Oh, and since no one's yet weighed in on the actual question:

I started lubing the canvas prior to painting into it last Winter, as opposed to mixing the Maroger into the paint like David Leffel teaches. But I only do it because that way the paint pile stays open and usable for a couple days if I cover and refrigerate it. An interesting side note (like you needed another one): I was told that Odd Nerdrum, Rembrandt's red-headed stepchild, grinds his medium into the paint or mixes it into the piles. He says "that's the way it has always been done".

But then again ... he's probably opinionated, too.

:D

Minh

For what it's worth ...

I use oil paint (of varying brands and denominations), odorless mineral spirits and linseed oil.

In the very early stages I may thin the oil with spirits to apply thin washes but from then on it's just paint and that perfect amound of linseed oil to create the consistency that I need for the particular passage I am working on.

I went through a stage of using Liquin but have abandoned it mostly for the sake of simplifying my ingredients. Also, I think it has made my hair start to fall out on top, gain unwanted pounds around the middle, and generally have less energy than I used to have.

If a thread goes south, it is surely a small effort for the originator of the topic to just say,

Peggy Baumgaertner, in her video series, rubs a little oil into the surface of her dry painting before adding the next layer of paint.

Soft edges by Michele
 

Hi Michele,

I hope you don't mind me quoting you from over half a year ago! I was reading through old posts after doing a search on scumbling and I came across this post.

I am wondering how you get your soft edges? I'm thinking specifically of your recent work "Flowergirl", the edges were so lovely and soft. Instead of me assuming I could know how you did this, could you explain your method of getting those soft edges? I would have thought you used lots of layers with linseed oil?

I am just starting a painting and I'm going to try out the 'layering' method, layer upon layer of scumbles over my 'underpainting'. So, before I start my scumbling, I'm reading about how it's done.

Any information is greatly appreciated,

Thank you,

Joan

I do generally "oil out" dry paint layers with a 50/50 mixture of linseed and mineral spirits nowadays, and wipe as much of it off as I can. Then I put on the new layer of paint.

I "oil out" mostly so the old colors come up to their original saturation. Then I can match the new colors to the old paint more accurately.

Then I paint on the new layer and blend one color into another with a fuzzy old sable brush, and then go over it with a synthetic fan blender, to get the soft edges. I put relatively thin layers of paint on the canvas (compared to what I used to, anyway!) because thick paint is much harder to blend.

Most parts of my paintings typically have one to four layers of paint on them by the time I'm done.

Oiling out
 

Thank you Michele for your thorough answer. I just learned a tough lesson when I put too much paint on my last portrait. It was very hard to blend, what a mess, so I scraped that off after working on it for 2-3 days. So now I'm experimenting with thin layers.

I've read a lot of posts about 'oiling out' and I am wondering why use the linseed oil and the mineral spirits instead of just straight linseed oil?

Of course, when I went to the art supply store to buy linseed oil last week they had cold pressed linseed oil and refined linseed oil! So I came home and found a post by Marvin about what the heck the difference is. After learning what the difference was I am prepared to go buy the cold pressed linseed oil. Should I be mixing it with mineral spirits? Hmm.

Thanks again,

Joan

You want as little linseed as possible in your paintings, to minimize yellowing. Just enough to have good binding with the pigments.

Oiling out with 50/50 linseed and mineral spirits helps me keep the oil layer thin, as the mineral spirits just evaporate away.

Ah-ha!
 

Michele,

Now I get it!

Thank you,

Joan

I've read time and again that traditional Maroger medium (aka megilp) has serious problems over time, notably a tendency to darken unpredictably as a result of the "black oil" (linseed oil cooked with lead) component and a proneness to cracking because of the mastic element. Apparently, artists began to be aware of the drawbacks well over a hundred years ago and its use was largely abandoned. (I got most of this from Ralph Mayer's "Artist's Handbook of Materials and Techniques") In spite of the negative info, though, a number of current artists, yourself and David Leffel among them, seem to embrace it. Am I missing something? I know that modern substitutes are available, Gamblin makes one, as does Schmincke. Is that what you are using, or are you sticking with the original?