OILS AND MEDIUMS

THERE are on sale a very large number of Mediums for use in oil painting, some of which are essential, but most of which are unnecessary; and, for certain purposes, unreliable. The materials generally on sale—and this is not a complete list—are:

and other materials, the compositions of many of which are kept a secret and are sold under proprietary names. As a matter of fact, the painter can get along perfectly, and will have permanent results, if he sticks to Raw Linseed Oil, Turpentine and one Varnish, either Mastic or Damar. I do not mean to say that a Medium like Copal Varnish mixed with certain colors is not a good Medium, for such a material will produce enamel paints which will have a permanent gloss, but when you come to consider that the Old Masters had only from seven to ten pigments ground in a drying oil like Linseed Oil, and that most of their paintings are to-day a complete example of permanence, there should be no reason why the mind of the painter should be clouded with a multiplicity of materials and why many materials should be used which may in time prove detrimental.

Without going into any scientific dissertation on the subject, if you take a strong drier and mix it with many pigments like Umber, Zinc and the Siennas, you will have, apparently, a perfectly dry picture in twelve hours, but you must bear in mind that the drying process, once started with these powerful driers, goes on sometimes for years, until finally the paint disintegrates, because too much drier has been used. It is, of course, oftentimes essential to use plenty of drier, or to use Copal Varnish as a Medium, in order to finish the work so that it can be handled with safety for illustrative uses, but where a painter has a commission to paint a portrait, it its far wiser to use the simple palette and to reduce only with Turpentine and Raw Linseed Oil and let the sun and air dry his picture slowly, normally and naturally.