After years of not painting in oils due to the solvent smells, I decided to give water miscible oil paints (H2O) a try. These paints are made with linseed oil that has been modified to allow mixing with water. The big advantage is that brushes and other painting materials can be cleaned simply with soap and water. The paints themselves can be thinned with water for painting. However, I have been advised by other artists not to use water except for underpaintings since using water makes the paints gummy and don't behave quite right.
I am using the Weber woil water mixable oil paints, which I'm loving so far. Below are two paintings in progress both on 12" x 12" canvas. For the underpaintings, I did thin my paints with water to make a wash. Below is the next step where I am using just the paints and modified linseed oil as medium (Grumbacher Max brand). Basically, I worked on the fabric on the left painting and the background on the right painting.
I tried using the Grumbacher Max quick dry medium, which is advertised as non-toxic, but it gave me headaches. Upon further inquiry and inspection of its MSDS sheet, it contains an ingredient which can affect the central nervous system causing headachaches (so not sure why it's labeled non-toxic), so I'm staying away from it especially now that I am having some health issues. I am trying to paint as non-toxic as possible and therefore, I'm avoiding pigments like the cadmiums and cobalts. Instead I am relying hues of those colors, which are mixes of safer pigments. Not all artists like hues but so far they're working right for me.
We'll see when I can find some time to work on these guys again. Gotta get used to the slow-drying time of oils again (although these H2O oils are supposed to become dry to the touch in a shorter period of time than regular oils).
