In 2017 I began the painting-with-oils experiment. Doing so did reside within my general purview of “painting what I don’t know” (which in this case included technique). There was also this bit of lingering subjectivity I clearly needed to allow into the mix: “I’m never going to be a ‘serious’ painter unless I paint in oils.”
In addition to the natural irks of grappling with a new medium were broader ponderings: Could oils open up avenues of expression better than with acrylics? Will there be more ‘depth’ to the colour? And of course “Will painting in oils legitimise myself as a serious painter?”
A brief response to some of the above is this: Yes the colours can have more depth. Also, there are oil colours that aren’t available in the acrylic paint brands I use (and use simply because access to them is easy, local, and moderately priced).
Naturally I did initially struggle with oils and my first weekend’s experiment rendered me rather light-headed (using the traditional mediums and cleaning products).
There were also practicalities to take into account: I work in a small space with limited ventilation. I use large house painting brushes requiring large amounts of paint.
Whilst there was a novelty to trying out this different medium, the practicalities rendered the experiment too hard (and rocking up to work Monday morning fog-brained didn’t help).
Enter ‘Medium W’.
I asked one of the peeps at one of my local art supply shops if there was something that can be used with oils that’s not so brain-fogging? She said ‘Medium W’.
It’s expensive but good: Mix it with oils then you can add water!
So what and why bother?
Why bother with the expense when I can just use acrylics?
Combining oils with Medium W provides something I would never have arrived at if not for trying the combo out: Rich oil colours, some different colours not readily available with the acrylic brands I use, and a curious paint fluidity that behaves differently than with acrylics.
Plus, brushes can be cleaned using a combo of water and dishwashing liquid.
Some of the results were very exciting. In fact, with the seemingly opposing conjunction of rich oily colours with the fluidity of water-enhanced Medium W, the canvases naturally urged themselves towards being flat rather than upright.
I would probably be continuing with oils and Medium W now if not (again) due to practical constraints: Oil paintings require longer drying periods and during winter the drying period gets too long (given limited space). Also, I prefer to paint larger canvases now (so limited space is again a factor).
With this ramble preamble, has painting in oils (admittedly in hybrid form with Medium W) helped me feel like a more ‘serious’ painter?
No.
So good to get that out the way.
Before I forget, one aspect about richness of colour re: ‘Oils versus acrylics’ I’d like to share is this: I did some research regarding varnishing paintings prior to selling. For now I’ve chosen to varnish my paintings and the only reason is this: Varnishing protects the painting (from dust, grubby fingers, etc.). I think this is a good thing. A bonus to doing this is that by using a gloss varnish it will enrich the colours (and will enhance acrylics more obviously than oils). This is particularly relevant for my paintings since the ‘white space’ (which could be the primed canvas) is as much a contributing aspect of the work than the painted areas.
And if I had unlimited space, unlimited funds, and unlimited time, I’d like to flirt with the notion of painting unlimited sized paintings with unlimited fat, oil-rich paint (and see where that experiment would go).