In principle, all Schmincke oil colours can be applied directly to suitably prepared surfaces in not too thick layers. not too thick layers, can be applied directly on their own. They dry chemically by absorbing oxygen from the air. Sunlight also plays an important role in this process. It is quite slow and only begins on the surface of the picture. It can therefore take weeks for even a relatively thin coat of oil paint to dry completely. CAUTION: If the layers of colour are too thick, tension can occur within the paint layer during the drying process. This often leads to cracks or wrinkles. We therefore strongly recommend the use of painting butter (50034) for pastose work in oil. Even if the painting is composed of several thinner layers of colour, it must be ensured that the lower layers are completely dry before further layers are applied. The traditional rule of oil painting ‘fat on lean’ applies. The term ‘lean’ refers to paints that contain less oil and therefore dry more quickly, while ‘rich’ refers to paints that contain more oil and therefore dry more slowly. The oil content of the stains can be influenced by adding suitable oil additives, e.g. MUSSINI Medium 1 (50038), MUSSINI Medium 2 (50039) or MUSSINI Medium 3 (50040). In addition, the use of mediums makes it possible to individually influence numerous other properties of the oil colours, such as their consistency with Medium N (50045), their flow with Medium L (50042), their gloss with Siccativ de Harlem (50022) and their transparency with Glaze Medium (50053) or Transparent Paste (50037). Incidentally, some of our products vary in several of these factors. We recommend the use of one additive per colour layer to achieve a certain product property. Even if many of the media can in principle be mixed with each other without any problems from a chemical point of view, a further combination usually makes no sense from a technical painting point of view.
ATTENTION: To promote the complex drying process of oil paints and to minimise their typical dark yellowing, we recommend that oil paintings are not stored in the absence of light, especially in the initial phase. Suitable products for the final treatment can be found here. Please note that oil paintings should only be varnished after the colour layers have completely dried - after 8 to 12 months at the earliest! Suitable solvents, thinners and cleaning agents for oil colours and oil additives can be found here. Note: All oil mediums are ready to use and can be diluted with turpentine substitute (50019) if necessary.
TIP: Oil paints, oil additives and the associated solvents, thinners and cleaning agents must not get into the groundwater. Please dispose of any residues properly as hazardous waste. For details on safe handling, please refer to the individual safety data sheets.
