I’ve been experimenting with some finishing techniques for a padauk dining table. Yesterday I “borrowed” some artist oil colors from my wife as I didn’t have any Japan color and didn’t want to drive across the Bay to get some. Here’s my observations:
– the artist colors are super intense, she uses the Windsor & Newton oils which I understand to be high quality, but not super premium quality. They sell for $8-13 for a 1.25 oz tube, depending on the color.
– they work well to tint pore-o-pac, although I noticed something interesting in that the more you work in the filler, the more brilliant the colors get. My wife told me that artist oils will do this, I guess it’s something about the high amount of pigment that they use.
– as can be expected, you need to go with a much deeper color than you want in the end product as the colors shift when mixed with the pore-o-pac
– you don’t need much color squirted out from the tube to tint a good amount of pore-o-pac. They go a long way
– I can’t really say that this is better or worse than Japan color, but the array of colors available in artist oils is dramatically better than Japan color
The end result on my test piece was so good I went straight to the table top. Not only did it tint the ugly piece of sapwood I had, but it made the reds in the paduak that much more intense and did not wash out the color variation. This is exactly what I wanted. As an added benefit, I noticed that the surface has a slight color flecking from where the pore-o-pac penetrated the grain leaving a fleck of rich color. I think that this color flecking is going to be very interesting in natural light… we’ll find out in about 2 weeks when it’s done!
Replies
I have also utilized artist's oil paints in finishing, although not with pore-o-pac. My use has been to tint oil finishes such as watco. The range of colors available far exceeds anything off the shelf that is specifically for woodworkers. One thing to bear in mind is that artists oils are very slow drying, so used in any thickness will result in a piece that can't be easily finished. In my case the dryers in the oil finish served to also dry the paint.
Also useful for wood finishing are artists acrylics and watercolors. The watercolors especially make great wood dyes. They are expensive but go a long way and they come in a great variety of color that simply cannot be duplicated with analine dyes that are available to wood finishers.
I think you are on to something. It's refreshing to hear of a woodworker experimenting and stretching.
thanks for the pointer on the watercolors, I'll give it a try.
quite honestly, it's less about experimentation, more about expediency! The closest woodwork supply place is a 40 minute drive for me, while the paints are just a short walk out to my wife's studio, or a 10 minute drive to University Arts in Palo Alto. It is fun to try new stuff, especially when it works out.
I've been thinking about how to get differnt colors and the idea of watercolors and acrylics sounds like a great one. I'll be sure to try it.
Do you use only water in mixing them?
Yes. When using on wood, water is the only thinner I use.
- I can't really say that this is better or worse than Japan color, but the array of colors available in artist oils is dramatically better than Japan color
I've been active in the art world for a number of years using oils among other mediums on canvas and wood. For quite some time I have done woodcarvings (caricatures, realistic animals etc) and add color with oils. As a rule of thumb, I never use an oil right from the tube - they tend to be too garrish that way. I mix them to get exactly the right shade which makes the array of colors unlimited - and you don't need that many tubes to get what we would need for working wood (maybe raw umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre and some white) . And, because artists oils have a high percentage of pigment, they ought to be thinned quite a bit which will also make the tubes go a very long way. I have used BLO for years or copal. However, as someone else mentioned, they do take some time to dry to the touch (lighter colors significanly longer than dark) - generally at least 3 days depending on humidity, ambient temperature, etc. Like most artists I do not varnish my paintings for at least 6 months to give the oils time to fully cure before they are sealed although I see no reason to treat them any differently when working with wood than any other oil finish - especially when they are thinned.
Be safe,
Ken
thanks, good counsel.
can you use Japan dryer to accelerate the drying process with artist oils?
Hello Jeff,
I don't see why not although I've never tried it. Copal painting medium dries the oils rather quickly (it might contain a drier but I haven't a bottle close at hand).
Ken
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled