Solvents such as turpentine, paint thinner, mineral spirits, and varnish emit toxic Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as they dry. When poured down the sink, they send harsh toxins into our water supply. They also continue to off-gas from your finished paintings. The use of solvents as a paint thinner and brush cleaner is a relatively recent development in art history. Instead of solvents, traditional oil painters such as Rembrandt typically used walnut or linseed oil to thin their paint and clean their brushes.
How to mix & use your own Natural Oil paint
You can find a recipe on how to mix your own natural oil paints with the Natural Earth Pigments here.
Using the Eco-Friendly Oil Paint Kit from Natural Oil Paint
Priming your Surfaces
You can prime your (organic) canvas with Eco Gesso.
Decreasing Drying Time
Add a tiny touch of raw or burnt umber to your paints.
Add limestone powder (impasto medium) to your mixed paints.
A low-toxin, fast-drying option is also Walnut Alkyd Medium (by M.Graham) - mix a little with your walnut oil "medium".
Use a heat lamp.
Painters of the Renaissance added small amounts of egg yolk to their oil paints to make them dry faster.
How to store Mixed natural Oil paints
Mixed up a batch of eco-friendly oil paint and don't know what to do with it? Here are a few options that will help you extend the life of your paints and store them for the short-term and the long-term!
Aluminum Foil: At the end of a day's painting, scrape any leftover colors into small squares of foil, and fold the foil over so that the paint is airtight. Smudge a little bit of the color onto the outside of the foil so you can identify it later. This is a good option if you need to store your paints for a few weeks.
Clove Oil: Add two drops of clove oil to your paints when you mix them to keep them from drying too fast. Note: Clove oil may cause your paints to darken slightly over a long period of time.
Sponges: Put a small sponge in your palette box and add a drop or two of clove oil to the sponge to keep your paints pliant.
Glass Jars: Smear some clove oil inside of a small glass jar and put the jar upside down over glob of paint on your glass palette.
Cling Film: Gently lay cling film over your palette to keep your oil paints from drying.
Refrigerate: Put your covered palette in the fridge.
Fill an Aluminum Tube: If you mix up a large amount of paint, store the extra paint in an aluminum paint tube. Scoop the paint with a palette knife or spatula into the tube. Tap the tube repeatedly to make the paint go down to the bottom and continue. Fill the tube 3/4 full and use a putty knife to flatten the end of the tube - push down and pull backwards (folding twice). Finally, pinch the end with flyers to get an air tight seal.
Cleaning your Brushes
Walnut oil cleans well, along with Murphy’s Oil Soap (from the hardware store). The most effective brush cleaner is Natural Earth Paint's Eco-Solve, a natural and non-toxic, soy-based paint thinner and brush cleaner. Eco-Solve is the best for cleaning brushes while painting to quickly rinse off paint and switch colors. It also restores dried brushes. You can "re-use" Eco-Solve by letting the paint sediment settle in the jar and pouring the clean Eco-Solve off the top into another jar.
To clean brushes, first wipe off as much paint as you can with a rag. Then, swish your brush in a small amount of Eco-Solve. Finally, wash your brush with soap and water in the palm of your hand.
To thin paint, use walnut oil, linseed oil, or poppyseed oil to make paint more fluid. To create washes, under-paintings or more watery, dripping effects (like you would create with solvents), use Eco-Solve.
This heavy-duty, natural and non-toxic soap is the most effective AND sustainably made hand soap for removing oil paint that we have found. It easily cleans oil paint off your hands as well as plant sap and any super sticky substances.
Leah's tips & tricks for mixing paints with Natural Earth Paint
