Do you use turpentine? Do you wish you didn’t have to? I can use turpentine in the studio in winter, with the windows closed, but it’s not something I would like to do every day. Turpentine, even a small amount, can give me a headache. I am happy that turpentine (or some other organic solvent) is not a normal part of my oil painting technique.
Turpentine has two basic roles in modern painting: as a thinner for the paint to allow a flowing application, and for the purpose of cleaning brushes.
However, turpentine did not play that important a role in the history of Western Art. Certainly it was not much used before the 18th century, so painters before then (like Jan van Eyck and Rembrandt) must have gotten by without the turps.
But how could they work without turpentine? I learned, through reading translations of old manuscripts, and looking at paintings depicting artists at work, that the old masters used a different approach to cleaning and storing their brushes. For both purposes, they used linseed oil, the same oil they painted with. As to how to apply paint without using turpentine, I’ll write about that in another post.
Here is how I store my oil painting brushes in a tray of linseed oil.
various brushes stored in linseed oil
I discuss storing brushes in linseed oil in more detail on my own website.
Cleaning brushes with linseed oil is fast and easy (again, the linked page goes into more detail).
seven dabs of oil to clean the brush
A big advantage to this approach: it permits me, in a crunch, to clean up a painting session quickly by putting the unwashed brushes back into the linseed oil. This is not the way to treat brushes well, because they will eventually dry under oil, so I make sure to clean them the next day, but it does buy me flexibility in my work schedule. This kind of flexibility sometimes is the difference between painting and not painting.
Safety tip: Keep in mind, linseed oil releases heat as it dries in the presence of oxygen. Keep rags with linseed oil on them in a sealed metal container.
Would you paint more if you didn’t have to use turpentine? Would you paint more if you could clean your brushes more easily?
Other posts by Karl:
What does it take to be a dealer?
Fall of the Art World
Art school controversy
Is Art School Worthless?
How to Store Oil Paints
How to Care for Brushes
Frames and Framing
Painting from Life vs. from Photos
How to Blog
Indoors, I only use organic solvents in a fume hood. Call me a hypochondriac. But, I have wondered whether part of the reason that women have a higher incidence of Alzheimer’s Disease has to do with the toxic chemicals they use for house cleaning and removal of nail polish.
As an undergraduate, I gave up on my first interest, organic chemistry, because the labs, back then, stank of acetone and much worse; and because I was told that organic chemists have a short life expectancy.
Karl,
If/when I take up oil painting, I’ll look to your pages for brush-handling advice. On your simple cleaning technique: I’m surprised the brush is so well cleaned so easily. Couldn’t there be paint still lurking on inner bristles, especially with larger brushes? Or is this not a problem in practice? I’d probably be tempted to over-clean my brushes and wear them out prematurely.
Couldn’t there be paint still lurking on inner bristles, especially with larger brushes?
Steve, Good question. Larger brushes take more work to clean.
I’d probably be tempted to over-clean my brushes and wear them out prematurely.
What most people do is wash their brushes with turpentine and/or soap. Then they leave them in the air. If there is any oil left on them at all, it will eventually dry and compromise the brush quality.
With the oil cleaning and storing method, there is obviously no problem of leaving oil on the brush. If there is pigment in there among the bristles, it can, as paint, dry, even under oil (I’m not really sure how), but in practice, “clean” brushes (which in a real sense can’t possibly be perfectly clean) don’t dry under oil, even if left for a year.
I was told that organic chemists have a short life expectancy.
Birgit,
The organic chemists who taught me in college all seemed alive and well, although one graduate student did explode a lab over the weekend.
Karl,
You are talking a generation later. During your undergraduate years, organic chemistry labs at Universities possessed fume hoods.
Around that time, it was still bad in small businessess. A friend of mine was the chief chemist for a paint store called ‘Silverlead’ then renamed ‘O’Leary’s’ for obvious reasons. While the owners were conscious of the lead problem, they seemed not have been worried about the fume problem. I consider my friend’s need for a liver transplant related to inhaling organic fumes at his job.
Karl,
I use odorless mineral spirits rather than Turpentine to clean brushes. In fact, I use it while I’m painting, cleaning each brush as I finish with the color, and then I wash the brushes with a brush cleaning soapy material at the end of the day.
Turp gives me headaches, like you, but the odorless mineral spirits, sold under various names like Gamosol, doesn’t seem to effect me. Some paints seem to have turp in them; paints like Underpainting White (a fast drying white) I can’t use except outside.
I would like to preserve my brushes as long as possible, since the ones that get cleaned most often are the ones I like using the most. And I would rather not die of liver cancer. So I’m always on the lookout for troublesome materials. As I grow older (and I’m already too old) I am more susceptible to allergies and bad reactions, anyway.
Some paints seem to have turp in them
I’ve noticed that too. Very annoying!
June,
I like the smell of turpentine, I just don’t like the effects of the chemical on my brain. The advantage of a solvent with an oder is that you can be aware of how much of it is around you.
Gamosol is a heavy-duty solvent type degreaser. Commercially, it is used to clean engine rooms as a waste-oil emulsifier which is then discharged into the oceans, lakes or rivers. There is concern of its toxicity to wild-life: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25034707
In humans, it merely has been linked to dermatitis.
Thanks, Birgit,
I will investigate the best disposal method of my gamosol. I try not to get it on my skin, and I always use barrier cream, so I think that minimizes any dermatitis reaction. I think most of what gets gone is vaporized, although some goes on rags and paper towels into the dump. A little would get into the sewer system when I was the brushes with the soap, but that would be a very small amount, less than the turp that would come from the oil paints, I should think.
Oh mercy, sometimes I wish I were oblivious to the effects of my actions.
But we just got back from a howlingly cold windy sunny trip to a ghost town, about an hour’s drive (and a million miles back of nowhere) from here. The town is pretty much intact, or being sort of “restored” because it is so far away from everything — many towns that busted around here got picked up and moved to the next boom location, but not Gold Point.
All that is to say that I’m somewhat exhausted with wind and sun and “things” suddenly seem too hard.
Hello.
I am the author of the book,”Oil Painting with ‘Calcite Sun Oil’; Safety and Permanence without Hazardous Solvents, Resins, Varnishes and Driers.
See the description of the book on amazon. Read the Reviews by artists just as concerned about their health as you all are.
Yes, its correct to lay your brushes in linseed oil to let them soak, and wipe off before the next days painting session. Only one color has to be especially and carefully removed from the bristles before soaking….burnt umber. It is the one color that will dry on the bristles overnight, even soaked in linseed oil.
Please see my website with information of interest to today’s oil painters.. Thank you= Louis
Hi Louis,
Thank you for your information. It was interesting checking out your websites.
But your U-tube link does no longer work.
I will order your book from Amazon.com.
Thanks for your comment, Louis.
I’m looking forward to learning more about your work.
Burnt Umber is a very fast drying oil color. I don’t use it currently, but I do use burnt and raw siena colors. These are the colors that give me trouble if I put the brushes away without thoroughly cleaning — but overnight is not a problem.
As a general comment, a small amount of any of these earth colors makes for a good dryer for other colors, if the color mix is acceptable. A trace of raw siena mixed with titanium/zinc white will look like lead white, and dry somewhat faster than the pure whites.
Karl, thanks for the interesting and informative post! I doubt it would make me paint more or less, but it’s good to know an alternative to using turpentine so much when using oil paints (though these days I’m working in acrylics, and in linoleum). Living in Los Angeles, I doubt it would much affect my life-span. I expect to die from bullets, or on the freeway. But in the meantime it’s good to know how to stay healthy :-)
Quick question: does any residue from the linseed oil dry in the brush, once it’s being stored out in the air again?
David,
Imagine putting on leather gloves, then putting your hands and forearms into a bucket of linseed oil. Now, wash your arms and hands with soap (but leave the gloves on).
I think if you try this, you will find it takes a good deal of effort to degrease your hands.
Your fingers are the part of the hairs in the ferrule, the glove is the ferrule, obviously. You fingers will not be completely free of oil. If the oil remains, it will dry in air. Linseed oil is an adhesive. Repeat this process, with drying in air, and the hairs will be glue together. This reduces the springiness of the brush, something that can be felt with a sable brush. The hairs will tend to break off at the end of the ferrule. I’ll post about this further, with some photos.
Karl, I misunderstood. I thought you cleaned the brushes w/ linseed oil and then left them out in the air, only keeping them in your oil tray when you didn’t have time to clean them. But I finally followed the link in your post, and I see that you store the brushes in the linseed oil tray all of the time. That makes more sense.
David,
Once I put the bushes in oil, I keep them there for all time.
Ah, that makes more sense to me, too.
David, what are you doing with linoleum? I cut a wood block or two the other day and realized I could be instantly hooked on the process. The first one was conventional but a success. For the second, I was so enthralled that I over-reached, and made a foolish, but brave attempt — it looked awful, but not so awful that I was repelled by the process.
So tell us more….
Hi June, it’s one of the main mediums I’ve worked in for the past 6 or 7 years. I cut it and inlay it, and then mount it on wood. Hangs on the wall like a painting. Here’s a link.
Also, Steve did an interview w/ me about it a couple of years ago here on A&P.
though these days I’m working in acrylics, and in linoleum
David,
Can you paint with acrylic on linoleum? I realize that’s not necessarily what you are saying above, but I’m still curious.
Have you tried making your own linoleum?
Hi , Thanks Bridget for looking at my site and for choosing to purchase the book. For you and all readers, please write me with any and all questions on the ‘Calcite Sun Oil/ Emulsions’ method of oil painting without solvents, varnishes resins or driers. Yes, It is on YOUTUBE, and there are 3 volumes there. [oil painting calcite sun oil] I withdrew one because it had to be reworked. I hope it will serve all of you readers…because HEALTH is precious…and we do not want to lose it or compromise it. Oil Painting is for EVERYONE, children, young, elderly, amateur and Professional, and we CAN make it 100% SAFE.
If you cant afford the book, ask your Library to stock it..then many persons can benefit.
thx=louis
Hi Karl, to address some of the very same problems of turpentine and mineral spirits (spills, fumes etc.) I developed the Artist’s Bottle which I think is a better way to store and dispense turpentine-based mediums – no more open jar passing vapors out etc.
Hopefully you can check it out:
http://kinsandco.com/Products/Art/ArtistsBottle.shtml
http://kinsandco.com/Products/Art/PlasticComparison.shtml