I have to paint in my home. So I wince whenever I am using any art material with a potential for toxicity problems. When I am using pastels I now try to carefully urge the dust as much as possible into a paper bag. (I used to just blow the stuff around everywhere.)
When I painted with regular oils I thought I was pretty smart and used an odorless solvent. However, I later learned that just because you can’t smell it doesn’t mean it’s not there. With a small child in the house to think about I switched over almost entirely to using acrylics and watercolor for painting.
But painting with oils is such a joy! They have a luxurious texture that no other medium has been able to replicate. I have used a few Heavy Body Acrylics, but even those don’t seem to match the buttery feel of oils.
Plus, acrylics dry faster. That is both a benefit and a disadvantage. But that’s a topic I will save for later!
I started using water miscible oils several years ago and have completed many paintings with this medium. At first, I only used water to clean my brushes while working on a painting. But I found that when I used just plain water it was still difficult to get the brushes clean enough to continue working with on the painting. So I went online and in the Wet Canvas forum I found a great solution. It is also one that conditions the brushes and makes them smell great, too. I use regular hair shampoo!
When I use shampoo to clean my brushes between colors, I have a three-bucket system. One has water with the shampoo in it. The next two are clean water only. When I need to clean my brush, I use the shampoo container first. Then I swish it around in container number two that contains just plain water for a first rinse. And the brush gets a final rinse in bucket number three. I then squeeze it with a paper towel to lower the amount of moisture in the hairs or bristles.
If I am working on a large painting I change out the water in bucket number three several times to keep the amount of rinsed off shampoo to a minimum. I don’t know what would happen if the shampoo were left in the brush then applied to the oil paint on the canvas. Perhaps nothing right away. Perhaps something 50 years from now. Perhaps nothing at all ever.
I still read about acrylics in some decades-old art books when that medium was new. No one was sure what would happen to paintings done in acrylics after several decades. Well, we have our answer on that one now. (That’s a good topic to research for yet another blog entry so no more about that right now.)
Water miscible oils are great for people with a sensitivity to the solvents normally used to clean brushes. By using plain water or the shampoo idea you eliminate the possibility of potentially harmful fumes hovering around your house.
If you have ever used something other than a solvent to clean your brushes please feel free to comment! I would like to read your input, suggestions and opinions on the subject and I am sure there are others out there with a similar interest. If you have any questions I will answer them to the best of my ability.
In the meantime, thanks for reading and paint on!
When I painted with regular oils I thought I was pretty smart and used an odorless solvent. However, I later learned that just because you can’t smell it doesn’t mean it’s not there. With a small child in the house to think about I switched over almost entirely to using acrylics and watercolor for painting.
But painting with oils is such a joy! They have a luxurious texture that no other medium has been able to replicate. I have used a few Heavy Body Acrylics, but even those don’t seem to match the buttery feel of oils.
Plus, acrylics dry faster. That is both a benefit and a disadvantage. But that’s a topic I will save for later!
I started using water miscible oils several years ago and have completed many paintings with this medium. At first, I only used water to clean my brushes while working on a painting. But I found that when I used just plain water it was still difficult to get the brushes clean enough to continue working with on the painting. So I went online and in the Wet Canvas forum I found a great solution. It is also one that conditions the brushes and makes them smell great, too. I use regular hair shampoo!
When I use shampoo to clean my brushes between colors, I have a three-bucket system. One has water with the shampoo in it. The next two are clean water only. When I need to clean my brush, I use the shampoo container first. Then I swish it around in container number two that contains just plain water for a first rinse. And the brush gets a final rinse in bucket number three. I then squeeze it with a paper towel to lower the amount of moisture in the hairs or bristles.
If I am working on a large painting I change out the water in bucket number three several times to keep the amount of rinsed off shampoo to a minimum. I don’t know what would happen if the shampoo were left in the brush then applied to the oil paint on the canvas. Perhaps nothing right away. Perhaps something 50 years from now. Perhaps nothing at all ever.
I still read about acrylics in some decades-old art books when that medium was new. No one was sure what would happen to paintings done in acrylics after several decades. Well, we have our answer on that one now. (That’s a good topic to research for yet another blog entry so no more about that right now.)
Water miscible oils are great for people with a sensitivity to the solvents normally used to clean brushes. By using plain water or the shampoo idea you eliminate the possibility of potentially harmful fumes hovering around your house.
If you have ever used something other than a solvent to clean your brushes please feel free to comment! I would like to read your input, suggestions and opinions on the subject and I am sure there are others out there with a similar interest. If you have any questions I will answer them to the best of my ability.
In the meantime, thanks for reading and paint on!
