Just a note to advise that the new series of Art Studio hosted by Wayne Clements starts on Brisbane channel 44 Digital Wednesday 19th at 7:30 (Covers Brisbane, Ipswich, Gold & Sunshine Coast) and in Melbourne and Geelong community TV 1st December. Also starting soon in Sydney and Perth on Channel 31 for people in those areas, check the links below for schedule details.

Wayne Clements has switched to Weber wOils to get away from the toxic affects he endured for some 25 years from Traditional paints. Worth a look, he does an Australian Landscape painting live in 30 minutes using his unique wet on wet techniques, plus heaps of helpful tips along the way.

Brisbane: http://www.31.com.au/wp/
Melbourne: http://www.c31.org.au/
Perth: http://www.ctvperth.com.au/
Sydney:  http://www.tvs.org.au/

Wayne Clements has a number of new DVD coming soon all about learning his method, which he made made recently during a trip to the USA in a professional recording studio, guaranteeing a quality video. These will be sold in over 28 countries next year, congratulations Wayne. Available soon from participating dealers around Australia.

Colin R

FREE DVD available NOW Valued at $25.00

Now available are several FREE DVD from Major Art Supplies as below:

Kingslan DVD Oil Painting Training Resource

These DVD cover Decorative painting, Old Masters
techniques and Painting Theory.
These would be among the most comprehensive DVD I
have seen, some up to 5 hours long,and include a
small book of instructions, often original print
photos, Colour Chart and patterns. 
You can learn absolutely everything needed to
become a successful painter in many different 
styles from these DVD.
Click the image to see the list.
There are over 50 titles available

I must start by apologising for the delayed reports on wOils the Weber Water Mixable oils.

I started with one set of 6 colours including the three Primary colours, plus White, Black and Sap Green. Half way through the project I ran out of a primary colour, leaving no option but to defer the findings. Major Art the new  importers have heaps of stock on the water due early November, so it has to wait until then.

However, while working with these excellent oils I was also given a tin of Turpenoid Natural to use with them. If you read my blog you may remember I had a clash with this product when testing Genesis Heat Set Oils. It made the Genesis (which needs heat to dry, other wise it stays unset for ages) dry in hours !

Well it is a different product when used with the Weber Water Soluble Oils (and also traditional oils it seems). It is primarily a brush cleaner that is not petroleum based, has no odour, is totally non toxic and they say has no affect on the ozone layer. Apparently, (unlike Turpentine, Gum Turpentine or odourless solvent) it is also septic and biocycle safe.

With my Hogs Bristle brushes (which are not water friendly if left wet) it leaves a coating on the bristle ensuring they don’t go “mashy”. I.E Lose their shape. It is a brush conditioner. For water soluble oils it is a blessing as I use water throughout the process of painting with these oils.

What I was not aware (until I read the brochure) was it can be used in Water Soluble and Traditional Oils as a medium.

See the statements from Weber “Turpenoid Natural® is an extremely effective nontoxic brush cleaner and gentle brush conditioner which rinses out with plain water. Brushes are reconditioned when cleaned with Turpenoid Natural®. It is non-flammable, does not irritate skin or eyes and does not emit harmful vapors. It is an effective painting medium when used within recommended guidelines. Now, artists seeking safer choices, as well as students, seniors and those unable to enjoy the pleasures of oil painting because of problems with traditional solvents, have a new safe alternative. Not recommended with Damar Varnish or crystals. Use in paint mediums should not exceed 25% to ensure proper drying time. Do not use Turpenoid Natural® to create washes, glazes or to “wet” canvas before painting.”

So now we have a safe, effective and very useful option to replace the toxic mediums we are sometimes forced to use. I found as a medium it was effective, not a lean medium by any measurement, not suitable to create washes, but for minor adjustment just great.

I also found (unlike traditional solvents) that if I use it in my brush washer tub and leave it for a day or two it will have ALL sediment (paint colour) drop to the bottom with no colour remaining in the solution. You can then empty(decant) the Weber Turpenoid natural carefully and have no polluting colour, meaning it is ready for next time. Traditional solvent can still be re-used for cleaning but not as a medium as much colour remains blened into the solvent. Think of the money saved not having to discard the cleaner just because it is full of colour from previous usage. Wow !

This product is imported now by Major Art Supplies and product details can be found here

I believe it is available in selected dealers, and if your dealer does not have it tell them where to get it for you. This product is a massive success in 28 countries around the world where education centres want to teach Oil painting.

Until next time

Colin R

Lion Rock - Helen's own design

I met a young artist called Helen who does some work with Wayne Clements when he is in the shopping centres.

Her work is varied and interesting. I also watched her progress for a little while and she is always improving.

You might want to have a look.

About Helen.
After being a drawer, photographer, and lover of other peoples paintings since as far back as she can remember, Helen finally took the plunge into the exciting world of oil paint a few years ago. See the result here helenspaintings

I met a lady recently with an unusual art vocation that I thought you might like to see.

In her words:-

Beverley Currie of Newport, on the Redcliffe Peninsular, Qld.   Born (Carnie) at Mooroopna in 1939; a small country town near Shepparton Victoria, and lived in Numurkah for 33 years.  Beverley’s back-ground was nursing, having worked in Mooroopna, Numurkah, Geelong and Sydney before leaving the medical field to go into business in 1978; becoming a very successful business woman in her own right.

In 1982 whilst still running several of her businesses, Beverley discovered the art of eggshell decorating.  The fascination of creating exquisitely beautiful pieces of art from an eggshell has been her hobby and passion since.

For 22 years Beverley travelled regularly to the U.S.A. to further her knowledge, studies and expertise, which she has imparted to others around Australia, having taught numerous people, both men and women, in every State in Australia. 

Exhibiting at small Art & Craft Shows, soon lead to invitations into the larger Shows such as the ‘Women’s Weekly Craft Show’, ‘Stitches & Craft Show’ and numerous others, travelling to all major Regional and Capital Cities throughout Australia.

‘Eggery Supplies’ and ‘Eggshell Artistry’ were both Beverley’s original supply and teaching businesses in Australia before selling off part of both.
“I have helped thousands of people to enjoy this beautiful art through teaching, and my online catalogue supply business.  The internet has bought a whole new international market to my door.” says Beverley.              

www.eggshellartistry.com.au                                 

Beach Palms shade the chairs

I have never tried to paint palm trees which everyone tells me are hard to do if large and in the foreground.

I can only agree, I think they are too bright for a start.

These are done using Weber wOil, a new range of water mixable oils. I did have to use a Winsor & Newton Artisan brand water mixable for VanDyke Brown as I did not have the Weber in that colour. They mixed perfect, always good to know if there is a specific colour needed and one particular brand does not have it.

Tell me what you think of the palms. The painting is just a vehicle to see how palm trees look, the painting is not thought out as far as composition and colour values go.

I thought it best to give a general overview of water mixable oils before I go into details  of this type of oil paint.

What are Water Mixable Oils (also known as Water Miscible or water soluble)

Water miscible oil paint is a modern variety of oil paint engineered to be thinned and cleaned up with water, thus making it possible to avoid using chemicals such as turpentine, whose fumes may be harmful if inhaled (making it necessary to take precautions, such as using the solvent in a ventilated environment). Water miscible oil paint can be mixed and applied using the same techniques as traditional oil-based paint, but while still wet it can be effectively removed from brushes, palettes, and rags with ordinary soap and water. Its water solubility comes from the use of an oil medium (usually a modified linseed oil) in which one end of the molecule has been altered to bind loosely to water molecules, as in a solution.

Water mixable oils are made using virtually the same pigments as traditional oils, which have a base of Linseed Oil.

Water Mixable Oils also use Linseed Oil, but the Linseed is  modified to make it mix with water. This solves one of the most dangerous requirements of Traditional Oils to use Turpentine, mineral spirits, solvents and mediums that are toxic and can cause serious health issues. Most brands of water mixable oils also avoid the traditional toxic heavy metal pigments like Cadmium, however some brands do use these pigments which can emit some toxic elements that are also dangerous to health. However, the biggest gain is the use of water rather than the solvents, which is where the most harm comes from, not the paint. .

First developed in the UK the range of colours has been extended to closely match traditional oils in recent years, and most mediums are rated as non toxic, unlike traditional oils. There are a number of brands on the market, and like their counterpart Traditional Oils can vary between student quality and very high artist quality.

Why use Water Mixable Oils

Many people have allergic reactions to some of the toxic solvents and mediums as well as the strong odours emanating from Traditional Oils, but until recently have not had any alternative except to abandon the Oils and go to Acrylics or Water Colours.

Many state and private schools have had to leave Oil classes alone due to the problem of a large number of people in a classroom all generating the toxic fumes that Traditional Oils and mediums have, as well as the flammable nature of many mediums. They now have a totally safe alternative.

Water Mixable oils are the only alternative that basically is exactly like Traditional Oils to use and manipulate with the same characteristics, archival qualities but can be used without Turpentine, solvents and toxic mediums.

There are a couple of subtle differences, but these are easily catered to. They use the same brushes, same boards and canvas and need no special equipment other than those the traditional oil practitioner would use.

What are the differences compared to traditional oils

The odour of most brand water mixable oils have much lower odour than traditional oils

While water can be used to thin the water mixable oil, they have the same rule of fat over lean that applies to traditional oils. However, water adds no fat, so when mixed with the oil, this is treated as a lean medium, suitable for background washes. If you want to comply with the fat over lean, use the special modified linseed oil available with most brands which gives a very smooth mix, but does add fat to the mix. This difference avoids having two thinning mediums depending on whether a background wash is needed (use water) or thin for fine detail work (use the fat medium/modified linseed oil).

Drying times are usually around 25% faster than traditional oils, 3 – 5 days, thin background washes somewhat quicker.

Cleaning the brushes and work area and even your hands and clothes is a breeze. Just add water. With hogs bristle that tends to absorb colour, a dash of washing up liquid detergent will eliminate any traces of the paint.

Working with Water Mixable Oils

The good news already touched on is that if you can use Traditional Oils then your 98% of the way there with the water mixable oils, but can forget all the cleaning hassles.

The only limitation (which does apply to most traditional oils also) is that over thinning will affect adhesive abilities.

Drying time already faster than traditional oils can be sped up considerably by using the fast drying mediums available for these oils.

Application, colour mixing, special techniques are mostly the same as the traditional oils.

Archival Quality

Most manufacturers of water mixable artist quality oils have done extensive testing and state the archival quality and light fastness ratings are the same as with traditional oils. Despite several brands claiming water mixable oils can be mixed with acrylics, informed views confirm this can affect the archival qualities which have been tested to be exactly the same as traditional oils. Likewise, student quality (hues) do not have the same archival quality, but light fastness is usually quite high and consistent with student quality traditional oils.

Mediums

Water mixable oils usually have a wide range of specific mediums for every purpose, including fast drying, resin gels, thinners, Thickeners,  matt and gloss varnish to mention a few.

Mostly, these mediums are non toxic and very familiar to use for experienced artists.

Brushes

The most common brush used with traditional oils is bristle, and the same can be used just as successfully with water mixable oils.

It is a common comment by people who are use to regular oils that they feel the bristle brushes become “soggy.” This can be avoided with water mixable oils by not leaving the brush standing in the water. Dry it immediately and place it on its side to continue drying.

There are many synthetic bristle brushes which are available that work just as well and are a little less expensive than quality bristle, exotic animal hairs  or sable.

Many manufacturers make brushes specifically for water mixable oils, but I generally find the only reason they seem better is because the quality is high to justify the extra cost. Traditional Oil brushes of quality can be used quite successfully as long as they are not affected by water.

Summary.

With all State and the federal Governments strengthening laws regarding toxic products, I believe water mixable oils are going to become more accepted due to this. They are just as flexible as any other oil, have the same techniques, archival quality and roughly the same cost, but without the nasty cleaners and mediums that are associated with oils. Regulations for transport of flammable goods is making it almost impossible to ship small quantities of turpentine, mineral spirits, solvents and such like. Even carrying traditional oils onto a plane is mostly prohibited, whereas water mixable oils are not treated that way.

It will also allow schools to re-introduce classes on oils reversing the recent move to Acrylics only.

Give them a try, I guarantee it will clear your head of the fumes if nothing else, and you might be pleasantly surprised at how easy to move away from traditional Oils and avoid the health hazards they represent.

Tips

• Water soluble oil paints are perfect for travel, especially on airplanes. Many airlines restrict traditional and flammable solvents on commercial flights. Eliminating the need for harsh solvents makes water soluble oils easy to pack for painting on location whether by car, plane or horseback.
• The plein air painter can keep paint on the palette for long periods of time without the paint drying out. However, finished paintings dry more quickly than traditional oil paintings which make these new paints even more desirable for the plein air painter.
• Just like traditional Oils, Acrylic gesso can be used as the starting ground for water soluble paints to ensure proper adhesion.
• A few drops of modified linseed oil on the palette restore any paint thinned with water  paints to their original workable form.
• All oil paint should be applied fat over lean to prevent cracking.
• Use water to thin the new oils for laying in washes. Build up the oily layers after the under painting is dry. The new oils will remain water soluble after the specific water mixable mediums are used.
• Just like with standard oils, the new paints can be laid down in many smooth thin layers, called indirect painting or can be applied in a thick wet single layer called direct or alla prima painting or everything else in between.
• Do Not mix with traditional oils as the Water Mixable oil will revert back to the Traditional types. However, most brands of water mixable oils can be mixed together safely.
• Use a clear detergent to clean brushes so you can tell when all the colour has been removed, coloured detergent makes this difficult. It only takes a few seconds under a running tap to clean any size brush.

My experience with these oils goes back several years, when Winsor & Newton (The originators of this technology) released the Artisan range. These were in their early form considered a student quality oil, due to the lack of many of the common “better” pigments like Cadmium, Cobalt with these being called “Hue” which has become known as the common signal that it is a student quality paint. . W & N had as a design criteria being totally non-toxic. Over time they reviewed this aim, and introduced better colours to upgrade to a true artist quality paint, albeit retaining the “hue” type pigments so common in student quality oils.

However, over recent years, many manufacturers have improved on the original work of W & N and now there are several variants of water mixable oils, some very good, some no so great. Many have remained non-toxic, not just with the paint, but with the mediums also, something that W & N seemed to have drifted away from somewhat from reviewing their MSDS sheets.

WOil Tube samples

Weber wOils have remained true to the original ideal of non-toxic but are a true artist quality oil. There are currently 32 colours in the range with another 32 Artist Quality colours due later this year.

Next time we will start our review and test results using Weber wOil water mixable oils.

Colin Rayner

Today for the first time in weeks I made time to complete a painting.

CLICK on Image to Enlarge

As you can see, it is a typical barn scene, so popular with landscape artists the world over.

This one was done with a new oil paint from Martin/F.Weber Co famous for the USA made Weber Permalba range of artist quality oil paint, the production of the Bob Ross entertainment juggernaut and a dozen other artist’s DVD training media.

This new oil, called wOil is a traditional Artist Quality Oil Paint, but has a modified Linseed base. Linseed is used in most oil paints. The difference here is that the modified linseed oil allows the paint to be thinned and cleaned with simple water. No solvent, no turps, no toxic chemicals at all. Everything is done with the paint, non toxic mediums and plain soap and water.

I will be doing a full review of this product soon, but thought I might show the results first.

I have used another brand of oils with similar characteristics, but it is not a non toxic product range. And I am becoming more concerned over this as I see the effects on some of my older artists who have a seemingly increased issue with allergies, asthma and respiratory disease.

The painting took just over 3 hours to complete, thanks in part to using Genesis for the under toning and barn which then was glazed after the rest of the painting was finished. I used Genesis Heat Set oils so I could quickly dry the underpainting rather than wait the usual 1 week for the barn to dry. Then wOil for used for everything else. Note wOils like other oil paints is slow drying, but usually is up to 25% faster, due to the thinning medium being water based, it evaporates leaving the paint to dry like the traditional oil paints. About 3 – 5 days depending on the thickness.

If anyone wants to know the technique that involves Genesis Heat Set Oils underpainting and masking tape, let me know.

A larger image is available just click on the picture.

Anyway above is my latest work.

Colin R

I receive a newsletter regularly from a learned gentleman in USA. In a recent issue he raised the topic of why there are so many women active in Art now, whereas only a generation ago it was generally dominated by men.

This got me to thinking, and I noticed that most attendees to training courses are women, and more and more are successful professional artists, and men are being eclipsed by this change. Four out of five active artists are women now.

So I started checking into it, and found a very interesting (even disturbing?) fact about men versus women.

Women are seemingly superior to men in how they see colour. To test the theory, I used a link provided by my US newsletter friend that is a Munsell colour System HUE test.  I had as many friends do the test as I could muster. And sure enough, women all obtained better results than the men. The best score by a male was less than the worst score by a female.

Give it a go yourself.

Here is the test link, I would love to know just how well you went.

Munsell Colour Hue Test

http://www.xrite.com/custom_page.aspx?PageID=77&Lang=en

Colin R

I have now completed a full painting (I am a rank Amateur with this product) using Genesis Heat Set Oils. When I wrote the review I had only tried various activities on a canvas as individual tasks, not as a painting.

I have also experimented to overcome some of the issues I raised. I solved some, and came across some new ones as well.

I found even though I had Gessoed the canvas the Genesis actually started to dry by having the oil dry into the canvas, this caused subsequent problems with the sky as can be seen. This was actually my second try as when I used a cheap Joe’s canvas the first time the Genesis soaked into the canvas very quickly and dried totally within a couple of hours. Motto don’t cut corners with canvas (Genesis in particular)

I also tried the Genesis Thinning Medium (again) but found it somewhat lacking. So I tried odourless solvent (first a cheap brand and then Weber Turpenoid odourless and Winsor & Newton Sansodor) for thinning. The Weber Turpenoid worked well , the Sansodor (which is almost twice the price) also worked well perhaps a little smoother and making the Genesis very buttery compared to the Weber in this case. This is the opposite of what I found using traditional Oil where the Weber Turpenoid shone at its best with traditional oils, eclipsing even the Sansodor performance.

The cheap brand solvent/thinner worked but was nowhere near the result with the other two thinners, being patchy, and with inconsistent mixing.

My experience with these shows they are a viable (and cheaper ) option for a thinning medium compared to the Genesis branded medium which resembles more of a Gel that a traditional medium,

The painting?

Bribie Island based on an example from Wayne Clements

If you want to see a larger image click HERE

Brush Cleaning: Once I learnt the differences, I found the Genesis pleasant to work with but not as easy as the Water Mixable Oils I usually work with, mainly due to the cleaning issue and to some extent the thinners.
The Water Mixable Oils are so easy to keep brushes clean with soap and water; even during the painting process , whereas I still had to resort to using a solvent to keep the brushes clean with Genesis.

Drying: I still don’t like the drying process, however I acknowledge the ability to dry within minutes totally controlled (Unlike all oils and most Acrylics -Atelier excepted) is a huge benefit for many artists. I spoke to the Australian distributor of Genesis who is a lovely lady and very helpful. She is working towards finding an easier solution with a commercial made oven for those using large canvas (and with a deep pocketbook). I had some thoughts about this and I understand second hand Pie Ovens come up at auction on a regular basis, and being a large wide horizontal shelf system with draws in some designs, and a very reliable heat control system, I think the potential for a club/group to buy one for the groups’ use would be excellent value and just so easy compared to a gun or traditional home oven. They would easily copy with a large canvas in minutes.

Colours and Mixing/Blending
I found no real obstacles to this with Genesis, and did like the vibrance of the oils in most cases.  A couple of the colours are not quite what I expected but overall with 87 colours there should be no issue. Genesis also provide an excellent chart using the primaries to mix virtually all the industry standard hues such as Cadmium etc.

However I made one BIG blunder, I use Weber Turpenoid natural for cleaning my brushes when using traditional oils as it is a very effective cleaner and brush conditional leaving a small oil residue to preserve the hairs in animal based brushes. This has no affect on traditional oil paints. It cannot be used as a medium it is purely a brush cleaner. I must have used it during the painting process and not totally dried the brushes, as when I was using it in the initial sky development, a catastrophy occured with the Weber converting the Genesis Heat Set oils to a VERY fast drying paint, not what I wanted while working on blending the clouds into the sky. Hence the unhappiness with my sky in this painting.

I suggest stay away from Weber Turpenoid Natural if using Genesis, however, the Weber Turpenoid Odourless was excellent as both a thinning medium and as an initial brush cleaner with soap and water finishing off.

Reviewing my summary in Part 3 on 29th June 2011:-

It is still an expensive paint and I believe the no wastage claim is exaggerated.

Clean up  is not as bad as I first though being on a par with traditional oils.

Drying is still the Achilles heal of this product.

Most techniques used with traditional oils are still applicable with a few new ones thrown in as well to take advantage of the Genesis characteristics

I still LOVE the jars.

The colour range I could get used to but I miss the industry standard names. Genesis claim they don’t use cad colours as they are lead based and toxic. That I can understand. . . but the Weber Water Mixable oils I use are totally non toxic too, and they still use the Cadmium labels for continuity and compatibility. Why can’t Genesis?

Would I recommend it? In my last review I said no ! And mostly the reasons still exist. But if you go in with your eyes wide open, Genesis has some significant characteristics (Drying when you want, non toxic, Jars !!!, and more) so YES give it a go provided you accept if the shortcomings bother you like they do me, prepare to write off a considerable investment as you cannot mix them with other mediums.  e.g My Weber Water Mixable Oils can be mixed with other water mixable and retain all its characteristics, can be mixed with Acrylics (Except Atelier) and retain the water mixable feature and mix with traditional oils when it then becomes a traditional oil medium. The only thing missing is the total control of drying, (But Weber do have a very fast drying medium for the water mixables that cuts drying from days to hours with no loss of archival quality or texture) and of course Genesis have those wonderful jars that make life just so easy !

Hope this helps.

Colin R