D B Clemons - Water Miscible Oils

How They Are Made:
Oil at a molecular level contains a fraction that causes it to repel water (hydrophobic.) When chemically treated, this water-repelling molecule can be removed to allow the oil to be diluted with water (hydrophilia.) An alternative to that process is to add an emulsifier to the oil that allows it to mix with water without modifying the oil itself. The purpose of having oils so treated for painting is to eliminate the need of using turpentine or odorless mineral spirits to dilute the oil for painting or cleaning purposes, and just use water. There is no water within the tubes of paint, and it is possible to use them without adding water at all.

To address concerns over toxicity of some pigments, the manufacturers have released synthetic "hue" substitutes for some of these paints. I suspect that this is to offer an alternative for people who have health concerns regarding the use of some pigments, for companies to be able to sell in a wider market with regulations, and for econmic reasons of manufacturing. Some of pigments they are being suvstituted for may not perform well when dispersed in water, which is why many of them are not used in aqueous media like watercolor or acrylics, for example. These points are speculative on my part, since the motives of the manufacturers are rarely published. Nonetheless, any raw pigment compatible with regular oils could be hand-mixed with the water-miscible mediums, for those who want to go that route.

These paints may be combined safely with regular oil paints and mediums, and still function normally. It is stated that a mixture above 25-30% or so by volume of regular oils will make them no longer water miscible. The more regular oil you add, the less water-miscible they will become. As oil dries it reduces in volume allowing the water vapor to evaporate, and the oils continue drying by oxidation. This is similar to how mineral spirits work with oils. You can also mix the water-miscible mediums with regular oils, but since they are to be used in small proportion, it will not make the regular oils water miscible, so you would still need spirits or turpentine to dilute them.

The same rules apply when using water with these paints as when using regular oils with turpentine, such as "fat over lean." If the paints are excessively thinned with water the oil binding strength will become weakened, and the pigment will have adhesion problems. Excessive in this case would be to try to simulate a watercolor wash with oil, which they were not designed to produce. As when using turpentine with regular oils, it is best to use as little water as necessary. It is recommended to add water gradually, along with a bit of the appropriate medium to keep up the binding strength, and mix them thoroughly to form a proper emulsion.

Some colors appear lighter when they are wet, and darken in value as they dry, which may result in an unevenness of paint mixtures on the surface, mostly noticeable with dark value pigments. This is another reason to use as little water as necessary for thinning paint.

When traveling through airports, not having to bring along a container of turpentine is an added convenience.

Any prepared ground suitable for oil painting will work fine as a support for these paints. Any varnish recommended for use with conventional oils can be used on these as well.

Suppliers:
The only companies I know of that manufacture these paints are: Grumbacher (MAX,) Holbein (DUO,) Lukas (Berlin,) Talens (H2Oil,) and Winsor and Newton (Artisan.) Of those, I have been able to try out all but the Lukas brand.(* See notes below.) There is unfortunately not much detailed information from these companies on exactly how they process their oils or what is contained in them to make them water-miscible. They are apparently guarded as trade secrets to some degree, which is perfectly reasonable. To be fair, in regular oils there are all sorts of additives, like aluminum stearate and driers, and those are often not declared either.

Grumbacher MAX:
These were the first water miscible oils I ever heard of. I began using them back in the 1980s. There is an artists grade brand, MAX, and a student grade, MAX2. [Update: I understand the MAX2 line is being discontinued.] Grumbacher chemists blended modified vegetable drying oil with alkali refined linseed oil (or safflower for their whites) to make it water miscible, so the main oil vehicle is not modified. They offer two miscible mediums: a linseed oil and a "quickdry."

Results for MAX:
At first I was annoyed by the odor, which I found to be somewhat acrid compared to oils I was familiar with. I still have some of those paints, and the odor does not seem to bother me anymore. Perhaps I just got used to it. Some (but not all) of these paints over time hardened inside the tube into a clay-like firmness that made them hard to squeeze out; although, they were still usable if diluted with medium, but that just made them more oily (fatter.) Another annoying thing is almost all the caps on the tubes easily cracked when screwing them on. That has happen to me with other brands too, and not just the water miscible. I noticed that Artisan's Ultramarine Blue took a very long time to dry with a tacky feel that lasted for several weeks.

Holbein DUO:
Holbein began development of their water miscible paints in 1989. They state that the oil used is unmodified, and is the same as that included in their regular oils, which is of a high quality. They added a surfactant to the paints to make them water miscible. I have not discovered exactly what that additive is, but they claim it loses its "effectiveness" as soon as the oil dries, essentially becoming inert.

Interestingly, Holbein suggests you may mix water-based paints and mediums such as gouache or acrylics with their oil if you desire (Talens says this too.) I am not sure what purpose that would serve, but there you are. I suppose an acrylic medium would help speed up the drying rate. To me, it seems like that could cause drying problems, and I personally would not recommend that mixture.

They offer no cadmiums or heavy metal pigments; although, correspondence with them tells me they will be offered soon (late 2007.) The only separate medium they offer is linseed oil.

Results for DUO:
Of all these paints I have tested, Duo paints were the most consistent in overall quality. Their naming choices are rather unconventional at times, which is annoying, but they do print the color codes on the label to identify the mixtures. I wish they would not label their paints as water "soluble" since water does not dissolve the oil, but rather disperses it in this case. They also sell a nice set of gray monochrome paints that I enjoy using. When their linseed oil medium is mixed with water it turns cloudy, but dries clear. No cracked caps either; they have a better design and screw on tight.

Talens H2Oil:
I have not found much supporting information on how these are manufactured other than second-hand information, which only lists the vehicle as a modified vegetable drying oil. Quoting from their site; "water-thinnable binder based on vegetal (sic) oils." Like Holbein, they offer no cadmiums or heavy metal pigments. They offer only a single oil painting medium.

Results for H2Oil:
These were my least favorite of all of them. They were far too fluid and oily for my tastes, much like acrylics in viscosity, and took longer to dry.

Winsor and Newton Artisan:
In an MSDS Winsor and Newton published for their Artisan Painting Medium, they state that the added ingredient in is 2-butoxyethanol, which is a chemical surfactant sometimes used in latex paints, laquers, and even cosmetics. The oil listed on their labels is modified linseed or safflower oil. They offer more water miscible medium choices than other brands, like stand oil and an impasto medium, to extend their usefulness.

Results for Artisan:
I began using these paints soon after trying the MAX brand, and they became my preferred brand at that time. Later I began to have the same problem I had with MAX of paint hardening in some of the tubes. I also noticed there remained a tacky feel to the surface of some of the paints after they dried, which did eventually go away after the paint cured. As a result, I became unhappy with some inconsistencies in quality with these paints.

I have found their stand oil and linseed medium to be useful. In a published chart they list characteristics of mediums, and their regular stand oil had two more benefits over the Artisan stand oil: increased film strength and resistance to yellowing. As with the Holbein medium, when their oil mediums are mixed with water they turn cloudy, but dry clear. That is a typical behavior for water and oil emusions.

They also sell a "Painting Medium," and I have not been able to determine exactly what it's made of. The only thing I have found is that its to be used for fine detail, is slow drying, and is especially mentioned for "oiling out," which leads me to believe it's a modified safflower oil. Their "fast drying" medium (which contains an alkyd resin) gave me a problem where it turned into an unusable dried "goo" inside the bottle, and had to be disposed of. I have seen bottles of this on store shelves in the same condition, so beware. I have no use for the impasto medium, therefore, I've never tried it, but it is labeled as "speeds drying" so I suspect it contains an alkyd resin.

There are second-hand statements that their pigment strength is below the level of their professional line of paints, but I have not been able to confirm that. In fact, on-line documents from Winsor and Newton claim the Artisans have high pigment strength and proper covering power, which supports my own findings. Their caps cracked easily also.

Brushes:
Water is not the best friend of natural hair brushes, as they tend to make them "frizzy" or limp; therefore, synthetic brushes are recommended. However, if you do not plan on using very much water while painting, natural hair brushes will work fine, or you may also want to have some synthetics on hand when using water. The main benefit of natural hair brushes is they tend to hold a point better, as well as holding more paint in the hairs.

Resources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrophobic/
Grumbacher
Grumbacher Message re: Processing their paints
Holbien North America
Royal Talens
Winsor & Newton
Winsor & Newton PDF file on materials
Winsor & Newton MSDS data sheets

(*Notes: I recently purchased a few tubes of Lukas Berlin. At this point I can say they seem to work very well. They certainly dilute and clean up easily with water, and are consistent in viscosity. I am encouraged by the way they perform, but they have a limited selection of colors, and not many single pigment choices.

I understand Maimeri has released a brand of their own water-miscible paints called Classico Aqua. I don't know of any place in the US that sells them at this time.

I am starting to see ads from Holbein of new colors in their offerings of DUO paints. The details are a bit confusing since their website doesn't show any news, but once I have more accurate information I'll pass it on.)