Managing oils
Paul Talbot-Greaves shares tips and techniques for making oil painting manageable at home
Oil paint has a unique soft quality that is unmistakably recognisable. Its versatility appeals to all levels of painters because it can be manipulated on the surface easily, scraped off, re-applied or even wiped off completely to start the painting again. The greatest drawbacks are fumes from turpentine, drying times, and of course, mess. I’m sure as you are reading this, you may be familiar with a scenario of unknowingly picking up colour on a sleeve and finding it smeared all over the house some time later. Or is that just me? To alleviate these problems, many artists use art studios to work in, but that can be costly and sometimes impractical depending on your circumstances. In this article, I aim to share with you some tips and techniques for making oil painting manageable at home.
Workspace
It is essential to have a workspace where you can keep all your equipment to hand. If you have a spare room or part of a room where you can keep materials laid out, then all the better, as this makes it more inviting to pick up where you left off. Sometimes when your availability of painting time is short, having materials set out rather than setting up from scratch can make all the difference. If you don’t have a dedicated workspace where you can leave things out, then keeping your materials easily to hand is the next best thing. Ikea have a great range of solutions that can be used to hold art materials whilst maintaining a homely feel. For example, in the kitchen section they have a three-tiered wheeled vegetable trolley with deep shelves and a wooden top that makes a perfect solution for storing paints, solvents, brushes and so on, with the top as a handy small table. This can easily be wheeled out of the way with all your materials still laid out after your painting session has ended.
Keeping a tidy workspace minimises potential mess, so a table covering is the first line of defence. I would recommend a wipeable vinyl cover in grey from many home décor stores. Use a glass palette or a piece of safety glass that you can have cut to size at a glass merchant. Glass is easy to clean and if you have dried oil paint, it is also easy to scrape off with a blade. By placing the glass on the grey table cover, you have the perfect mid-tone palette, which will help you see your colours and mixes better.
Keep your clean brushes in a jar, so they don’t roll around your palette when you are painting. It’s a good idea to have a brush rest for brushes in use. A brush rest can be as simple as a strip of wood with notches cut out, so that the brushes are held off the table and they don’t roll. Kitchen paper or rags are an essential part of oil painting for wiping brushes and keeping things clean, as is baby oil for cleaning hands. As cleaning and wiping is a frequent process, having a bin or open bin bag at the side of you is essential for keeping the area manageable and clean.
Keep it small
Unless you have a huge free space in your home it’s going to be impractical to paint large. Painting large involves using more paint, bigger brushes, a greater space to stand back and maybe even a free-standing easel. Painting smaller makes the process easier to manage and the completion of a painting can often be a quick process. Painting small also gives you the option of either working seated at a table easel or standing up and working flat on the tabletop. Smaller paintings are also easier to store whilst they dry. Ikea also produces a useful picture shelf that allows you to store drying work up on the wall. If long drying times are an issue, consider using alkyd oils or adding Liquin to your regular oils.
Keeping down fumes
One issue that can dissuade you from getting the paints out is the fumes that are generated with oil painting. Fumes can be difficult to control and may be unpleasant either for yourself or for other people or pets that may share your living space. Thankfully, there are low-odour solvents that can help, such as Zest-it or Sansodor. I find I still get headaches even with the low odour, because the solvent is still present; it just means it doesn’t smell as strong as
‘Painting smaller makes the process easier to manage and the completion of a painting can often be a quick process’
turpentine. Opening a window will help, but a little consideration of your workspace can make a big difference too. I keep my solvent in a rinsing can, and I keep the lid on until I need to use it. For thinning oil on the painting, I use a dipper with a small amount of Liquin in it. By maintaining control of how I contain the solvent, I keep any fumes to a minimum. If fumes are a problem, I
would recommend working with Winsor & Newton’s Artisan water-mixable oils, which don’t require any solvent.
Keeping clean
Keeping clean is a must and I would recommend wearing an old shirt or apron for painting. A large bin at the workspace is essential. I use a lidded bin which keeps down any fumes from solvent-soaked rags. When cleaning up after a painting session, I have a methodical way of managing the process. First, I scrape up any leftover paint from the palette using a palette knife and deposit it into kitchen paper. Next, I clean the glass palette with a little solvent and pieces of kitchen roll. To clean my brushes, I first wipe out as much paint as I can onto kitchen paper, then each brush gets a good clean in the solvent can, followed by another wipe on kitchen paper. Now you get the idea of a lidded bin! Next, I place a small amount of baby oil into an old jar, and one by one the brushes get rinsed through until no more colour shows. The brushes are wiped in clean baby oil and stood in a jar ready for the next painting session. The baby oil also makes a great hand cleaner. This method of cleaning is much more environmentally friendly than washing solvents down the drain.