Using Oil Bars

OIL BARS

Oil Bars are fundamentally different from oil pastels or oil crayons due to their unique formulation. Each of the colours are produced by combining artists' quality pigments with Linseed Oil, into which are blended specially selected waxes.

Using Oil Bars

To start using the Oil Bar simply wipe away the thin surface film which forms as the Oil Bar dries. The Oil Bar softens & flows as pressure is applied. They may be applied directly to the canvas so that nothing comes between artist and the surface to which it is applied.

This allows the artist to draw a continuous line of rich colour to create traditional sketches or abstract images.

Painting Surface

The Oil Bar can be used on a variety of surfaces including paper, canvas & board. The surface should be sized and primed in the same way as for any oil-based product.

Compatibility

Oil Bars can be intermixed with traditional oil colours, oil pastels etc whilst painting and can be used with all types of mediums formulated for use with oil colours.

Drying Time

Subject to variation the oil colour will generally be touch dry in 2 to 7 days. The outer film of the remaining Oil Bar will reform after 2 to 5 days.

Gum Arabic - Watercolours and Pastels

Gum Arabic

Previously known as Gum Acacia, from the Acacia tree found in Australia, Africa and Asia. Best from Africa. When dissolved in hot water used as an adhesive, stop out in litho printing, as a size, and more commonly as a binder in watercolours and pastels. Plasticizers added as pure gum is brittle.

Adding gum Arabic to your watercolour has three effects-

• Slows down drying time of paint giving you slightly longer to work on creating your image or wet into wet
• Adds further transparency to your water colour and it increases gloss.
• Watercolour washes will have greater depth and appear more luminous than colour washes alone.

Gum Arabic can be added to your jar of water if you prefer to use it through out the painting.

Gum Arabic should not be used directly from the bottle because thick films will be brittle.

Fixatives

Fixatives

Are used to prevent smudging and other damage to artworks, particularly drawings in soft pastel, pencil and charcoal. Some fixatives are also suitable to protect oil pastel, watercolour and acrylic works. Fixative is normally sprayed on from an aerosol or pump spray container. It forms a thin colourless coating.

Fixatives are flammable and should be applied in a well-ventilated area, with the nozzle 12 inches or so from the work, which should be propped at a slight angle. The spray should be kept moving in broad strokes to avoid excess causing runs. It is better to apply two or three thin coats than one heavy one.

The commonest use of fixatives is for soft pastel work. Because pastel is dry it is not absorbed by the support and is vulnerable to smudging or falling off. Some artists thinly fix the layers of colour as they go or simply shake off excess pigment. Unfortunately using fixative has a disadvantage - it tends to darken pastel and cause subtle tonal variations to be lost. Some consider this too high a price to pay, but most feel that the protection provided by fixatives is worth slight changes in tone, which can be minimised by thin application.