I have been working with different oil painting mediums lately with my oil paints. I did the entire series of rural paintings using Liquin, from Windsor Newton, a glazing and fast drying medium. I understand Gamblin, Galkyd Lite is an equal rival for the medium. You may use 10% by volume Alkali Refined Linseed Oil or Poppy Oil to slow the drying time down. They both do dry rather fast so the addition of Linseed oil is welcome to slow it down and provide time for modeling.
Since I do like to have some texture to my paint, I did not like using Liquin. It dried with little emboss of oil paint. It was great if you wanted a very flat painting.
Since this time I have experimented with a masters recipe of:
For the under painting (for some referred as Verdaccio or Grisaille):
1 part Linseed Stand Oil
1 part Dammar Varnish
5 parts odorless mineral spirits or better Gamsol
For middle layer:
1 part Linseed Stand Oil
1 part Dammar Varnish
4 parts Gamsol
For the top or final layers:
1 part Linseed Stand Oil
1 part Dammar Varnish
3 parts Gamsol
This goes with the concept of painting fat over lean. Meaning using more oil medium with your oil paint, not referring to the thickness or impasto of the paint as you work towards the finish of your painting. So progressively you would paint with more and more fat paint as you proceed in your painting.
So far I have enjoyed the versatility of adding this to my oil paint and the variety of brushstrokes and marks with my pallet knife that I am able to obtain.
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