Water to dilute oil colours! “This guy is crazy” can think someone! It is not possible,or just a fake news…no,no just a moment please,it’s not what you think,i can explain everything! I know it seems impossible,but it’s all true,i swear it! Probably someone already knows them,someone else not,but water mixable oil colours are already a reality for several years.They are designed to meet the needs of artist and amateur painters who don’t want to renounce to oil paint, but that for some reason cannot tolerate classic oil solvents(as turpentine),or,even worse,they’re allergic.Water mixable oil colours are oil colours full-fledged that unlike than traditional ones,you can dilute simply with water. Why? Because they are ground and mixed with modified linseed and safflower oil. In this case oil and water molecules come togheter,instead of separating as it happens in nature. Really an astounding innovation that has made possible something normally impossible. These colours have all qualities of classic oil colours with the advantage to be diluted just with WATER! They are characterized by a consistence dense e creamy,excellent pigmentation that confers intensity,permanency,resistence to light ,opacity and trasparency on high level; they’re oily enough and with drying time faster than traditional colours. Always remember that even for this kind of colours is required the sacred rule of “fat over lean”,only instead of use oil of turpentine or odourless diluent,you will use water for the first layers of painting,and then gradually you will add linseed oil. Another important feature about this type of colours is that they’re free from heavy metals, therefore safe for health, indeed they can be used even in schools and in the courses in closed rooms since they have a slight smell which is irritating at all. There are so many brands that make water mixable oil colours and all of them are(more or less) worthy to be tested at least one time; i may quote brands like Talens,Ferrario,Maimeri,but in this article, i’d like to introduce you the brand who is considered the best in the world by all major experts in the field,which is the legendary Winsor and Newton Artisan! If you wanna get an idea you can look at the chart below:
40 brillant hues,well-balanced with colours opaque, semi-opaque, trasparent and semi-trasparent available in tubes of 37 ml,whereas 31 hues are avaiable in maxi tubes of 200 ml! All colours provide maximum resistence at light and high pigmentation which guarantees an impressive duration in time. Once the work is done,brushes can be washed safely with water and soap without the need of solvent like mineral spirits.
If you are beginners or amateur who face for first time water mixable oil colours you can take a look at the photo below:
An interesting set of 10 tubes of 37 ml that contains essential colours for a palette balanced and varied. The set includes also 2 brushes (round and flat) and a 75 ml container of linseed oil with whom to dilute colours. There are so many medium specific for water mixable oil colours as for example stand-oil ,but we’ll talk about that and other medium in the next articles.
Before closing i’d like to show you this last photo:
10 water mixable colours by Winsor and Newton,but this time in tubes of 12 ml… for those who don’t seem too convinced,but would like to give it a try without wasting too much money and colours too.