpentine mix to separate pigment from oil, then use it mixed with casein, oil and lots of turpentine.

Would be great to use to tint the canvas with before painting.

+beckyholt Wow ! I am amazed by the amount of clear and well detailed information you brought. I just have nothing else to say... I will definitely use some of your tips, it's great ! Thank you !

Hello, Becky! Would you mind sharing the best place to purchase the best quality pigments? I prefer to buy the oils etc in bulk as well and I am wanting to make my own pigment sticks. I use Ebay currently but if you have some suggestions on a better source for oils or other materials that would be really be an enormous help to me as well. Thank You for the tips. You shared excellent suggestions for us all.

Hello, a very good morning and thank you for the glowing compliment. I am deeply humbled and grateful for your very kind words and hope I can, with Florent’s permission share some of my experience with you. As I a prelude to your question could I strongly suggest and recommend a few excellent publications that are invaluable if you are yearning for more control over your art materials. The most quoted and frequently described as the Artist’s Bible is: The Artist’s Handbook of Materials and techniques, by Ralph Mayer. You can get a used one for as little as $1.14 + P&P from Amazon. Next is: The painter’s Handbook, by Mark David Gottsegen which is described by many as a great compliment to the aforementioned. You should be able to obtain a copy for less than $20. Additionally as you are contemplating mixing pigments a book explaining the necessary preventative measures necessary to prevent serious illness or death. Some pigments are considered to expose the user to cancer, or nervous system damage which can be fatal. If you would like a recommendation for this please let me know. The last recommendation is: Oil Painting Techniques and Materials, by Harold Speed. This book focuses on increasing the artist’s understanding of key points and in an invaluable weapon in the arsenal of any artist. This one is about $13. To answer your materials question. I always buy from companies that want my business and they share key characteristics. They have a history of supplying the purest pigments in some cases for over a hundred years. Often they have served the artists that are now household names, Renoir, C’ezanne, Van Gogh, Vuilard and Monet to name a few. Bulk purchases are of any artist material should always in my opinion be negotiated with your chosen supplier. If you can control when you buy you may save more as your business is their bread and butter. The number of professional working artist’s is not that great despite the illusion and you are valuable. Let them know you know that and squeeze. A company that regularly has great prices is Natural Pigments. I recently purchased a considerable amount of Spike Oil from them and made enormous savings over the cost of purchase from a major online seller. Jackson’s Art is another supplier of bulk purchase items of high, quality and affordable prices. Caution, that said during a recent purchase cycle I experienced some problems in receiving goods and the customer service was poor. For your needs either of the above or Cornelissen of London. They were the suppliers of artists such as Turner. They have a some of the best pigments to be found anywhere today. Service is quick and professional and they will negotiate large orders. Their Lapis Lazuli, straight from the hills of Afghanistan is to die for! Use as a glaze to add a unique beauty to your work. www.cornelissen.com Most oil paint providers may sell pigments to you direct but the prices are often inflated above the cost of somewhere like cornelissen for example. I have to mention Dick Blick for a customer service experience that every art shop should provide. Quick, reasonably priced, professional and top quality materials. If there is a problem with your order they will solve it within a day or two. I understand they will also negotiate a large order discount. Let’s not forget the small privately owned stores for some great deals and good prices. Here I would like to introduce you to a company called Zecchi, who hail out of Florence, Italy and who have a wonderful personal approach to business. They want your business and it shows. The Owner will contact you in person and ensure a seamless transition of your goods to you, they will keep you informed and respond quickly to your needs. I purchased a considerable amount of Venice Turpentine and made some amazing savings, hundreds of dollars when compared to other stores. If you want quality this comes as standard. This Venice Turpentine was not the inferior variety but the same source as the ancients would have used. Zecchi actually owns tree groves where they extract the sap. A truly quality company with quality materials. I sincerely hope that this may be some help to you and that you find some benefit in it. Good luck with your art endeavors and don’t hesitate to ask about any aspect of the industry. Best regards, Becky.

Florent Farges - arts No, thank you kind Sir for sharing your techniques and your talent here. You are a true inspiration and I have personally benefited from viewing your presentations. It is always great to watch a true professional at work.

beckyholt WOW! Becky, Thank You! This is invaluable information and exactly what I have been searching for. I'm checking out the websites right now and will contact them Tuesday once our holiday is officially over. I almost purchased the The painter’s Handbook, by Mark David Gottsegen and decided not to because I thought the info would be the same as what is available online or that it might be outdated. I can actually get my hands on that. locally, tomorrow. I have not come across "Oil Painting Techniques and Materials" but I bet I could find that one around here too. Thank you again, for taking the time to respond so thoroughly. Happy Painting, Everyone!

Paula Marie how are you doing ❤️

@@ElinWinblad to

U r inspiring..

I wish you the best 💐

Paula, do you know the joy of the Lord, Jesus? If not, He's a guaranteed way of conquering that lost and destroyed feeling, and He'll never let you down. I know this comes years later, but I think there's never a bad time to return to God's loving presence. He's real and He loves you very much. Anyhow, I hope you're doing much better these days. Be blessed.

good advice.

Where do you get pigments and how did you learn to make your own? Thanks for the tips!

How long have you been using the sunflower and olive oil ? Do the non-drying oils not contaminate your painting then, and prevent it drying properly? I thought that you had to use high linoleic safflower or walnut oil or linseed oil to clean or rest your brushes, so that it didn’t mess up your painting?

Eugene I use it as a brush dip instead of washing them each time. My studio smells amazing

Great tips ! Thanks for sharing !

do i have to prime birch plywood?

Jamie May yes

Brand new to oil paints as it always seemed pricey but I found a set of 10 tubes at the thrift store for $2 so now I’m painting! Not a high brand but still very good deal!

Exactly, sometimes I can only get certain looks by using some of my worse brushes. Great tip!

I do this also, some really bad old brushes can be used to make interesting marks.

Thank you ! Great tip !

TheDemethar yeh cardboard is lovely I like cereal boxes the inside brown side is so smooth 🎨👍😁

Great idea

+Johnny Jones Wow ! Impressive... never thought about it. I don't have access to lard soap though, but I would really love to see how it works. Thank you for your comment ! Let me know if you make a video about it one day or write an article about it.

Florent Farges - arts Go to your local farmers market, you'll find it. Or search for it online :) Works Great! I'll post a video when i clean my brushes next time.

My neighbour and I made tallow soap with added pumice, it needs to cure but makes a great soap for really dirty brushes.

I would not use industrial turps on artist brushes but each to their own.

@@Mulberry2000 It's exactly the same as artist turpentine. You can also buy linseed oil, and large brushes.

+paddockman2 Thank you so much :)

ah good one.

My palette is a 2€ glass board meant for restaurants that I found in a store. I painted one side with neutral grey acrilyc to see the values and I just scrape the dry paint off

That's great, I never found a great set that suits my use, I usually don't need all of them, or need some more... and on the long run, most of my tubes don't go empty at the same time, but I am sure it's great when you want a good starting set.

ztog

+Fadhil Aiman Thank you for the support !

+hadeel abdullah Thank you very much

I was just going to order clove oil to ad to my oil....This sounds very great too. Is there a problem with using it in oil? My medium is oil and Venice turpentine mainly. Stand oil actually. But my brushes store in walnut oil and so sometimes safflower and walnut oil for medium depending. I was planning to use just a little little bit.

@@cynthiamarston2208 CAUTION. Clove oil is not for mixing into paints. It never dries. It is only to wet small cotton swab so that clove oil fumes delay the nearby wet paint from drying. If you mix clove Oil into paint, it would be a disaster and not dry for months or years. Beware. Another example. If you have a rectangle glass palette on which wet paint has been put, take a slightly larger cardboard box cover lid (or light plywood lid), rub little clove Oil on inside of the cover and then cover over the wet paint (not touching wet paint). The clove oil fumes will greatly delay wet paint from drying.

@@anonymousfellowindian oh! Ok. Thanks

+Dean Marsh Thank you !

+Kvera Probably, but the components of oil paint are oil and pigments, so as long as you give it time to come back to room temperature before you use it again, I don't think it's really that bad. But who knows... As I said, it's not a perfect solution... I try to avoid it as much as I can ! Thanks for your comment !

You can also keep them in the refrigerator

+ghostvillage1 Hi ! thank you for sharing your tips ! I really like the idea of leaving the natural color of the wood, I have to try that ! I paint mostly of canvas because I need large surfaces, but I would love to explore the possibilities of panels a little bit more... I will give your idea a try, sounds fun ! About manufacturers and differences in the pigments, I think it's a good thing ! I don't shy away from using several different brands together. For instance, Winsor and Newton's burnt sienna is transparent, but sometimes, I would like to have the same color but more opaque, and I can find it using Sennelier or any other brand. All brands have their own idea on what the color is supposed to look like, depending on their research. For instance, W&N says that their burnt sienna is synthetic, because the real best quality earth has all been exploited during the Renaissance and can't be found with the quality the ancient masters had... honestly, I don't care it's not natural, it's really working amazingly for me, I really like it. But I don't like all their colors, so I am glad I have access to other brands too... Try to find the brochures of each manufacturer, they usually explain in great details how their colors where made. After that, what sucks is that you have to try it to know if it's made for you. But there's no bad habits there... Mixing colors should feel right, no matter what brand you use.

Thank you for your comment and ideas.

If you paint with universal acrylic gesso, sizing is not absolutely needed. But you shoiuld probably add a few extra coats to be sure. But depending on the roughness of the fabric, sizing could be a safer option before gessoing : in that case use either animal skin glue or PVA.

So you place the brushes after painting in a small cup of olive oil? Just standing in the oil? Please explain a bit more. Thank you