My brother was having trouble with the fumes from solvents when oil painting, so I have sent him the excellent value 10 Tube Artisan set to try.

However, I have a few questions.....

Are the free hog brushes OK to use with Artisan, cos I thought nylon was better.

When using the Artisan painting medium, can you still just use water to wash brushes?

How long should he wait for painting to dry before trying the varnish?

Many thanks to anyone who has a bit of experience with Artisan as I have no idea.

Chris

Hi chris
I've been using Artisan Water Mixable paints for some time now, and have had some success with them. You must remember that water acts like a drying agent ,the more water you mix with the paint, the quicker it will dry. If you use the paint straight from the tube, it will take ages to dry.
Hope this is some benifit. Remember success comes from trial and error.
daddypoo

Hi Chris,

I have many students in my oil classes who work with water-mixable oils and I recommend nylon rather than hog hair brushes (indeed for all types of oil painting) as they keep a better edge and spring for longer. Another point to watch out for is cleaning. Whilst washing the brushes in water is fine - I do find they can retain a sticky feel over time, so either a good clean with washing up liquid or the odd clean in White Spirit (presumably by someone else who can tolerate the fumes) will help keep the brushes in good condition over a long period of useage.

One final point, try using Winsor & Newtons Artisan "Thinner" rather than the painting medium. I have noticed that in classes, students have found this thins the paint to a smoother feel than simply adding water and yet does not go quite so sticky as using the painting medium on its own.

These are just observations gleaned from my oil classes as I do prefer traditional paints myself, but hopefully they might help your brother.

Best of luck
Melanie

Hi Chris, I can't add much else to what the other members have suggested, but the one point that doesn't seem to have been covered is the varnishing of Water Thinnable Oils.
This isn't my first medium, but as a rule of thumb, I would advise that paintings produced with Water Thinnable Oils are still, essentially, Oil Paintings, and as such they should be varnished after about 3 months, to allow the paint to change to its fully dried state.
Perhaps any members who are more Au fait with the system may have more accurate advice, but this is how I would proceed.

Good luck, and very best wishes,

Steve Williams
PA & RSC Wigan area

Hi Chris,

As oils is my main medium, may I suggest you use "Oil Re-touching Varnish" rather than full oil varnish. This can be applied as soon as the painting is touch-dry, with perhaps a second coat a day later. A farily soft water-colour style brush is ideal for this. It does not fully seal the surface so if, at a later date, you wish to work on the painting further, you can simply paint over this particular type of varnish. Personally, I don't use any other varnishes.

Best of luck!
Melanie
PA London & South East

Hi Melanie, Thank you for the more specific advice re the Re-Touching varnish.

Steve Williams
PA & RSC Wigan area