So, how did you arrive at your medium?

[Patt Legg]

Many years ago I met another artist in Arizona, as I was the owner of a shop having art supplies. She happened to do oils and after showing me her portfolio I was determined that I wanted to do that.

I have worked -- and still do somewhat -- in watercolor. I did not know watercolor until after years of oil painting. My love of mediums and one true love is my oils, its texture and even the smell of my studio when I enter it.

But I must say that after I had begun to paint in watercolor I began to work somewhat more quickly and more accurately in my oils as that is the quickness and spontaneity of the watercolor medium.

Watercolors helped me plan ahead more and know my direction. Very good learning experience. I still do some watercolors but they shall never surpass the beauty and romance of oils.

[Marvin Mattelson]

Elizabeth asked me to resubmit this post from the Paints, Mediums, Brushes & Grounds section of the forum, so being the gentleman I am, here is the lastest installment of Marvin's greatest hits.

I have recently received several e-mail inquiries concerning my choice of mediums. This can be a touchy subject among otherwise likewise thinking artists, but what is life without a little controversy? We vehemently defend our precious mediums, sometimes bordering on religious fanaticism. I think that this lies in the fact that we have created a mystique about the secrets of the old masters, that somehow they were able to do great paintings due to a mystical alchemy. If only I could find that right medium then perhaps I could be the next ????? There is certainly validity to the advantageous use of a particular medium whose specific characteristics can be harnessed to one's best advantage.

I have a love-hate relationship with painting mediums. Primarily, I use them to keep my paint thin. My perfect medium would keep the paint wet all day and be dry the next. I would be able to easily blend adjoining colors and at the same time lay fresh paint over them immediately, with no disturbance. I would like to mix my medium into my paint piles and have them stay fresh all week. Of course I want it to be nontoxic, archival and to prevent my darks from sinking in.

I have tried many mediums since I switched from acrylics to oils a dozen or so years ago. I played around with Liquin for a long time and tried modifying it with various oils. I was, in particular, attracted to the enhanced flexibility of alkyd mediums. The fear of toxicity, the awful smell and premature yellowing eventually soured me. I tried different oils in combinations, including the infamous 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 combos. I like to work in thin layers; I had trouble with the over saturation of oil that eventually prevented additional paint from adhering to the surface. Yes, I worked fat over lean.

Another thing that worried me was the cracking of so many old master paintings in the museums, particularly in areas of thick paint application. I also don

[Linda Ciallelo]

I was painting with oils around the age of ten.I also did colored pencil, in high school, as well as oil. After my children were born I still did a lot of colored pencil portraits, a few watercolors, many colored pen & ink drawings, then several years of egg tempera.

I got tired of the tiny little lines and the hard edges, and started doing pastel in the hope that it would loosen me up. Eventually I found pastel to be difficult to store, transport, and frame. Now that I have a studio and enough money to spend on painting supplies and good linen panels with lead primer, I find oil to be easier to work with.

It's easy to store, transport and frame. I have learned so much about how to use oil in the last two years that I now really love it. I never really knew how to use it properly until just recently. Many little details make a huge difference between success or failure in oil. I just never had any knowledge of what to do before the internet.

I have two favorite mediums. One is: two parts black oil, one part double mastic varnish, one part turpentine.

Second favorite is: three parts unrefined Loriva walnut oil, and one part siccative de Courtrai.

I make my own linen/canvas panels, primed with white lead primer from New York Central Art Supply.

When I do pastel drawings I use Wallis Belgian Gray paper and a variety of pastels, starting with Conte' pencils and going softer in subsequent layers. I do use a little Grumbacher workable fixative.