23
Worldwide Mail Order Service.
Phone +44 (0)20 7636 1045 Fax +44 (0)20 7636 3655
P
igments
, G
ums
& R
esins
Section 1
3. You would probably make a better job of grinding colour if
you stand up while doing so, but sitting or standing, your weight
should be well balanced over the muller. Grinding is best done
in rhythmic movements, in figures of eight on a
sheet of glass or marble. When the pigment
is properly ground, you should not be
able to see the grains on the plate,
and certainly not hear any
grittiness under the muller.
When the pigment is nearly ready it
turns sleek and all of a mass. Add more oil if the
pigment gets too sticky.
1.
2.
3.
4.
2. Take a handful of pigment, make a well in it, and pour in about a table¬spoon of oil.
How to make oil paints
You will need: Pigments, cold pressed linseed oil, a glass muller, a sheet of glass
or marble, a palette knife, empty jars, tins or tubes.
1. Cold pressed is the best linseed oil for making oil paint.
Refined linseed oil is chemically bleached to produce a pale
clear binder and is also recommended. Raw linseed oil is
hot pressed and is darker than cold pressed linseed oil.
Walnut oil is very pale and has good drying qualities.
Poppy oil is a slow drying oil suitable for pale colours.
It does not yellow as much as linseed oil, but cracks
more easily.
When 2% of beeswax is added the paint beccmes slightly
opaque and has a butter like character.
4. Store the paint in jars or tins. Other containers for oil paint:
a. A bladder or skin in which ground paint was kept. A small
bone tack was used to pierce it.
b. A firm metal tube with a piston that could be refilled.
c. Empty aluminium tubes, available at Cornelissen.
a.
b.
c.
