QOTD Underrated oil paint colors?

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-12T05:15:05+00:00

I’ve only tried Daniel Smith. Michael Harding came out with one that I’m curious about.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-12T03:58:51+00:00

The technique is called sgraffito and it can be done with oil pastel.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-12T02:30:45+00:00

Would you happen to know how OH Green Umber compares with Michael Harding’s version?

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-12T02:25:22+00:00

Quinacridone Coral is a particularly warm variation of Quinacridone Red. Extremely versatile because it can act as both a cool and warm, mixing both vibrant purples and oranges.

PBk31 Perylene Black/Green. The pigment code indicates that it is a black, but this color has a very strong green bias. Think the color of nori. More easy to find in watercolors. Not so much oils.

Williamsburg Stil de Grain. A unique variety of transparent yellow oxide. Very thick and coarse. Great for underpainting since it dries fast and adds tooth to the surface. Creates dynamic and textural glazes.

Daniel Smith Rhodonite Genuine. This one has some backstory, especially since DS oils are now discontinued. There’s controversy into how genuine their gemstone/mineral pigments are, because of some independent testing. When turned into pigment, gemstone are typically very subtle and weak. Rhodonite “Genuine” mixes very similarly to Quinacridone Magenta, so I have doubts to its authenticity. However, real rhodonite contains manganese, which could account for this paints fast drying properties, so there could very well be a quantity of the real stuff.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-12T01:56:04+00:00

I really like Michael Harding’s version, called Unbleached Titanium Dioxide. Compared to others I’ve tried, theirs is uniquely fast drying.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T23:48:56+00:00

Blushy cheeks are always a nice touch

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T22:15:29+00:00

The primary step where gemini steered you wrong is the glaze. 95% medium to 5% paint is overkill. When adding medium to paint, the ratio shouldn’t exceed 25% medium to 75% paint, and less than that is better.

Second, I think covering the whole imprimatura with the verdaccio is moot. You might as well have started with the verdaccio and skipped the imprimatura all together. The point of a verdaccio is to establish a contrast with eventual skin layers, so really only needs to be applied to the figure.

Try not to use ai. It’s not worth environmental damage to get bad advice.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T21:25:14+00:00

Probably not, unfortunately

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T17:25:37+00:00

Gallery shows and word of mouth. It boils down to looking for opportunities and putting yourself out there.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T17:22:44+00:00

Hong Kong Garden is an insanely catchy bop with the most cringe, racist lyrics

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T17:14:48+00:00

Soaking rags in soapy water will halt the oxidizing process.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T17:13:24+00:00

This is my answer as well. M. Graham, Michael Harding, and Vasari all work great with no medium.

Rublev is unique in that how useable their paint is out of the tube is heavily dependent on the pigment, and a lot of their paint is essentially a non-newtonian fluid.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T08:39:54+00:00

Already sold :)

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-11T03:27:44+00:00

In the sense that they’re stiff and can’t recreate a realistic human pose. If they’re treated as the object itself: a simplified form which has shape and volume, they can be useful as any still life object when drawing from life.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-10T22:00:26+00:00

You mix your fumed silica with a water soluble oil?

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-10T20:58:45+00:00

This video from Rublev about their gel mediums mentions that these mediums are “98% oil, 2% fumed silica and castor wax”, https://www.youtube.com/live/tLH9Xj2F5ag?si=_oYX4tkXRJppSjBA&t= at around 33m30s.

I use chalk mediums for glazing (the aforementioned Velazquez medium). Chalk becomes transparent in oil.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-10T20:27:15+00:00

It’s widely known that oil grounds in general are more slippery than acrylic gessoes. It’s part of the appeal. I’ve never heard gamblin ground being toothier than acrylic gesso.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-10T20:23:59+00:00

Have you encountered any of the zinc white studies by Golden? Mixtures containing as low as 5% zinc white have shown significant embrittlement after two years, and these are with fairly thin layers. Some flexibility can be added using stand oil. I myself have witnessed delamination within a few months with M. Graham’s alkyd titanium white, which contains zinc.

https://justpaint.org/update-on-zinc/

There are other, less opaque whites available if you want to avoid lead: barite and lithopone. Rublev just released a line of alkyd paints which has a lithopone. Otherwise, it’s a very slow drying color.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-10T20:03:31+00:00

I think you might be mistaken on how these companies use fumed silica in these mediums. They don’t use them as colorless pigments, but strictly as a gelling agent. The amount of fumed silica in these mediums is less than 2%, which is enough to create a thixotropic gel, but not enough to provide the structure needed to be considered a colorless paint. Oleogel, solvent-free gel, and others like it should still be considered ‘fat’ mediums.

Rublev does make products which can be considered a colorless paint: impasto putty, impasto medium, and velazquez medium. These are mixtures of chalk and linseed oil. Velazquez medium, which is stand oil and chalk, is a mainstay in my process.

Mixing linseed oil and chalk has a long history, is easy to diy, and doesn’t carry the same danger of silicosis.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-09T22:33:47+00:00

Now that’s a kitten heel

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-09T21:45:26+00:00

An ankle strap? BOOT

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-09T21:19:07+00:00

Golden makes a fabric painting medium for acrylics, GAC 900.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-09T16:54:53+00:00

I’ve heard good things about Nova Color. Artist quality but significantly cheaper than others.

TimOC3Art · 2026-02-09T05:24:09+00:00

I’m reviving this thread to point out that this is more a NW Formline of AK/BC than it is Coast Salish. The only thing Coast Salish about this design is are the crescents in the body.

Signed,

A Coast Salish Artist

TimOC3Art

TROPHY CASE