Clove oil to slow oxidation

Does anyone know if clove oil slows down paint drying?

From what I've picked up from trying to learn oil painting, yes, I think it does but I don't have personal experience using it. I would think any oil would retard drying time.

I have read, I believe at Winsor/Newton, that the addition of clove oil to your paints will eventually turn them black. I believe it can take many years to happen. I have heard that adding a cotton ball to the inside of a sealed palette, not touching the paint, can leave the oils open for weeks. Not positive on all this though.

I have just started experimenting with clove oil. It sure does extend the drying time. I put a drop on a 0.5inch long Burnt Umber squeezed out paint and it has been 4 days and it has not dried. Burnt Umber dries the fastest on my palette usually a day and a half and it almost becomes unusable. I think I have found my answer to prolonging the paint on the palette and canvas so that I can leave it in the middle and not be pressured to complete it (which sometimes I do). I need to experiment some more to find out.

I have heard about the darkening with the clove oil, but I think in my early stages when I am honing my skills I will use it so that I can come back to it and mess around with it some, so that both the canvas and palette stay wet.

I have read about the cotton ball and sealed palette solution also and that should be good, but I want my canvas to stay wet too (I guess I can put my canvas in the sealed palette).

Sounds good to me. Have fun!

I've only heard of the cotton ball trick.

I think that as you start painting more(not alla prima), you'll start to learn how to deal with the paints being slightly dried and at times, you'll even appreciate it such as when you want to glaze an area or add color that you don't want to blend in.

Judy

Please let us know how it goes with the clove oil. I'm running into the problem of the paints drying more quickly than I'd like.

I will keep you posted. However, it seems to be doing good... 1 drop is all you need and 2 drops for the earth colors. You need a dropper... I am wating and watching to see how long it takes to dry...

I have a question about the cotton ball in the sealed palette - this isn't a dry cotton ball, is it? I don't want to assume anything so thought I'd ask - does it have the clove oil on it?

Oh! the cotton ball has to be dipped in Clove Oil. There is a product out there by the name of Palette Garage that uses the same principle. I don't think you need to buy this product...

I bought a very small bottle of clove oil from a pharmacy, and put 1 or 2 drops on a cotton ball in the center of my sealed palette (not touching any paint). It has kept the watermixable oil wet for at least a month. Winsor Newton has a comment about clove oil eventually turning your paint black, but I can't remember where it was now. I use plain graham's walnut oil for my medium, and it stays wet plenty long enough for me, but we're all different, so whatever works best for you.

Thanks, I know that question sounded stupid but I just wanted to make sure about the oil. Also, I found the mention of clove oil turning the paint dark here:

http://painting.about.com/b/2010/01/07/clove-oil-as-a-retarder-or-not.htm

Faisal, as lovely as your paintings are, I shudder to think of them dark and unable to be seen as you painted them!

Don't worry, i am using them for my first 100. I won't be using them for the ones I selll. I think the dark thing may be over rated. I know quite a few artists using them, including Mark Carder... I think it takes years for the paint to darken as well.

Also, all oils have some kind of yellowing, darkening effects etc depending on the exposure to light etc.... So lets see what happens... I am tempted to use different types of vegetable oils like olive etc to see what effect do they have...

I have an internet friend who used safflower oil with great success. I would think olive oil would tint the paint color sort of greenish but I'm not sure. It's an anti-oxidant (in the world of health food) so I would think it would definitely slow the drying of the paint since oil paint dries by oxidation. Grape seed oil is also an anti-oxidant so that may also work.

I personally love to experiment so don't fault you for it, however, it seems when you're experimenting that you end up producing your "masterpieces"!

Do you know how long does safflower oil keep everything wet? Stand Oil does not keep things wet for too long, unfortunatetly.

Actually, I think safflower oil dries more quickly than linseed oil. My friend used it because she hated the smell of other oil painting mediums including turpentine/even odorless thinners. So, I don't think that would keep your paints wet.

Cool...

Faisal, I searched the web looking for something to slow down the drying of oil paint on the palette but clove oil was the only thing I found. I'm not real eager to try it if it darkens the paint any at all but I had to quit with another flower painting because the paint was drying on the palette too quickly & it was getting sticky and skinning over. With all the great minds here on this forum, you'd think we could come up with something!

http://filarecki.com/oil-paint-drying-times.html
Here is a link to a page on my website regarding oil drying time. There maybe some information there that is helpful to you.

Thanks, Judy! Off to check it out!

Jan, I think the darkening effects of the clove oil may have been exaggerated. I believe there are quite a few professional artists who use it (Mark Carder, Robert A. Johnson).

For some reason Mark Carder has closed his internet business that sold the Carder Method. However he used to have a mixture called the DELQ, which essentially was a concoction of several mediums/solvents and one of the things was Clove Oil.

I also think that the painting is more prone to darkening if you "mix" the clove oil with paint. If you use the "cotton-soaked-clove-in-a-tightly-closed-pallette" technique, you will not see the darkening...

You have to ask yourself, if you are painting currently to push up your skill level or do you plan to sell these. If you are painting to improve your skills, then if it darkens a little bit in 5 or 10 years, who cares... in 5 to 10 years you will be creating poetry on canvas.. and the old painting of yester-years will be just distant memories.

Also, from what I have read (no experience to back it up) the linseed oil in our paint will eventually turn yellow as well with time. Also, from what I hear, if you store your paintings in darkness, your painting will turn dark over time... I am just absorbing all the info for now... let us see what happens. Good Luck!

I'm sure you're right - I've just had "archival" drummed into me too much, I think.

Jan,

Please visit: www.drawmixpaint.com by Mark Carder, and see his "supply list". Please see the generous amount of clove oil he uses . He was commisoned to paint President George W. Bush's portrait. I don't think Clove Oil is that bad. (He is giving up his instruction for free it seems like. He has closed his other website "The Carder Method").

I like Marks results, but it is too cumbersome for me and is too detailed. Like everything else, I have taken some good ideas from his videos and left the ones out that don't work for me.

Take Care

Thanks so much for that link, Faisal! I watched several of the videos and feel that I learned a lot in addition to the bit about clove oil! We're in the boonies so it may take me a while to get any but I think I'm going to try some on a cotton ball if nothing else.