Share the brand of Water Soluble Oils you use and why you chose that brand.

I use the Holbein Duo Aqua and Lukas Berlin. I find that they're very creamy and appear to react better to the addition of water then some of the other brands. I use 1/2 water and 1/2 linseed oil as my medium so that's important to me.

I use WN WMO. I alter the consistency by using M. Graham's walnut oil rather than any water. It only takes a very small amount to get the effect I want. The paint still remains water soluble and washes up with soap and water. I like the Masters Brush Cleaner and Preservative best because it keeps my brushes so well.

I find that small amount of water make the paint very tacky. Water works fine for a glaze, but tends to be flat. I like the slight gloss the walnut oil gives.

Judy

I haven't tried the walnut oil yet but I did buy some. I think I'll give it a shot on one of the challenges photos.

Just remember to use only a little bit. I put a small amount on of my palette and then dip my brush into it. I think you will really like it.

Judy

Holbein's Duo is the brand I prefer due to their overall consistent handling quality and pigment load. There was a time when their color selection was too limited, but that's since been improved.

I don't see Grumbacher's MAX paints in the list, which I also use and would be my 2nd choice. They appear to have a good pigment load as well, but the consistency is not quite as good as Holbein, or at least wasn't (I haven't bought any new paints of theirs in awhile.) Below them I would rank W&N and then the others.

Dave, thank you for pointing out that Grumbacher Max was missing. I've added it to the poll.

I prefer Holbein, but can only afford Artisan, which I also like a lot. I received a free Artisan sample set given out at an art design class I took many years ago. I didn't start using them until a few years later. I have never used traditional oils, so didn't know what to expect. I was used to acrylics so was a little frustrated with Artisan's stiffness and tricky thinning with water.

I splurged on a set of tiny tubes of Holbein a couple of years ago and fell in love. Thus began my quest to get my Artisans to handle a nicely as Holbeins. I've developed an easily manageable system using Artisan painting medium, thinner, and oil that gives the Artisans comparable handling to Holbein.

Hi Debra! Welcome to the WSOs forum! Your knowledge regarding WSOs is greatly appreciated. Do you mix all three mediums together? I would be interested in knowing more about your system. I'm using the Holbein now but the Artisan would be easier for me to find.

I recently bought a tube of Artisan cerulean, mainly since they're one of the few who don't substitute that color with a hue replacement. It works fine. My disatisfaction with the Artisans I have is a lack of consistency between colors and a lower pigment load than I'd prefer. Artisans also tend to be the easiest to find.

What I mainly don't like about Lukas Berlins is that there are too many color mixes and hues, otherwise they're not too bad. The other brands seem too much like student grade paints.

Janet, I start by adding a couple of drops of Artisan painting medium per inch or so of paint and mix thoroughly with a palette knife. This step alone brings the paint to a consistency similar to out-of-the-tube Holbeins.

If i want the mix to be more fluid and leaner (in the early layers), I pull some to the side and add a drop or two of Artisan thinner. If I want the mix to be more fluid and fatter (in the later layers), I add a couple of drops of Artisan linseed oil. The middle layers can be medium only.

WN says that the very first layer, for drawing in your main objects, say, or doing a washy value sketch, can use a substantial amount of thinner and no medium, like doing a turp wash in traditional oils. Subsequent layers, whether with thinner or oil added, should also have painting medium or fast drying medium to maintain proper adhesion and drying. The object is to make sure no layer is leaner than a layer below it or fatter than a layer above it.

Judy, unfortunately, I have an aversion to the feel of oily things. The thinner has really helped with that - I also use it to remove leftover paint from my brush between color changes and before I wash them at the end of the day. I like all my mediums/additives to be wm - I the easy cleanup. I don't use water at all any more except for the final cleanup.

David, by lack of consistency in color in Artisans, do you mean from one tube to another of the same Artisan color or between other brands?

Hi Debra,

It sounds like you have it well under control. I had tried the thinner from WN when I first started before they improved it and was very discouraged with it. I understand it is much better now, but the walnut oil works so well for me, I have no desire to try their thinner again.

As far as cleanup, I also use a little walnut oil to wipe off the brushes before cleaning. Even with the walnut oils, the paint remains water-soluble and cleans up easily. I like to use The Masters Brush cleaner and preservative because it keeps the brushes so good.

It is just so nice to have so many alternatives to use rather than the turps and other solvents I had to use with regular oils. My asthma and lungs really appreciate the change.

Judy

Judy, is it possible it was the quick-dry medium rather than the thinner that you didn't like? The original wm quick-dry was terrible - it hardened in the unopened bottles on the store shelf. That has been improved, and from what I hear is very good. It would be used with or instead of the regular wm painting medium.

The thinner is a very new product, I think less than 2 years, and as far as I know has not been reformulated. It is quite different from the quick dry medium. The thinner behaves much like turpentine or other solvent, except you probably couldn't soften dried paint with it. I use it instead of water.

A layer with thinner added touch-dries very quickly - within hours or a couple of days depending on the percentage used, thickness of the layer, substrate, etc. But it's very lean, whereas a layer with quick dry that also dries fairly quickly is fatter along the same lines as the wm painting medium. The quick dry and wm painting medium both contain oil; the thinner does not.

My (non-scientific) guess is that the quick-dry contains more resin or other drying agent to speed up the oil drying, while the thinner causes the percentage of oil in the mix to be less so it dries as it should, more quickly under more flexible oilier layers.

I've used all of these except for the Weber wOils, but I mainly use Artisans. Now that Holbein have added some cadmiums to their line, I might have to order a few more colors to try.
After painting with some traditional oils this weekend (very soft and oily), I realized I prefer the stiffer Artisan paints. I use the thinner with them for sketching/under painting, then switch to Graham's walnut alkyd for the rest of the painting.
No need to worry about walnut oil going rancid, unless you plan on eating it! Store it just like your other painting mediums/oils.

Judy - did you mean the thinner or the quick-dry medium? Artisan has an improved version of the quick-dry. Works well, but I prefer the walnut alkyd.

David - how are the Artisan colors inconsistent? Is it certain ones, or is it random? Tell us more, please!

Callie