How to use Zest-it Clear Painting Medium with oil paint when painting

Zest-it Clear Painting Medium

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Painting Mediums in general.

First of all let's look at what painting mediums are. Oil paint can be used 'as is' straight from the tube, but it's not always possible to make the paint move and behave as you would like it to.
To help oil paint move we need a 'vehicle', this usually takes the form of a solvent or painting medium that is mixed with the paint from the tube. The various painting mediums have qualities or characteristics of their own, which they give to the paint they are mixed with.
The qualities are usually in the form of - thinning the paint; softening the paint; levelling out the brush strokes; making a glaze; giving a gloss finish or combinations thereof.
Painting mediums are often made up of three components, but it can be more or less, these are - a solvent, oil and a varnish. To ensure the painting will have structurally sound layers the 'fat over lean' principal needs to understood and followed.

zest-it clear painting medium

clear painting medium

The Zest-it Clear Painting Medium is designed to facilitate the flow of oil paint, level out the brush strokes and as a glaze. The Clear Painting Medium can be of assistance to both the traditional oil painter and the wet-on-wet artist. It can also be helpful to Oil pastel artists. It is a mix of Zest-it and Linseed Stand Oil, it also makes the paint it is used with dry faster.

For the Traditional oil painter. The Zest-it Clear Painting Medium is very useful for applying glazes to the painting. It dries clear and quite quickly, it will also lift any dull parts of a painting giving an overall balance to the surface finish. It does not contain any varnish, this keeps the dried glaze as a more flexible film and in keeping with the rest of the paintings structure. The last glaze can of course be worked into before it dries to completion. The Zest-it Clear Painting medium is usually touch dry within 24 to 36 hours, although it does of course depend on the paint used. Fat over lean

For the Wet-on-Wet painter. The Zest-it Clear Painting Medium gives an ideal base for the start of a canvas painting, allowing the artists to mix and blend colours on the canvas and can be used throughout the painting. The Clear Painting Medium can also be coloured before starting a wet-on-wet painting, just add a small amount of oil paint to an amount of the medium and mix together before using to wet the background - only a very thin coat is needed. The medium will stay workable for about twelve hours, giving the artist ample time to complete the painting in one sitting. The canvas is usually touch dry in 24 to 36 hours. Amaryllis project

For the small painting on the left, the ZCPM was first coloured with a mix of Burnt Sienna and Titanium White. This covered the background, except for the area the flowers were to be placed which was left dry.

For the Tole painter. The Zest-it Clear painting medium is excellent for blending colours together when double loading a brush for one-stroke painting, which of course is a wet on wet painting method when using oils. When double loading a brush, mix a small amount of ZCPM with each pile of paint, then load into each side of the brush and blend on the palette. The painting medium also makes blending the applied colour easy. Single leaf project Wild Rose project

The small painting on the left has roses and leaves painted with a double loaded brush. The fine tendrils use paint thinned to a watery consistency with the medium.

For Oiling out. Often when a painting has been drying for sometime dull areas show up. Before starting work on the painting again the artist often wants the 'wet look' back, this is an aid to judging the colour with more accuracy. Using the Zest-it Clear Painting medium for this gives back the 'wet look', can be painted into and keeps the integrity of the painting. Very useful and a little goes a long way.

For the Oil Pastel artist. More information about can be found on the Oil Pastels page.

The Clear Painting Medium is available in a variety of sizes in some Retail shops and at our eShop where introductory sets can be found at a discount in the Clear Painting Medium section.

The Clear Painting Medium can also be used to thin oil paint to an ink consistency for use with a dip pen nib, the oil written words dry in about 24 hours, have a gloss and slightly raised profile.


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