Frequently Asked Questions

Titanium White (WN)
Cadmium Yellow Pale (CAO)
Cadmium Yellow Medium (CAO)
Camium Red Light (CAO)
Permanent Alizarin (WN)
Yellow Ochre (CAO)
Raw Sienna (WN)
Terra Rosa (WN)
Transparent Red Oxide (CAO)
Raw Umber (WN)
Viridian Green (WN)
Cerulean Blue (WN)
Cobalt Blue (WN)
French Ultramarine Blue (WN)
Transparent Oxide Brown (REM) or (WN)

On occassion I still paint with acrylics.

My long-standing loyalty to Liquitex has only to do with having tried other brands* only to find them too transparent or not strong in tinting strength.

*Lately, however, I have dicovered two other brands that I find to be quite rich in color and with great handling properties: MGraham and Tri-Art. The MGraham acrylics are creamy while the Tri-Art acrylics are very heavy-bodied and feel like oils.

Langnickel Long-haired, long-handled filberts*
Langnickel Long-haired, long-handled flats*
Robert Simmons natural-bristle filberts
Grumbacher Gainsborough Natural Bristle filberts
Escoda Filberts and Brights [Website] [YouTube video]
Home Depot 59¢ bristle cheap-o house painting
Anything else that will do the job
* Though Langnickel makes a brush that is favored by many famous artists, and the company stands behind its brushes, there are inherent probles that make them a great brush and at the same time a frustrating brush. Read my open letter to Langnickel.

Walnut oil. Yes, Walnut oil.

My washcan is 2 inches deep in walnut oil. Edible, food-grade walnut oil, cold-pressed and compatible with all traditional linseed or alkyd based oil paints. It is non-toxic, has no odor, no harmful fumes. May be harmful to people with walnut alergies, I don't know.

I rinse and wipe on a towel. Rinse again, then pinch out remainder into towel. I wear a loose-fitting heavy rubber glove mostly to keep my hand from getting all oily formthe towel, but also to protect my skin from absorbing the more dangerous colors, especially cadmiums.

At the end of the day, I take my brushes to the kitchen sink and wash for a minute or two in Dawn dishwasing detergent. When lather looks clean and white, I am done. Rinse. Air-dry overnight.

It is important to note that walnut oilis not a rinse or solvent like Turpentine. It is just an oil, but a drying oil. If you expect your brush to come out of it clean after a few swishes, you will be disappointed. The act of rinsing and pinching into a towel does a very good job of cleaning the brushes, but not as clean as turp. It takes getting used to.

If you cannot find cold-pressed walnut oil in your area, buy it from me: a sealed, new jar, 16fl.oz (473ml) $12.95 (I can only ship to continental US).

What do you use as a painting medium?

Nothing, really.* I prefer the consistency of paint right out of the tube. The colors and brands I buy are directly related to this. Since I use walnut oil to clean my brushes (see above), a fair amount of walnut oil makes it into my paint mixtures, and I like the effect. Sometimes I thin with walnut oil.

On darker lay-ins, or where I want the paint to dry faster (which is usually only the darks/shadows) I use Winsor & Newton's Liquin (Original Formula)

*Lately, however, I have been experimenting with two "classic mediums," breaking from my 'no medium' stance. One is a 2-part medium I saw Zhaoming Wu using on his video. It is 1 part turpentine, 1 part linseed oil. It maes paint very free-slowing and is wonderful for soupy backgrounds and blending.

The other is a 7-part medium I saw Richard Schmid use in a couple of his videos. It is 1 part Stand Oil, 1 part liquid Damar Varnish, and 5 parts turpentine.

Didn't Dave mention something about "photographer's rights?"

Yes. In one online discussion there was some concern over rights to photographing people in public. Among many other concerns, that is dealt with on a legal site operated by Bert P. Krages, Attorney at Law. You should specifically visit his web page about photographer's rights, and download the detailed PDF document there.