Rublev Colours Oleogel
Oleogel is a thixotropic painting medium made with linseed oil and pyrogenic silica. Oleogel is a clear pale amber gel that adds transparency and thixotropic body to oil, resin-oil or alkyd paint. Add directly to your paint to give it transparency without thinning its consistency. Add pigments or extenders to thicken it for creating impasto effects that do not sink in.
Oleogel does not contain driers, so it is safe to use in oil painting without worry of cracking. When mixed with paint, you may find that Oleogel slows the drying time. However, most artists who have used Oleogel find that it does not extend the drying time of oil colors.
Oleogel adds transparency to whites without losing the body of the paint
Oleogel in the center, Flake White on the left and a mixture of Oleogel and Flake White on the right. The Flake White is stiff, plastic and short, but when mixed with Oleogel the mixture is semi-transparent, soft, yet sculptural.
Oleogel increases transparency without flowout and leveling
Rublev Colours French Raw Sienna at left and a mixture of Oleogel and Raw Sienna on the right. Below each is a brush out of the above examples. Rublev Colours French Raw Sienna is long, yet holds strokes well. When Oleogel is added to Raw Sienna it increases transparency without causing the flowout and leveling of brushstrokes.
Directions
Mix directly into your paint right on the palette.To make your own paint with Oleogel, add directly to pigment powder until a stiff paste is obtained (almost the consistency of putty). Grind the paste with a muller on a flat surface before storing in collapsible tube. Some of its thixotropic property will be temporarily lost when grinding Oleogel with a muller, but should be restored when allowed to stand.
Rublev Colours Oleoresgel
Oleoresgel is a thixotropic gel painting medium made with bodied linseed oil, alkyd resin, odorless mineral spirits and pyrogenic silica. Oleoresgel is a clear pale amber gel that adds transparency and thixotropic body to oil, resin-oil or alkyd paint. Add directly to your paint to give it transparency without thinning its consistency. Add pigments or extenders to thicken it for creating impasto effects that do not sink in.Oleoresgel does not contain driers, so it is safe to use in oil painting without worry of cracking. When mixed with paint, you may find that Oleoresgel slows the drying time. However, most artists who have used Oleoresgel find that it does not extend the drying time of oil colors.
Oleoresgel adds transparency to whites without losing the body of the paint
Oleoresgel in the center, Flake White on the left and a mixture of Oleoresgel and Flake White on the right. The Flake White is stiff, plastic and short, but when mixed with Oleoresgel the mixture is semi-transparent, soft, yet sculptural.
Oleoresgel increases transparency without flowout and leveling
Rublev Colours French Raw Sienna at left and a mixture of Oleoresgel and Raw Sienna on the right. Below each is a brush out of the above examples. Rublev Colours French Raw Sienna is long, yet holds strokes well. When Oleoresgel is added to Raw Sienna it increases transparency without causing the flowout and leveling of brushstrokes.
Directions
Mix directly into your paint right on the palette.To make your own paint with Oleoresgel, add directly to pigment powder until a stiff paste is obtained (almost the consistency of putty). Grind the paste with a muller on a flat surface before storing in collapsible tube. Some of its thixotropic property will be temporarily lost when grinding Oleoresgel with a muller, but should be restored when allowed to stand.
Questions and Answers
What is a thixotropic gel?Thixotropy is the property of some fluids to change viscosity as they are agitated. The longer the fluid is agitated, the lower its viscosity. A gel is mostly liquid in composition, but behaves more like a solid. When a thixotropic gel is agitated, such as manipulated with a palette knife or brush, it begins to flow, but when the agitation is stopped it regains its former viscosity and stiffens.
What are the working properties of Oleogel and Oleoresgel?
Both gel mediums increase the transparency of oil colors without making paint more fluid, such as when adding drying oil to increase the transparency of a color. This is an advantage when you want a transparent layer of color without making the paint runny. The pyrogenic silica in these mediums add a little drag while brushing and its translucency creates wonderful possibilities for layered painting techniques.
Can I use Oleogel or Oleoresgel to make opaque impastos?
Both Oleogel and Oleoresgel increase the transparency of colors. Oleogel and Oleoresgel are soft gels so that as you add more to your paint the softer and more transparent it will become. For heavier impastos or textures, we recommend adding calcite (calcium carbonate) to Oleogel or Oleoresgel in combination with your oil colors. A more convenient method of building thick, opaque impastos we recommend using Rublev Colours calcite mediums, such as Impasto medium or Velazquez Medium instead of gel mediums.
I use a wax medium with my oil paint. Can Rublev Colours Oleogel or Oleoresgel be mixed with this medium?
Both gel mediums are compatible with wax pastes and resinous mediums. We do not recommend heating Oleogel or Oleoresgel to mix it with wax, but rather add the wax as a soft paste directly to the medium or melt the wax in linseed oil before adding it to Oleogel or Oleoresgel.
Can I add driers to Oleogel or Oleoresgel to hasten drying?
Oleogel and Oleoresgel do not contain driers, so you can add driers to it to speed its drying time. You will most likely find that driers are not needed. However, if you find driers necessary, add them as you would normally use with oil paint. We recommend adding one or two drops of zirconium drier for each tablespoon (5 ml) of medium or the combination of medium and oil colors.
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