Kremer Pigments Inc. NYC: Making Oil Colors

Making Oil Colors

Ever wonder how to make your own oil paint ?

Making oil colors by hand is an excellent opportunity to learn about the singular character of each pigment. Every pigment behaves differently when ground in oil.

According to specific surface and weight one needs more or less oil and arrives at a larger or smaller amount of ready ground oil color. Generally one can count on using two parts of pigment to one part of oil. In each case, only trying out will reveal the actual amounts.

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YOU NEED :

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- Pigment and oil

- Turpentine

- Tubes or jars

- Mortar and pestle, or muller and marble slab(or glass)

- Filler (extender)

- One long, thin spatula

- Paper for cleaning

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DIRECTIONS :

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Pour the desired amount of pigment into the mortar and add just a little oil. Start grinding and observe the absorption of oil. Slowly add correspondingly more or less oil until you arrive at a firm, fully saturated paste.

This is a condition in which all pigment particles are mixed evenly in oil, which should be reached after about 15 minutes, using 100 to 200g.

It easily happens that the mixture suddenly seems too liquid and one has run out of pigment to absorb the excess oil.

Therefore it is best to retain some pigment our extender, such as a fine marble dust, which one can add, until one reaches the desired consistency. Small amounts of extender do not change the color perceptibly.

Although the best oil color consists purely of pigment and oil, you can use various amounts of pigment and extender if you like. Avery small amount of an opaque white, e.g. Titanium White, makes translucent pigments opaque.

For storage, tubes are most practical, since the surface of the color cannot dry out like in jars.

To clean the mortar and pestle you will need ample amount s of turpentine or a similar solvent, a lot of newspapers and some paper towels at the end. The mortar should be completely clean and dry before you start with the next color.

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OILS :

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Linseed Oil is the most common oil used for oil colors. Of the various kinds available, cold pressed linseed oil is the purest. It is of a golden color and is in spite of its yellowing tendency most often used. Stand Oil is highly weather resistant and dries glossy. Linseed oil varnish with cobalt drier is highly recommended for egg-oil emulsions, because it dries quickly and yellows little. Linseed oil varnish is a refined oil used for the standard production of oil color.

Poppy oil dries very slowly and not as hard as linseed oil. It is preferred for light colors, since it is nearly colorless, yellows little and cracks less. Walnut oil dries faster; sunflower oil yellows even less.

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