The process of Oiling-Out is a simple one. It helps to saturate all the colours, bringing back to life all those dull patches where the pigment has dried to a matte finish next to others that have remained glossy. I like to do this once the oil painting is touch-dry to create an even sheen across the whole surface before I varnish the piece. I explain how I do this and what I use in the video.
There is a valid argument that questions the need to do this when varnishing itself will supposedly even out the sheen level across the painting anyway.
It took me a long time and a lot of experimentation to come up with some answers. Here’s what I’ve concluded -
If you use a gloss varnish then you may find that while you can lift the dull patches to a nice sheen, the original shiny patches become even shinier and you still end up with an uneven sheen level. This happens mostly when you are using a Retouch varnish which is a thinner varnish designed to let the oils continue to cure underneath. The thinner nature of this varnish means that the surface sheen underneath will have a bearing on the result even after Retouch varnish is applied.
As a full-time artist, sometimes we just don’t have the luxury of waiting 6-12 months to add a full varnish before needing to exhibit a piece or hand it over to a client! So being able to even out the sheen level before varnishing becomes essential.
I hope this has been useful to you - let me know if you have any questions! 😍
Note: The two products that I use are Galkyd and Gamsol - both by Gamblin.
p.s. if you enjoyed the video, I’d be honoured if you were to click that little heart and share with a restack. 🤗
The transcript is below in case you missed anything!
Transcript:
Once the surface of your painting is touch dry, I’ll show you how to even out the sheen across the painting with a process called ‘oiling-out’.
You often find that some pigments, especially darker ones, dry much duller than others and seem to sink into the canvas, creating dull patches next to shiny ones.
I always use a mixture of 50% Galkyd and 50% Gamsol which will dry in a couple of days. You can use other, more oily painting mediums but I find these take longer to dry.
Simply brush it on sparingly and leave to soak into the surface for a few minutes. Then wipe it off with a cheesecloth or other lint-free cloth.
You want to remove all the excess mixture that is sitting on the surface.
And voila - a beautiful, even sheen across the whole painting.
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