new brush cleaner 

Last week my Dick Blick order arrived. Good thing because I hit pan on my brush cleaner, so I’m going to run out soon. By soon, I mean it will take another month or two, but I like to keep my studio stocked up, so I don’t run out of anything. 

old brush cleaner

Now that I’ve been painting with oils a lot, I use this cleaner exclusively. It works better than natural turp, and is cheaper than using Gamsol. A small tub is $5 something, and it will probably last me a year or so. Very economical. 

I also like that there’s no offensive odor, just a slight soapy scent, and you can swish your brushes out in the soap and water as you paint. It makes painting with oils similar to acrylics. You can do this with regular oil paint brushes, btw, not just the water soluble oils. I personally prefer using regular oils, although I do have a couple tubes of the water-miscible paint. The consistency of regular oil paint is thicker, and seems to hold together better, especially if I’m using a knife, but that’s just my preference. There are lots of artists who use the water based oil paint, and love it, so if you think you’d like to try it, please do. You’ll never know if you like something unless you try. 😉

Next up is Galkyd, which I told you I was excited to try a couple weeks ago. I’m happy to say that Galkyd works extremely well, and I will be buying more in the future. I bought a small bottle this time because from what I’ve read, it can harden up pretty fast. It has the consistency of honey, and makes the oil paint much easier to spread without making it too loose. I mixed it with a little Gamsol (which will make the paint too loose if used alone), and I love the smooth feel it gives my paint. Does a much better job than the old medium I was using. 

This small 8 oz bottle is $13.46 at Blick

I’m a little torn between wanting paintings to dry fast, and keeping them wet longer. It depends on the painting and whether I want to paint alla prima (wet on wet) or dry the painting faster, so I can glaze it. I’m experimenting with both. I’ll be trying Galkyd Lite next time to slow the drying time, so I can practice with more wet on wet painting. 

I also want to get some Neo Megilp because according to Blick..it is a “soft, silky gel that gives body to paint, decreases viscosity, and can produce a luminous atmosphere. Base of alkyd resin, without toxic lead or other materials. Will not turn yellow or darken.” Some artist like it better than Galkyd, so I want to try it. Oh, what am I saying? I want to try them alllll!!! It’s all so exciting, and ahh..I love oil painting. 

This 16.9 oz bottle of Gamvar varnish is $29.96. Two weeks ago when I ordered it, I paid $23.97 for it, and it wasn’t on sale. You really have to watch Dick Blick prices because they sure do move around a lot. Like, sometimes a gallon of Master’s gesso is $20, and sometimes it’s well over $30. I’ve seen prices jump anywhere from $5 to $10 overnight before, and things in your cart aren’t safe from the price increases. Also, if Blick is having a “sale”, you can’t get a discount on this item because it’s considered their “everyday low price”. Pftt..sure was lower two weeks ago.

I’m going to keep an eye on it, and only buy it when they mark it down because $30 for a bottle this small is crazy. It’s not going to varnish many paintings, especially since you will need two coats. 

When I buy it next time, I’m going to go with glossy, instead of satin. I varnished some paintings with this last week, and the satin looked great while wet. Once it dried, it looked pretty dull, and all I could think is how much better it looked wet..because it was glossier.  

Again, the reason for this specific brand is because you can varnish your oil painting when it’s dry to the touch, instead of waiting months for the paint to dry completely. Given how special that is, I guess I’ll pay the ridiculously high price for this varnish because I hate sending paintings out the door without sealing them first. 

Lastly, I bought this value pack of 30 brushes for $15.59, which isn’t a bad. I’m so hard on brushes, they don’t last long, tho.

This brings the total of these 4 items to $55.03, including the $4 charge to upgrade shipping.