Water Mixable Oil Paints

Forums: Art, Painting, Farmerman, Realjohnboy, Oil Paints
Email this Topic • Print this Page

Has anyone used them? What do you think?

I haven't used oil paints since college, but I recently got a ton of them for free and there were several tubes of the water mixable variety in the pile. I wanted to give them a try, but I need to know if it is possible to mix the water soluble oils and regular oils in the same painting? I know the water oils dry faster, will this cause separation? Thanks ahead for any information!

Topic Stats
Top Replies
Link to this Topic

Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 2,261 • Replies: 10

No top replies

Lots of people use them, but not me, so I've no advice.

0 Replies

@Aldistar,

That sounds like a question for farmerman or realjohnboy.

1 Reply

@roger,

Of course, if they asked the question, I would send them to you. It gets kind of circular.

1 Reply

@roger,

Plus I know about them and am just not interested.

0 Replies

Yeah, was never really interested in them, but since I got them for free I figured what the heck. I did find some info on an art forum that says you can pretty much mix them with regular oils and be OK. I may just donate them to a local art studio or school.

1 Reply

@Aldistar,

Still listening - it is hard for me to paint here in hotville with a swampcooler decreeing air in and out.

0 Replies

@Aldistar,

Ive not used them but I hear that those that do really like em. My studio smells like turpentine and damar . I tried acrylics once and I dont like their flat look and kinda droopy layers.
Ive heard that the water sol oils have the best of oils with the convenience of water base.

1 Reply

@farmerman,

here's from a blog on Ask.
There are also a bunch of youtubes with mini instructions using water soluble. I just popped in "Using water mixeable oil paints"

Quote:

Reasons for Using Water Soluble Oils
I have been working with water-based oil paints for a few years now. Because my studio is within my house, I wanted to find something that didn't smell of turps. I have worked with acrylics also, but on certain pictures I do not like that flat look they sometimes give a painting. -- Pauline Dickerson

What’s the Difference Between Water Soluble Oils and Acrylics?
Water soluble oils are water mixable, not water based. Big difference. They are real oils with two ways (that I know of) of making them. One is to add detergent to oils to allow the water and oils to get along with one another, the other way involves using different ingredients. -- Michael9

The main difference is drying time; acrylics dry very rapidly and give relatively little working time, whereas water soluble oils dry more slowly, like traditional oils, giving you more working time. – Agatha210

The character of the water soluble oils is very similar to oil based paints. They seem to give you excellent depth of color. You can use the same medium as you would with oils. Or you can use water, each can give you a variety of looks. The spread ability and colors remain the same.-- Pauline Dickerson

It appears that the way water sol oils are made is to mix some kinds of surfactant (detergent) into the mix, This makes the carrying oils be more soluble in water.
Im thinking that this could possibly affect the permanence of the oil

1 Reply

@farmerman,

Thank you for the info. I have done some web research too. I wrote Winsor & Newton directly and they told me that you can use them together with regular oils. They act just like regular oils in texture and drying time, so there would be no separation. I have heard a lot of good feed back on them, but the two most common draw backs I have seen are

1. No one knows how permanent they are or if they can stand the test of time like traditional oils.

2. As they dry, it is not uncommon for the surface to have hundreds of tiny "holes" where the water evaporated out of the oil as it dried. This made the over all painting appear dull.

So I think I will use the colors I have and do a test painting and see how they do. I will use traditional oils and do another and just see what I like better.

1 Reply

@Aldistar,

Still, I think they might work for thin "washes" . I dont think Id use them for thick impastos or knife work for the very reason that the surfactants are just detergents that dry and cyrstallize but probably remain water soluble forever

0 Replies

Water Mixable Oil Paints

Related Topics

Quick Links

My Account

able2know