Hey, I’m working on an oil painting today
and I’d love for you to join me. My name
is Ginger and today I’ll share with you
a tip on what you can do to make your oil
paintings dry faster.
I have this huge acrylic canvas which I painted
in 2011. It was hanging on my hallway, by
a Command strip Velcro. Then one day, it just
fell off the wall by itself. The Velcro must
have lost its hold and that drop kinda damaged
the painting and I saw some chipped paint
where the canvas hit the stairwell. So I decided
I’m going to paint over this and use Shiva
Oil Paintstiks and some Sennelier oil pastels.
Following the fat over lean rule, it’s okay
to layer oil paints on top of acrylic, but
you can’t paint acrylics over oils. In other
words, the underpainting should have less
oil content than the top layer, otherwise
you’ll see cracks develop on your painting
as the paint dries over time.
Now the problem with oils is that they don’t
dry quick enough. It takes months, sometimes
a year, for oil paintings to really dry. They’re
dry to the touch in a matter of days or weeks,
but oil paintings aren’t fully cured until
months have passed. And for those of you who
tried Sennelier oil pastels, you’ll discover
that it doesn’t dry at all. The painting
still feels tacky after months or waiting
and that can be very frustrating especially
if you’re not framing your work under glass.
So in this episode, I’ll show you how to
use Winsor and Newton’s Fast Drying Medium
which I found to be such a huge help in solving
this problem.
Fast Drying Medium is exactly what its name
implies. It helps dry your work faster. And
there are many ways to apply it which I’ll
show you in this video. One way is to cut
a piece of your oil paint stick and mix it
with the medium in a palette. I’m using
a recyclable plastic as my palette. I got
this from a take home container. I don’t
want to use my real palette because this medium
will harden soon and it will destroy my palette.
But with this container, I can just easily
throw it when I’m done painting.
Anyway, the goal here is to create a creamy
pigmented mixture which you can then apply
with your paintbrush. Sometimes, when I’m
too lazy to mix, I just dip my oil paint stick
or oil pastel directly into the Fast Drying
Medium. And with the tip already wet, I apply
the paint on the canvas. Sometimes, though,
you don’t get enough medium that way. So
I keep dipping again and again before I color.
Another easier way is to just paint straight
away, like just rub your oil sticks or oil
pastels directly on the canvas. Then smooth
over your work using a paintbrush that’s
been dipped in drying agent. That’s actually
the fastest and most efficient way to apply
this Winsor Newton Fast Drying Medium.
Now you might ask, what exactly does this
Fast Drying Medium do? Do you really need
it? Because to be honest, this extra step
in your oil painting process, it can get very
tedious and messy.
The most obvious result you’ll see as you
apply the medium is that the oil paint becomes
thinner and less clumpy. It reduces the viscosity
of the paint in the same manner that linseed
oil, now linseed oil is another solvent. It
also lessens the viscosity. When a substance
is viscous, it means it is thick and sticky
and gooey. Imagine the consistency of honey
or maple syrup. That is very viscous. What
this drying oil does is to lessen the thickness
of oil paint so that it can flow better and
you can move the paint around with your brush
and get into the nitty-gritty details of your
painting. Like I said, it works just like
linseed oil. So if you’re working with Fast
Drying Medium, you can forget about the linseed
oil if you prefer it that way.
The medium minimizes the appearance of brush
strokes so the paint looks flatter, like acrylic
paint. If that’s the effect you’re going
for, then this medium helps. You’ll notice
that the surface of the painting also produces
some glossy sheen. Normally, Shiva paintsticks
and Sennelier oil pastels, they dry to a matte
or maybe a bit of a satin finish. But adding
this Winsor and Newton Fast Drying Medium
makes the paint shiny. This Fast Drying Medium
can also increase the transparency of the
paint. So if you noticed a while ago, some
of the colors I’m applying with the brush
are not that deeply saturated because my brush
has a bit more, a little too much of this
drying oil. The opacity of the colors is compromised
a bit the more medium you use. So keep that
in mind. Another thing worth noting is that
this medium resists yellowing.
That's according to the manufacturer.
I have to say, this product is not the only
medium available out there that can speed
up the drying of your oil paintings. There
are different types of linseed oils and drying
oils that can do the exact same thing. But
what I’m saying is that this is the one
I discovered to be effective for my Sennelier
oil pastels. When I brushed this on top of
Sennelier, the pastels dried to the touch
within 3-4 days, not months. I only experimented
with Winsor to see if it’ll work on Sennelier.
And it did.
In case you’re wondering what this whimsical
painting is about, I called it Seaside Reef.
These ovals here that form a line, these look
like a decorative border, but that’s actually
my school of fish. I have two sailboats riding
these huge waves here. And under the waves
are my coral reefs and my whimsical versions
of starfish and sea anemone.
Okay friends, I hope you learned something
informative from this video. So if you’re
hard-pressed in finding a solution to your
drying time problem, especially when you're
using Sennelier oil pastels, give this Winsor
& Newton fast drying medium a try. It really works.
Now one last exciting announcement, before
I end. My new blog is up and running. Please
check it out. The link is in the description
below. It’s gingerumali.com. In the blog,
you’ll find lots of art inspiration, some
product reviews on art supplies, and tons
of bible studies and devotionals to inspire
you in your faith.
Okay, that’s it. Thanks for watching. This
is Ginger from Art That Plays and Prays.
See you again next time.
