Oil paints on paper

[Rebecca Willoughby]

I recently came across a great book on painting children, in different mediums, on paper. The author mostly uses gouache, pastels and watercolors, but there is a section on painting in oils on paper and one on acrylics. The author used 3-ply Bristol for the demonstration. I was curious to know if anyone on the Forum has ever done this. I use paper for my prisma pencil and pastel work as well as for my gouache work, but I have never tried using oils on any thing but canvas.

Of course, I know that there will be the "traditionalists" who say that oil on linen is the only way to go, but I would still like to hear those and other opinions before I try this myself (on a non-commission of course).

Thanks,
Rebecca

[Mari DeRuntz]

This is my observation (albeit not grounded in science but observation).

First off, if you paint directly on paper with oil paints, the paint will decompose the paper. When starting out, I used to paint on archival mat board. I worked at a museum and there was always a ton of scrap. This was excellent for a free ground to work on, but the results did not provide good practice because the qualities were so different from the medium I evolved to, which was oil on canvas.

On unprimed mat board or paper, your paint sinks in immediately. To combat this, I ended up thinning the paints excessively, and wound up with oil studies that looked like watercolor studies. If you reduce the medium of oil to watercolor, you might as well use watercolors, which are archivally sound on paper, not to mention cheaper, less toxic, etc.. In other words, if you want to paint on paper, use a medium designed to use with paper. The painting lessons will still teach you about drawing, tone and color, no matter what the medium.

The other option is that you prime the paper. If you're using acid-free mat board, you don't need to stretch it first, but if you're using watercolor paper, you will. Then you can prime it with any acrylic primer or "gesso".

I've gone that route too, when I was very much at the phase of experimenting with a new-to-me medium (oils). But again, even when you prime or gesso the surface of the paper, the paints sink in excessively. Therefore, it requires a lot more paint to cover in a way that approximates the way the same painting would develop on canvas.

I guess the bottom line is, if you're a student and into experimentation, why not paint on paper? It's cheap at first glance (remember all the extra paint you're going to have to apply).

But a lot of progress has been made before by a huge body of painters; why distract ourselves with questions that steer us away from the work at hand? This is advice I give myself, also. Focus is very important, especially in a medium as complex as oil paint.

[Sandy Barnes]

Hi Rebecca,

Most companies make a canvas type paper to be used with oils. I have tried several and like the one made by Canson. I am not sure how it would respond to alla prima painting, but it works well with underpainting and glaze. For an example of my results, see "Grandma's Blanket" at http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...=&threadid=874 in the critique section. This picture is lighter in tone than it appears on your monitor.

[Peggy Baumgaertner]

Painting on paper for demo purposes may afford an inexpensive way to show an example, but it is a wasteful use of time in learning to use oil paints.

I spent far too much time in my early training working on the wrong ground, with the wrong paints and the wrong brushes. Canvas board, acrylics, synthetic brushes, I shudder to remember. I feel I lost 13 years of my portrait career because I was using acrylics (absolutely inappropriate to use for a portrait), and discouraged from using oils, "...too messy/smelly/expensive...."

If you want to learn how to paint with oils, use a good quality cotton duck or linen canvas, or primed masonite. Masonite is a great surface, and quite easy and inexpensive to cut into sizes and prime with gesso. Use real brushes, hog bristle are fine and inexpensive at around $5 a brush. Use the top quality of paint. The student grades are usually wimpy in chroma, off in color, and usually have fillers, like tin or aluminum in the cerulean and cobalt, and barium in the cadmium colors. If you are trying to learn to mix paints, and you learn with the student grades, everything changes when you shift to the better paints. A good quality cadmium (around $18) will last for years because the paint dries more slowly, and the tinting strength is so great you need much less of it.

Bottom line, your time is worth more than the amount of money you might save on the materials. Fighting poor/inappropiate materials is an extremely frustrating exercise. I will repeat something I may have expressed before on this site in another context. I don't go out of my way to make painting difficult. It is hard enough as it is to learn the most basic principles without adding to the problems. If I am fighting the good fight over a portrait, I want it to be because I'm trying to find a likeness, or get a luminescent skin tone, not because the bristles on the brush are flaring, the paint colors are dead, or the oil is getting sucked into the ground and won't mix.

Peggy

[Rebecca Willoughby]

Mari,

Thank you for advice. After going over the chapter in the book I was referring to ("Capturing the Magic of Children in Your Paintings" by Jessica Zemsky), I see she treats the mediums almost the same as watercolors: utilizing thin washes of oil paints that have been thinned with turpentine. I knew there had to be a reason why this is not a good idea for commissions. Thanks.

Sandy,

I will have to look into this paper. By the way I have an afghan that my grandmother made for me years ago that looks a lot like the one in your painting.

Peggy,

As usual I eagerly read your words. Your experience has helped me many times in this forum. I am grateful that you take your time to help. Never forget how appreciated you are!

Thanks Again,
Rebecca

[Mary Jane Ansell]

A very neat trick for preparing paper for oil painting is to prime with pure Shellac. (AKA Button Polish)

Douse a wad of cotton wool with the Shellac and quickly wipe it all over your chosen paper. Don't use a brush as the shellac is very hard to remove and will ruin it. The Shellac stains the paper to a pale tea colour, which, as a happy coincidence gives you quite a useful mid tone for your study, and leaves your paper beautifully workable for oils.

This is a tip I picked up from some very expert tutors at The Slade and is ideal for studies in the life room - it's very speedy to produce and you can work on it within about 30 mins as it dries virtually instantly.

Enjoy!

Best wishes,
Mary Jane

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Mary,

Thank you so much for sharing this. I just got this beautiful set of sample papers mailed to me and was wondering how I could paint on it with oils for little studies. Your tip comes in just in time!

I didn't know what Button Polish is, so I looked it up and found this:

[QUOTE]Made from unbleached, fine shellac flakes, darker and more cloudy than French Polish. Rich and golden in appearance, it is a great favorite with restorers to recreate

[Thomasin Dewhurst]

Mary Jane, do you know if you would you have to frame the finished oil on paper with glass, or would it stand being unglazed?

[Mary Jane Ansell]

Enzie,

I am ceratinly aware of paintings done in this method surviving pretty well today having been done 60 - 80 years ago. But it's generally accepted that all oils on paper are really to be considered pretty temporary, in the great scheme of things. Ralph Mayer (The Artist's Handbook) reckons on oil works on paper (he doesnt mention shellac primed paper though) as having somewhere between 35 and 200 years of good condition depending on their weight and rag content.

The shellac may improve that lifespan a little, as it protects the paper somewhat from being deteriorated by the paint.

Thomasin

As the shellac may make the paper more brittle and prone to cracking, I would think glazing would be best if you want to preserve it as long as possible, but it's probably wise to say again, if you are aiming for real longevity it's always going to be best to stick to a panel or a canvas.

[David Clemons]

Paper will hold up fine if it's a high pecentage of rag composition (cotton or linen) rather than wood pulp, and is properly sized. No glass is required in that case. I've seen oils on paper by Constable that are over 100 years old and in excellent shape. They were mounted to either wood panel or canvas.

Shellac flakes can be found in a "white" or "clear" variety, but is still a slight amber in color. Look for the de-waxed/wax-free type. Most pigment sellers carry it, or fine furniture/woodworking places. The flakes are diluted in denatured alchol. Please avoid the pre-mixed liquid in cans (Zinsser) as it has additives to extend its shelf life (mixed shellac will spoil like RSG) which you don't need.
Here's a good US supplier who also carries a nice selection of resins:
http://www.woodfinishingenterprises.com/varnish.html#