Her eyes grew sadder with time

Oil portrait painting

Oil painting on cardboard
Titled: Her eyes grew sadder with time

I finally dug out my oil paints after not using them for several years. I was expecting to need a huge amount of time to adjust from painting in gouache to oils. I chose to use the cheapest oil paint I have on hand, which are still pretty expensive when I think about it.

Since art supply prices have doubled or tripled over the past couple years, and I was feeling rusty & not expecting to like anything I painted, I didn’t want to start out using the super expensive oil paint. Luckily, it didn’t take me long to get back into the swing of things. I painted 3 portraits this size (9x11 in) about a month ago, and they’re all finally dry to the touch. I’ll be posting the others here soon.

Oil used to be my favorite paint, but since I found gouache 3 or 4 years ago, it became the love of my life & replaced oils for me. Painting in oils again didn’t change my obsession with gouache. Gouache is my ride or die these days.

I still like oils for painting skin tones, BUT… what I don’t like is the smell of the paint, which lingered in my house for days. I was jarred awake from a nap in a panic one day, thinking I smelled gas. Turns out it was the oil paint fumes that woke me up. I don’t think it’s all that safe to breathe in, especially for the cats. They are such sensitive creatures.

The slow drying time also wasn’t a plus, and having a good drying place away from the cats is challenging for me. I’m used to, and love how fast gouache dries, so waiting for oils seemed like extra work, even though technically I didn’t have to do anything except wait…and wait some more.

In the past, I’ve tried using the fast drying mediums. I spent well over $100 on different brands, and I didn’t like any of them. Some made the paint feel slimy, and others made the paint feel goopy, or sticky like honey. Most had a horrendous odor which gave me raging migraine headaches, even though I had the windows open with a fan blowing in fresh air. Knowing that I’ve had bad experiences, I didn’t use any mediums in these portraits, except the tiniest bit of Gamblin Gamsol, which is odorless.

Before painting these oil portraits, I was thinking I would paint a couple of them a week this summer. Now, I’m rethinking that idea. We’re coming up on 100F+ temps, which means the ac will be running nonstop, and the windows will be closed. I’ll still air the house out with a fan in the window when I’m able, but if it’s 90F when I wake up in the morning? Yeah, no chance.

From Google - Ventilation: Ensure proper ventilation in your painting space, even with low-odor products.

I do have more expensive oil paint on hand that I can try, but it depends on whether it’s made with linseed oil or not. Linseed is the smelliest from what I've read. If the odor results are the same, I’m going to squash the plan of oil painting until the weather changes & I can open the windows again. Last year we went from blasting the ac to turning the heat on the next day, so the time allowed might be extremely short.

PS: I know there are specific brands that claim to have no odor, but I’m not going to buy them. I already have an overabundance of oil paint on hand, and don’t want to spend more money on something I don’t enjoy doing anymore. I think of oil painting as more of a pain in the ass than a pleasure these days. It involves too much sacrifice, space, and time, and I’m happier when I’m painting with gouache.

Gouache has no odor, it layers well, doesn’t ruin brushes because it can be reactivated easily in water, has never stained my clothes, and dries matte very fast - all things I love & appreciate. I might end up selling my oil paint on eBay, and use the money to buy more gouache. TBD, I’ll give it one more try, and we’ll see how it goes.

My work is available to purchase on Daily Paintworks, and eBay, if you’re interested.

Listening to:

quiet mornings, slowly waking up to the smell of fresh coffee

I did listen to this in the morning, but this would be lovely anytime of day, especially while painting.

Watched:

Sketchbook Tour - I filled a sketchbook entirely full of oil paintings... by Neil Cunning

I completely disagree with him about the paintings he doesn’t like in his sketchbook. I think they’re all fantastic, but I get what he’s saying. I don’t know an artist who isn’t hard on themselves. I think it comes with the territory. We have our own worst critic living inside our heads.

Funny thing is, most paintings I’ve painted that I don’t like (which is a lot, if I’m being honest) sell faster than those I love, which is fine with me. I don’t mind keeping my faves around longer.