Do you use turpentine? Do you wish you didn’t have to? I can use turpentine in the studio in winter, with the windows closed, but it’s not something I would like to do every day. Turpentine, even a small amount, can give me a headache. I am happy that turpentine (or some other organic solvent) is not a normal part of my oil painting technique.

Turpentine has two basic roles in modern painting: as a thinner for the paint to allow a flowing application, and for the purpose of cleaning brushes. (more…)

fold foil in half

You have a wonderful mixture of oil paint that you want to save. Or, perhaps you simply have a lot of paint on your palette and you don’t want it to dry up. What to do? The first step is to choose a piece of foil appropriate for the amount of paint you want to store. Fold in half, with the shiny side facing in. (more…)

Being an artist is not the easiest way to make money; the people who most rely on having their paints in good condition are typically the ones who can least afford waste. Reliable paint storage is not a glamorous topic, but the more serious you are about being an artist, the more important it becomes to do it right.

The screw top paint tube is an important invention and it might seem simple to use, but it is not trivial. Every time paint is removed and the top is screwed back on, a bit of paint will find its way between the plastic top and the metal screw part of the tube. As this paint builds up, and time passes, bad things can happen. There are two basic categories of bad things. One is that the paint builds up in a way that makes it hard to close the tube properly. When this happens, there is the danger that the paint in the tube will dry, as in this photo.

When paint dries in the tube, it is worse than throwing money out of the window. It wastes time, it makes me feel stupid, and I’m stuck with the tube (who knows, maybe there is some good paint in there somewhere). (more…)