Flaxseed oil
Flaxseed oil is obtained by pressing flaxseed and has been the most important binder for oil paints. It is one of the so-called drying oils. In contrast, other types of oils produce less durable layers of paint, darken significantly, or dry too slowly. Although no single oil can fully meet every requirement, linseed has proven to be the best combination of all the desired qualities.
Flaxseed oil darkens if stored in the dark, even after it has dried. When stored in the dark, oil paintings also darken, but they regain their original, lighter colors if left in daylight. Similarly, it’s a good idea to let newly purchased linseed oil sit in the light for a while if it has been stored in the dark. And since flaxseed oil tends to yellow somewhat over time, it is often replaced with safflower or poppy seed oil, especially when making white paint.
Safflower oil
Safflower oil is obtained from the seeds of the safflower plant and is classified as a semi-drying oil. It has largely been replaced by the much more expensive poppy seed oil. Chemically, they are virtually identical and have similar painting properties. Safflower oil turns yellow less than flaxseed oil, but it dries more slowly, and the layer it forms has slightly different characteristics. For this reason, applying white paint on a safflower base under colored layers based on linseed oil can cause these upper layers to crack, and even peel off. That is why it is recommended to use white safflower paint be used in the final stages of the painting.
Rembrandt offers six different types of white oil paint based on linseed or safflower oil.
Gum arabic
Gum arabic is extracted from the resin of a specific species of acacia tree, It grows in Africa, Asia, and Australia. However, the highest-quality gum arabic comes from Sudan and Senegal. It is harvested by making an incision in the tree’s bark—the sap flows out, thickens, and hardens due to the heat and air, after which it is cut off and collected. To make a binder, the resin is dissolved in water and impurities are removed. Once processed in this way, gum arabic is used in watercolors and tempera paints.
Acrylic Resin Dispersion
It is a dispersion of microscopic synthetic particles in water that remain undissolved. The particle size is 0.1–0.5 microns (1 micron equals 1/1,000 of a millimeter). As the water evaporates, the particles move closer and closer to one another until they form a continuous artificial layer.
Acrylic paint is a relatively new invention that emerged in the United States and Mexico in the 1950s for creating long-lasting murals on buildings and in outdoor public spaces. Prior to that, there were no paints capable of withstanding the corrosive alkaline composition of concrete, cement, and plaster. At that time, the synthetic products industry was flourishing, and thus was born acrylic resin, which has proven to be a suitable binder that is resistant to alkaline substances. Since then, Acrylic has proven itself as an artist-grade paint and is valued today for its versatility. The water-based synthetic resin emulsion is milky white and dries transparent.
The binders in such a dispersion are often referred to as “latex.” The word “latex,” which was originally used to refer to natural rubber, is now generally used to refer to a dispersion based on polyvinyl acetate (PVA) or a derivative of that resin. Compared to acrylic dispersions, PVA binders are completely or at least much less stable in an alkaline environment.
In most cases, the resins in acrylic paint are thermoplastics—that is, they become soft as the temperature rises. Therefore, it is recommended that acrylic paintings not be placed face-to-face with the painted side down to prevent them from sticking together. For more specialized paints, such as textile and porcelain paints, resins are used that, unlike other paints, are set by heat, and harden in the oven or after being smoothed with an iron.
Acrylic-based paints for glass and porcelain undergo heat treatment to ensure they set and adhere permanently.
Dextrin
Dextrin is a potato-starch-based product that dissolves in water to form a liquid binder. It tends to spoil, so a preservative is always added to paints made with dextrin. Dextrin is thixotropic, which means that the paint thickens when left undisturbed. However, if you stir it, shake the jar, or squeeze it out of the tube, it becomes thinner. Because of this property, gouache made with dextrin becomes liquid and can be applied in thin, even layers.
Kaolin
Kaolin is a very fine white clay named after Kaolin Hill in China. When water is added, it forms a smooth mixture that binds the pigments in dry pastels, and it can also be used as a filler in paints.
Waxes and Mineral Oils
The has now been almost entirely replaced by synthetic waxes, including paraffin.
A mineral oil is a non-drying, transparent, colorless petroleum-based oil. It is also known as liquid paraffin, petroleum jelly, and white oil.
Shellac
Shellac is a resinous secretion produced by a species of red wood lice (Kerria lacca), which grows on various tree species in India and neighboring regions. The sap is scraped from the branches, dried, and sold in flakes. Shellac It can dissolve in water only if the water is alkaline. This makes shellac-based paints indelible with plain water once they have dried.
Alkyd resin
Synthetic resin with an oil-based composition, such as flaxseed or soybean oil. Because of their oil content Alkyd resins are prone to yellowing when exposed to light for long periods. Soy-based resin preserves colors best, but it is also the most expensive. To be used as a binder, it is dissolved in white spirit.
Solvents
The binder used to make a particular paint determines which solvents, thinners, or media it can be mixed with.
The water is suitable for water-based paints, as well as for cleaning painting supplies. The mediums for these paints contain, in addition to water, a certain amount of binder, which usually corresponds to the binder in the paint for which it is intended. These additives affect various properties of the paint, such as its viscosity and flow.
Oil paints and Alkyd products can be thinned with white spirit, turpentine or with mediums, developed specifically for this type of paint. It is best to use odorless white spirit to clean art supplies.
Water-mixable oil-based paints (commonly referred to as “water-soluble,” though this is inaccurate) can be thinned and washed off with water. This is possible not because of the binder, but because of their different formula, which is based on an oil-in-water emulsion.
Dry pastels can be washed off with water, as do Talens Art Creation water-soluble oil pastels.
The Greasy Ones oily and wax pastels, as well as oil paints, can be cleaned and dissolved with turpentine or mineral spirits.
Water-soluble oil pastels can be used either as is or with the addition of water to create a watercolor effect.
Here is a list of Royal Talens painting mediathat we currently offer at Slanchogled, categorized by their binder:
CONNECTOR |
DRAWING TOOL
|
FLAXSEED OIL and SAFFRON OIL (FOR SOME WHITE PAINTS) |
|
ACRYLIC RESIN DISP ERSION | |
GUMMARAH ARABICA |
|
PLANT-BASED BINDER |
|
DEXTRIN |
|
KAOLIN | |
SHELLAC |
|
REGULAR AND WATER-SOLUBLE WAX |
|
VARIOUS WAXES AND MINERAL OILS |
|
Translation and additions: Martina Petrova
Source: Royal Talens’ Artists’ Materials Manual (2020)
