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Artisan

Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour has been specifically developed to appear and work just like conventional oil colour.

The key difference between Artisan and conventional oils is its ability to thin and clean up with water. Hazardous solvents are not necessary for Artisan and artists can enjoy a safer painting environment, making it ideal for artists who share a work space, schools or painting at home.

The Artisan range consists of 40 colours and has a dedicated range of 11 Artisan solvents, oils, mediums and varnishes, allowing you to achieve all oil painting techniques.

This section gives you some additional information and useful facts about Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colour.

Oil Painting Rules with Artisan

Oil painting with Artisan requires attention to the same oil painting rules as conventional oil colour:

Fat over lean (flexible over less flexible). When oil painting in layers, each successive layer must be more flexible than the one underneath. This rule is maintained by adding more medium to each successive layer.
Thick over thin. Thick layers of oil colour are best applied over thin under layers. Thin layers on impasto paintings are likely to crack.
Slow drying colours should not form continuous under layers as any faster drying layers on top may crack.
Using water as a solvent

As with any oil colour, the addition of too much solvent can result in an underbound paint film. The same is true when using water with the Artisan range. For this reason we strongly recommend that the working characteristics of the colour be adjusted through the use of the appropriate medium in addition to water. When adding water, do so gradually, a little bit at a time, while mixing continuously with a brush or palette knife. Doing so will allow the water and oil emulsion to form evenly.

The use of water will also alter the refractive quality of the colour - resulting in a slight shift to a lighter tint as the water is added. As water evaporates from the mix, there is a subsequent reversion back to the original colour. Alternatively, you can use Artisan Thinner instead and the colour shift will be avoided.

Which Whites to Use

White is the most popular colour. Adding white to any other colour produces ‘tints'. The two whites in the Artisan range offer different working characteristics. Titanium White is the most popular modern white. It is the whitest, most opaque white and gives excellent covering power. Zinc White (Mixing White) is the most transparent white, making it ideal for stronger tints and glazing. Artisan whites are ground in modified safflower oil to produce the whitest whites.

Extensive Underpainting/ Priming with White

Artisan whites are not recommended for these purposes because they are made with the slower drying safflower oil. For extensive underpainting we recommend Underpainting White from Artists' Oil Colour. Remember however, water cannot be used with this product.

The use of Artisan over oils

This is possible as long as the painting is completely dry. It is then possible to use Artisan colour straight from the tube or if thinning is required a minimum amount of Artisan Thinners can be used. It is not recommended that water be used as this may de-wet or cause cissing on the original oil colour and poor adhesion. The Artisan mediums may also be used to thin Artisan colours over dried oil colour.

Underpainting with Acrylics or Alkyds

Both Acrylics and Alkyds can be used for underpainting as they dry rapidly. However, an acrylic underpainting should be kept to a thin layer to avoid any problems with flexibility.

Oiling Out

Oiling out replaces any oil which has been absorbed by the previous layer. Wipe Artisan Painting Medium sparingly into any dull, sunken areas of the painting with a lint free cloth. Wipe off any excess oil and leave to dry. Repeat until the area has an even sheen.

Artisan and Conventional Oil Colours

Artisan Water Mixable Oil Colours and Mediums can be mixed with conventional oil colours and conventional mediums. However, the resultant mixture will be progressively less water mixable, the more conventional oil colour or oil colour mediums are used. We recommend using Artisan colours and mediums exclusively in order to benefit from the use of water instead of solvents.

Conventional painting over an Artisan Underpainting

We recommend using Artisan throughout the painting as it may be difficult to maintain fat over lean by moving to a conventional oil colour in later layers.

 

Artisan Durability

Artisan Water Mixable Oil colour is a relatively new medium in terms of art materials, however, colours containing oil and water are not new and have in fact existed since prehistoric times. For example, egg tempera is an oil in water emulsion, which has been used by artists for over 600 years.

During the development process, Artisan colours were tested for many properties that would be indicative of its durability such as adhesion, flexibility, drying, film hardness, and water resistance, as well as application properties such as mixability with water, flow, texture retention and wetting. In addition, the full range of colours were painted out on canvas directly from the tube and with mediums and/or water at different thicknesses and have been observed and tested at regular intervals since.

All results from this development stage have confirmed that Artisan does indeed act in the same way as a conventional oil colour.

To ensure the long term durability of Artisan, Winsor & Newton have and will continue to study Artisan under various conditions using paint films that have been allowed to dry naturally for longer periods of time (test samples that have been aged artificially) and also by use of specialised equipment. The key areas to consider when assessing long term durability are:-

The evaporation of water from the paint film
Film hardness and future resistance to water & solvent
Adhesion and flexibility
In combination with the work carried out to date and the ongoing studies, there is further analysis taking place in various conservation departments across the world.