Oleogel--Uses and Results

[George O'Hanlon]

I am posting these images and text in behalf of William Whitaker:

I’ve found that it’s easier to oil out with Oleogel than anything else I’ve used. There is much less tendency for the oil to bead up. Sometimes I use my fingers to do it, sometimes I use a brush. The end result is a very thin layer – much like a well oiled firearm. I don’t use dryers, and I work on several paintings at a time, so I let days go by between sessions on a given painting, which allows the work to set well enough that the paint doesn’t come up when I oil out.









Very nice work, Bill!

[Kenneth Freed]

Excellent painting, Bill. I have been using Oleogel as a wet cushion for a number of months now and have been very satisfied. Let's just keep this secret between us, we wouldn't want George to sell so much there is a shortage.

[ 12. December 2009, 13:26: Message edited by: Kenneth Freed ]

[bart johnson]

Ah, got notification yesterday that my oleogel is on the way. .. but, of course, mum's the word... just the three of us... we've already seen what's happening to the stack lead white.

Wonderful painting, Bill. It's got a nice Frans van Mieris quality to it. Can't tell if that's a birch ply panel. One of those New Traditions panels with primed canvas glued to it?

[Orp]

Hi

What about just putting a final coat of Oleogel on a finished oil painting and calling it a day?

[George O'Hanlon]

You can use Oleogel as a final layer of paint, although not as a varnish, which use of the word assumes that it is a sacrificial layer that should be somewhat easily removed from the painting at a later date.

[Steve Ladd]

I received the Oleogel yesterday and made a little test panel with it last night. I love how clear it is, just by itself it's almost invisible. I thought it might dry a bit faster, as most of the test squares are still tacky this morning, but I didn't smear it out very thinly either. The small area of it that was mixed with turpentine is almost dry, so that's a good clue to how it will work for glazing. It's got a really nice consistency, more like salve than a another gel that I tried that just coagulated into gooey blobs. I like touching and smearing it around with my finger, and imagine that such rubbing will be part of my next painting. Maybe in a "wet cushion" like Kenneth does, although I don't paint in isolated sections of a painting, but am all over the place, so I don't know if I can use the wet cushion method, unless I do a small picture, say maybe a 9X12.

[George O'Hanlon]

I would not expect Oleogel to dry quickly in thick applications, since it is mostly oil and fumed silica.

[bart johnson]

My preferred way of using oleogel is in a wet cushion. I also might use just a small amount to "wet" the paint a bit. And I pick that up on the tip of a brush--not mixed in with a palette knife. The oleogel if left in a pile on the palette will stay liquid for at least couple days but usually is dry by the next day if spread thin. I'm in a dry climate so it dries here faster than in humid climates.

If I'm working on something 16x20 and smaller I lay the wet cushion down before starting my painting day (assuming the painting is completely dry, of course). If I'm working on something larger I'll lay the oleogel over whatever section I'm going to paint on. I generally paint it on with a bristle brush and then thin it with the heel of my hand or at times a balled cloth if I want it even thinner.

[Steve Ladd]

I must try this "wet cushion" method someday soon; I liked the sound of it when I first read about it in one of Kenneth's articles. I just began another painting today, on gessoed hardwood panel, about 18x25 in size. Too big to wet-cushion completely each time I paint, but I expect that during the middle and later stages to be zeroing-in on smaller areas during sessions; I'll try it then. I'm doing the underpainting in alkyd paints, hoping to do larger areas that dry faster than oils. Has anybody here used oleogel with oils over alkyd underpainting, and if so, how'd it work?
Also, I didn't mention earlier that one of the small test strips I did had oleogel diluted with spike oil, and it dried pretty quickly with a nice semi-matte surface.

[Steve Ladd]

George

Can oleogel be mixed with some turpentine in a little bottle to make a more liquid medium, or would that negate it's inherent properties? I've blended small amounts of the two with a palette knife and my finger, but hesitate to make a 'batch' of it; it's too precious to waste.