How to Make Oil Paint

Basic Oil Paint Recipe

In it's basic form oil paint is simple to make. Its just a mix of pigment and oil.

You will Need:

• Pigment
• Raw Linseed Oil or Walnut Oil
• Pallet Knife
• Plate

Method:

Place some pigment onto a flat non-porous surface such as a plate, make a well in the centre of the pigment, add a very small amount of raw linseed oil and mix with a pallet knife. Keep adding oil until you get the consistency you want.

This is great if you are just mixing a small amount to be used straight away. However. paint made using this method will separate if stored in paint tubes, as the larger pigment particles will settle to the bottom making them very difficult to remix.

Oil Paint suitable for packaging

To prepare a finer quality oil paint which is suitable for storage you will need to add a few more steps to the process:

You will Need:

• Pigment
• Raw Linseed Oil or Walnut Oil
• Pallet Knife
• Toughened Glass Sheet
• Glass Muller
• Empty Tubes for packaging paint

Method:

1. Place pigment onto a flat, non-porous surface.

2. With a Palette Knife, make a small indentation in the centre of the pigment and pour in a small amount of the Linseed oil. Add a small amount at a time, you won’t need as much as you think.

3. Carefully fold the pigment into the oil, pressing down to ensure the oil and pigment mix together.

4. Using a glass muller, work the paint in a circular motion spreading it into a thin layer. This will grind the pigment further and improve its ability to stay in suspension whilst in storage.

5. Using the palette knife, collect the mullered paint back to the centre, you will find it now has a thinner consistency due to the smaller particles. Thicken the paint by mixing in a little more pigment and mullering again. You may need to repeat this process 2 or 3 times or until the paint has reached the correct consistency.

The Paint is now ready to be stored in paint tubes.