How to Make Your Own Oil Paints.
Making your own oil paints is a lot like growing
your own vegetables – homemade is always
better than store-bought.
You will need Pigments Linseed oil Rubber
gloves A safety respirator or mask Safety
glasses or goggles A sheet of glass or marble
at least a quarter-inch thick A grinding slab
A Muller A palette knife or spatula Cleaning
solution Empty paint tubes Labels Marker A
clock or one-hour timer Canvas-stretching
pliers and airtight jars.
Making oil paints will put you in direct contact
with fumes that may be harmful.
Do the following with a mask and in a well-ventilated
area.
Step 1.
Put on all the safety gear.
A lot of pigments used in manufacturing paints
are surprisingly poisonous.
Raw pigment powder is very fine and easily
inhaled by accident.
Step 2.
Place a small amount of pigment on your grinding
slab.
Marble is more durable than glass, but marble
is porous, which makes it harder to clean.
Either way, make sure the surface underneath
your grinding slab is clean and level.
Step 3.
Add a very small amount of linseed oil.
Step 4.
Use the muller to mash and mix the pigment
and linseed oil slowly.
Note what time you start this step.
Step 5.
Add pigment or linseed oil to improve the
consistency.
Different kinds of linseed oil have different
properties — tack, drying time, etc., — so
you'll want to experiment.
Step 6.
Use the spatula to chase the mixture back
into the middle of the grinding slab.
Roughly 30 minutes of work will get you normal
consistency.
Step 7.
Once you're happy, note the time it took from
step four until now.
Different pigments take different amounts
of time to mix with the oil—in the future,
you’ll know what to expect.
Step 8.
Using your spatula, sweep up the oil paint
and pack it into the empty paint tubes.
Step 9.
Firmly roll the open end of the tube and use
pliers to smash the end down to an airtight
seal.
Pay special attention to the corners.
They're easy to miss.
Step 10.
Label each tube for color and date of manufacture.
Step 11.
Thoroughly clean your grinding slab as soon
as possible.
Step 12.
Store your oil and pigments properly in airtight
jars.
To reduce the amount of air in your oil, drop
glass marbles into the bottom to raise the
level of fluid in the jar.
Step 13.
Use the paints as needed.
Did you know Commercially manufactured oil
paints contain stabilizers, preservatives,
and other substances that help extend the
paints' shelf lives but can adversely affect
the quality of the paint.
