What is oil paint?

The oil paint is a drying oil, which is mixed with different pigments and fillers. The oil paints may be used to draw on textile, wood, stone, metal etc. It is highly recommended to apply a primer on the surface before the paint itself. Compared to the acrylic and tempera paints, the time for storage and preserving the oil paints is much longer. The oil paint can be cleaned with turpentine or alcohol, but after it forms an insoluble film. For cleaning the brushes and the palette knives usually are used white alcohol, warm water and soap. In the composition of the oil paints there are drying oils, which are used in pure form or the form of different mixtures. The proportion and the kind of the oil depend on the specification of the pigment; the point is to achieve good drying and minimal yellowing of the dry film. The oils are actually a product of squeezing plant seeds, so they are natural products and their composition depends on the environment, the climate, the season etc. Another different component of the oil paint are the pigments. The type of the pigment affects the drying time, it may vary between 1 - 2 days up to 10 - 12 days. Other factors which affect the drying time of an oil paint are: • The temperature of the environment • The surface that the oil paint was applied to • The thickness of the layer • The light is actually a catalyst and speeds up the drying process During the drying process the oil paint forms elastic insoluble film, which with the time passing is gets more solid. It is possible to fasten the process of drying, in order to do that is needed to add siccative, but not more than 2 %. The white alcohol and the linseed oil are ingredients that are not supposed to be used to make azure and velaturas tones. These two ingredients in fact dilute the oil paints, but they decrease the quality and notably change the tone. If the oil paints is diluted with too much white alcohol or linseed oil, the mixture: • Will get dry slowly • There is a high chance that after get dry the paint will rumple • With the time passing the affinity of the paint to get yellow will increase • The colors look grey and have no shine In order to avoid all these effects, it is recommended to use working medium that is produced especially for oil paints or a mixture of dammar varnish and linseed oil (1:1) might be also used.