Hi from New Jersey

MikeO

Hi Mark and everyone else. I'm getting back into painting after working for many years as a graphic designer. I hope to show you my first attempt using this method of painting very soon.

I have a quick question for Mark or for anyone that cares to answer. I am assuming that premixing paint into mason jars is done so that you can get a consistent paint texture and to make sure that the paint is slow drying and will stay wet on the palette for several days. This way you don't have to mix fresh paint every morning. But, doesn't the odorless paint thinner evaporate on the palette over the course of several days? Are you dipping into a medium cup as you are working? Maybe there's something that I'm missing.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

MikeO

rgr

I paint in my basement, which is usually pretty cold, and the paint stays perfect for about 6 days, then it starts to get a little stiff. I recently took 2.5 weeks on a painting and the paint on my palette got really tacky and unusable, so I mixed a drop or two of clove oil into the sticky piles of paint and got the texture back to something usable. I'm guessing you could use linseed oil or spike oil and do the same.

It wasn't pleasant though. I plan to paint faster next time.

MikeO

rgr:

Thanks for the feedback.

MikeO

savignano

Combined with everything else in the medium, and even in my hot ass garage, it takes well over 10 days for my paints to start to thicken up on my palette. I actually left my medium container open for the past few weeks and haven't noticed any evaporation or thickening in the bottle. However, when spread out on the canvas, it is only workable for a few days at most, depending on the color.

MikeO

Savignano:

Thanks for your comment. That's good to hear.

MikeO

Ronna

Sometimes I put a tiny drop of OMS on the thickening paint.

MikeO

Ronna:

At what point does that become necessary? 1st, 2nd, 3rd day or later? It's interesting to see how different people deal with the same problem.

Thanks for your comment.

MikeO

oilpainter

welcome fellow jersey neighbor.

MikeO

Thanks oilpainter.

Mark_Carder

The paint will very slowly get thicker as it sits on your palette, but you won't really notice it for at least a few days, and then even if you do start to notice it, you can still paint with it just fine for about a week or ten days (total).

To start with, when the paint is fresh, it is very slightly too thin - if you mix it using the drop test I demo in the video. This is intentional, because I know it will thicken a bit on my palette.

MikeO

Mark:

Thanks a lot for the info.

MikeO

Ronna

@MikeO, for me, it only becomes an issue when it's really hot out. Days that stay in the 90's. Usually it's not an issue as Mark talked about above.