Can Gamsol replace Turpenoid in this old medium rec?

[timpaatkins]

1 part stand oil,
1 part Damar varnish
2 parts Turp

I think i read somewhere that the damar needs the turp to act properly, but will Gamsol do the trick too?

[k4pka]

No unfortunately not, as Gamsol is not a strong enough solvent to dissolve the Dammar.

[timpaatkins]

Damn it...
Ill just have to get some turpenoid then, and use the Gamsol exclusivly in my silicoil.
Thanks for the info!

[Elwell]

Turpenoid won't do it either. You need the real thing, turpentine. Turpenoid is just a highly refined OMS like Gamsol. Making that recipe with either one will likely cause the dammar to fall out of suspension and form a gummy, jelly-like blob at the bottom of the container.
If you are going to use turpentine, make sure you get a good quality brand from an art supply store. There's a lot of really crappy hardware store turpentine out there these days.

[timpaatkins]

Hmm thanks Elwell, I guess our paintingteacher needs a good flogging. He told us absolutley NO turpentine in the classroom, then he proceeded to give us that recipie with Turpenoid. So thats why it went all cloudy and gross...

My confusion elevates. Im not really sure what the hell to use as a medium anymore.
I have the Walnut Alkyd, stand oil, coldpressed linseedoil, refined linseedoil, damar varnish, gamsol. Any tips on what I can cook up with that?

There are so many different recepies out there, I feel my head is spinning.

I know that if i want a fast dry time, i use the walnut alkyd, and sometimes i mix a few drops if linseedoil in there to expend that, but then i know that the linseed will yellow it, so should i use the refined LSO, or maybe the stand oil? ghrarg..

I guess ill just have to experiment some more.

[Elwell]

If you want slow drying and (relatively) non-yellowing, just plain thinned down stand oil (anywhere from one to five parts thinner to one part oil) is a good start.

[timpaatkins]

And in that case Gamsol will do the trick right?

Thanks again Elwell

[William Whitaker]

Timpaatlkins,

As a general rule, you really don't have to worry about linseed oil yellowing. It is the final damar or mastic varnish that is responsible for the yellow cast on old paintings.

Elwell's advice about stand oil is good. You can add just a bit of alkyd medium to it to speed up the drying time a little if you wish. Another good oil - better than plain linseed oil - is sun-thickened linseed oil.

I would never recommend using damar for anything other than as a retouch varnish sprayed lightly out of a spray can.

Bill

[steve kim]

i got nothing against brewing up your own mediums and stuff, but looking at your work i would suggest the following:

-assuming you have really good ventilation anyway, gamsol is a lot better than turpenoid and especially (20% vs 90% evaporation rate) turpentine in terms of toxicity. my gf likes to complain to me about the many problems of gamsol but health is not something to sneeze at!

-no one says you need any medium. paint without it and see where it takes you. most of the better academic painters i've seen just use gamsol/turp & paint. understand what the paint itself feels like before you gunk it all up with other stuff.

-when you get a good feeling for what paint is, experiment with the more popular all-in-one mediums like galkyd or liquin. i like galkyd myself but it's a personal thing.

don't get so hung up with your materials at this point.

p.s. kinda reminds me of my first painting class where our instructor mentioned the same medium recipe w/ the same misunderstanding of turpenoid & damar. dunno what he was doing mentioning medium recipes in the first place :/.

[steve kim]

oh and checkout www.trueart.info and www.gamblincolors.com if you'd like to read more nitty gritty stuff

[William Whitaker]

Let me second what Chumps just wrote. Paint without medium first. I did it that way for years.

Also, Galkyd is better than Liquin. Robert Gamblin's materials are all good.

[timpaatkins]

Thanks Elwell, William, k4pka and Chumps for all the info and advice. Just another reason why I love this place so much. I post a question and within a few hours I have field leading artists answering them for me. Gives me goosebumps and a tear to my eye I tells ya!