Painting with oil paints, any hint?

[midismirnoff]

Hi guys, I'm descovering oil paints, so far I've been just using them for washes and filter, but I like the way they are activated by solvents even after they have dried. Does anybody here have some experience about it? Thanks a lot!

[redzed]

this book will give you everything  

[Fitz]

Just one thing: oil paints cure by oxidization, not evaporation, so they must be absolutely dry before being sealed or else they will never fully cure. Some pigments extend curing time — crimson lake, for instance, can take a very long time to dry.

On miniatures we're dealing with very thin layers, but even so it would be wise to leave figures for up to a month before applying a final seal.

[dampfpanzerwagon]

I very rarely use oils, but here is my tip.....

Use quality, artists quality white spirits or low aroma Artists White Spirits for best results and none of the disadvantages.

See;
http://www.winsornewton.com/uk/discover/tips-and-techniques/other-tips-and-techniques/distilled-turpentine-vs-artists-white-spirit

Good luck.

Tony

[Mindenbrush]

I knew Chris Parkin back in my BMSS days and he uses a Humbrol base coat of the required colour and then shades with oils
http://www.bmssonline.com/model-soldiers.html

[Svennn]

Redzeds book suggestion sums it all up for me taking me back to the 1970's, am I really that old? You can achieve some great techniques, oil wiped horses being a personal favourite but IMHO there are so many great modern alternatives they are just not worth the extra effort.

[Hammers]

this book will give you everything  

A bible.

[Vagabond]

I am not a particularly good painter but used oils for many years before converting to acrylics about 4 years ago.
You can use oils as thin washes and I found them more controllable than acrylic, they flow better, although I may not have found the right flow agent yet. Very often I get run back with acrylic washes which I never got with dilute oils.

Because they have a long drying time you can mix paint on the figure as well as the pallet to get a more even blend. The current fashion for the tri colour system is I think because the paint drys so fast is hard to blend. Bear in mind most of my painting recently has been in Greece in the summer, it's hot and acrylics go off very fast.

As Svenn mentioned if you put oil on thickly and then wipe it off you get a very nice shade and highlight. Usually this would be over white undercoat to provide the highlight. I found old flannel bedding worked well to wipe off with a soft material with a bit of a nap.
Horses are good for this technique but it works well for other things. Blues are good for faded jeans, leather and fur are also good this way.
Using a green undercoat and then a very dark brown coat wiped off is good for a dark African skin colouring

Most oils will stay workable on your pallet much longer than acrylics.

The big downside is that drying time can be days or weeks and you will smear the paint job if you touch it, dust also becomes a problem as well.
I changed systems because I had to pack everything away after a session and stuff had to be dry to handle.

Note using thinners with the oils means drying time are quicker, but still problematical.

Let us know how you get on.