Ask the Artist

[garygnu]

@fessie

I remember when those water-soluble oils came out, I think I tried the ones from Grumbacher & they were lousy then - goopy crap in drab colors. Have they changed much?

The original formulations were student-quality. They’ve started making artist-quality versions, and those are quite nice. Holbein has an incredible color range.

I haven’t tried Open, and I do like Golden a lot. Is that better than just using a retardant? I thought I’d bought some slow-dry the other day but I grabbed the wrong bottle & it’s just liquid medium…

I’ve found retardant stretches the time acrylic is workable to an hour or two at most. Open paint remains workable on the canvas for a day or more, and I had paint on the palette last almost a week. It’s most similar to Alkyds for drying time.

[fessie]

@garygnu

The original formulations were student-quality. They’ve started making artist-quality versions, and those are quite nice. Holbein has an incredible color range.
I’ve found retardant stretches the time acrylic is workable to an hour or two at most. Open paint remains workable on the canvas for a day or more, and I had paint on the palette last almost a week. It’s most similar to Alkyds for drying time.

Thanks garygnu! Wish Sennelier made some, that’s my all-time favorite brand I stumbled across a 1/2 off sale of their dry pastels at a store last summer, bought handfuls!