Oil Painting - fat over lean?

[ Home ] [ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Art Forums ] [ Oil painting ] [ Posting Rules ]

1479 by SmoothOp on 03/09/03 at 12:15 AM
Oil Painting - fat over lean?

Hi All,
I've been oil painting for a few years now. I've tried various types of thinners, glazes, and recipes to add sheen, to increase drying
time, to help paint flow, and to texturize the canvas, but I'm still confused when it comes to the whole Fat-over-Lean theory. If were not
to apply fat over lean for archival purposes, then why do we start our oil paintings with acrylic-based gesso? Isn't it going to crack and
peel over the next decade or so? Lets just assume for a minute that some chemist logs on and explains why this is acceptable. I'm sure
there is a reason.... I'll undestand.

But what really confuses me is the level or degree of fat you can or cannot apply to another level as used in some glazing techniques. If I start a canvas with half and half (pigment/linseed oil), as in the highest quailty oil paint straight out of a tube, then anything I mix, be it turp, liquin, stand oil, ...the second go round, will cause it to break down over the years and flake off. Am I right? How do I know what recipe I can use over another? For instance, I usually start with a general recipe of linseen, turpenoid, and a little liquin then (when dry) glaze with a mixture of liquin, gum turp, & stand oil. How exactly do I know (other than listening to the guy that gave me the glazing recipe to begin with) that this meduim will hold up over time? And over my primary meduim? And what if I run out of medium half way through the painting. Now I have to mix new
glaze stuff. What if my ratio isn't exactly like the first mix. Will extra gum turp and less liquin cause severe trauma to the underlying
paint? Help, Anyone...

Is there an exact science out there as to what I can and can't mix together or can and can't add to another layer? Maybe I'll take up
watercolors, but then there is guache and water-soluble oils, what
if.... ah hell with it ;)

Thanks in advance,



Follow Ups:


Post a Followup 1479"> SmoothOp"> cfd163_juno.comOil Painting - fat over lean? _03/09/03 at 12:15"Re: Oil Painting - fat over lean? "
: Hi All, : I've been oil painting for a few years now. I've tried various types of thinners, glazes, and recipes to add sheen, to increase drying : time, to help paint flow, and to texturize the canvas, but I'm still confused when it comes to the whole Fat-over-Lean theory. If were not : to apply fat over lean for archival purposes, then why do we start our oil paintings with acrylic-based gesso? Isn't it going to crack and : peel over the next decade or so? Lets just assume for a minute that some chemist logs on and explains why this is acceptable. I'm sure : there is a reason.... I'll undestand. : But what really confuses me is the level or degree of fat you can or cannot apply to another level as used in some glazing techniques. If I start a canvas with half and half (pigment/linseed oil), as in the highest quailty oil paint straight out of a tube, then anything I mix, be it turp, liquin, stand oil, ...the second go round, will cause it to break down over the years and flake off. Am I right? How do I know what recipe I can use over another? For instance, I usually start with a general recipe of linseen, turpenoid, and a little liquin then (when dry) glaze with a mixture of liquin, gum turp, & stand oil. How exactly do I know (other than listening to the guy that gave me the glazing recipe to begin with) that this meduim will hold up over time? And over my primary meduim? And what if I run out of medium half way through the painting. Now I have to mix new : glaze stuff. What if my ratio isn't exactly like the first mix. Will extra gum turp and less liquin cause severe trauma to the underlying : paint? Help, Anyone... : Is there an exact science out there as to what I can and can't mix together or can and can't add to another layer? Maybe I'll take up : watercolors, but then there is guache and water-soluble oils, what : if.... ah hell with it ;) : Thanks in advance,
[ Home ] [ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Art Forums ] [ Oil painting ] [ Posting Rules ]

 
A. A. Art. This Site designed and maintained by Alexei Antonov
Translation from Russian Copyright (c) 1999 Vladimir Pavlov.
Copyright (c) 1999 Alexei Antonov. All rights reserved.