Painting Mediums

A paint medium is a substance that changes the working properties of the oil paint. It can speed up drying time, make stiff paint flow better, increase transparency, or maintain brush strokes.

Personally, I have used Winsor & Newton’s Liquin Original and Gamblin’s Galkyd. Both of these mediums speed up drying time, and increase transparency when you need it. As well as decrease the viscosity of the paint. I like both.

You should only use twenty to twenty-five percent of these mediums in your paint unless you are making a transparent glaze.

Both increase the gloss of the paint, but I think Galkyd does this even more so. Paint is usually dry to the touch by one to three days.

Other artists create their own medium. They use a solvent with a drying oil in different mixes. When starting a painting, you might use nothing but solvent to create an imprimatura, or underpainting. Then, as you build up your layers, you would use more oil.

So, If I were to make my own medium, I would get a few dropper bottles, and use different combinations of solvent and oil. The oil I would use would probably be linseed oil, while the solvent would be Gamblin’s Gamsol. It is an odorless mineral spirits. Traditionally, artists used linseed oil, damar varnish, and turpentine, but turpentine has very bad fumes.

When making a medium, I would start with one bottle of seventy percent Gamsol and thirty percent linseed oil. For the next layer of paint, I would use a combination of fifty percent Gamsol and fifty percent linseed oil. The third and final layers I would use seventy percent oil and thirty percent Gamsol, or just oil on its own. When painting, I would use a few drops of medium mixed into my paint so that you get the viscosity you’re looking for.

The reason for these combinations of oil and solvent has to do with the fat over lean rule. You want your first layers to dry faster than the layer on top. Otherwise, the paint on the top layers would crack.

Gamblin makes a variety of mediums. Fluid mediums are 3-in-1 medium, refined linseed oil, Galkyd, Galkyd Lite, Solvent-free fluid, Safflower Oil, refined stand oil.

The 3-in-1 Medium is good for the start of a painting when you’re creating an imprimatura. It also helps with oiling out a painting. Oiling out corrects a painting with patches that are sunken in.

Refined linseed oil is good for decreasing viscosity, making them transparent, and increasing the drying time so you can work the painitng longer.

Galkyd and Galkyd Lite decreases viscosity, increases transparecy, and improves gloss. They are good for glazing techniques. They also make the paint dry faster in about a day, level brush strokes, and create an enamel-like finish. Galkyd Lite dries in 36 hours according to Gamblin. It is made of Galkyd and Gamsol. Galkyd Lite helps retain brushmarks.

Solvent-Free Fluid is for artists concerned with studio safety. It is a fat medium that dries your paints faster. Gamblin says a little goes a long way.

Safflower Oil increases the flow of paint and increases the drying time. It is good for cleaning your brushes as well.

Refined stand oil is heavy bodied like honey. Gamblin says it evens-out brushstrokes, and dries to a strong, glossy finish.

Be sure to dispose of your oil-covered rags carefully as bundched up rags can combust.

Gamblin sells a number of gel mediums as well. Mediums like Galkyd Gel, Galkyd Lite Gel (Neo Megilp), and Solvent-Free Gel.

Galkyd Gel, of course, is a fast drying gel. It is great for increasing the body of the paint without besoming sticky. It is great for all layers of painting.

Galkyd Lite Gel, once known as Neo Megilp, makes the paint smooth and silky without making the paint fluid. It holds brushmarks, and the painitng remains workable for hours. Gamblin says it dries in four or five days.

Solvent-Free Gel is great for en plein air painting, or painting outdoors. It has no odor or solvent. It dries to a bright, glossy finish. Gamblin says to use it sparingly.

Gamblin also sells a Cold Wax medium. Cold Wax is beeswax mixed with a small amount of alkyd resin. Cold means it can be worked with without needing to heat the wax. It dries by using Gamsol. The wax hardens as it dries. You would use it for impasto painting to hold texture and bushmarks.

The company Michael Harding sells a range of Miracle Mediums. They are solvent free, odorless, and plant based.

These are the mediums I have heard of. I normally use Liquin Original or Galkyd, but I am interested in making my own medium from linseed oil and solvent. This is what the old masters used for medium, and with Gamsol, it is safer than turpentine.