Fat Over Lean Oil Painting With NO SOLVENTS!

I've done a ton of research on how to follow the fat over lean rule in oil painting without solvents. In this video I'm going to show you how to keep yourself and your family safe with non toxic oil painting while following the fat over lean rule so your paintings will last for a very long time.

OIL PAINTING TUTORIAL

Links on the History of oil painting

Jan Van Eyck AMAZING!

Fat over lean rule

My Tutorials

See all my art on my website!

Have Questions?

[piercednscarred]

Thank you! As someone who's always done acrylic portrait paintings, I've been wanting to try oils for so long and this is exactly what has been stressing me out (and the fact that there is so many mediums/solvents i didnt know where to start ). This was so helpful and now I'm going to try oils and linseed. Maybe pick up some galkyd. Thank you!!

[sjalvdestruktiv]

Hello Chris! Thank you for these videos. I'm a digital artist but I really want to go back doing some oil, which I haven't done much. I was scared of solvents because I live in such a small place and I can't really open the window during the winter. So I'm very happy I found your videos. They're very informative and now I see I can paint with oil without any risk.

[josephtermeer]

I have not read all comments. But as for the first oil painters, they made their own paints. My suspicion is that the paints did not have what we have in our tubes of paint today. Their ground preparation was rabbit skin glue, oil base ground, lead white covering (this could be toxic) Even Picasso used chalk and oil preparation for his paintings, which I think would demand sizing with RSG.

[elisabethseeger]

Boy thanks! I stumbled onto your process through trial and 2 horrible solvent health disasters. I moved into a tiny apt with poor air circulation and had a tiny bit of black mold from keeping my solvent in the garage - serious skin infection! Then got rid of all that solvent and in my painting excitement I left the top off my clean Gamsol for 2 hours- serious throat-face infection DUH! Recovered quickly and use a small amount of the great gel medium and paint without even much if any of that for subsequent layers. NO problems- I like painting in layers even up into glazes and heavy impasto. Great advice and help thanks! You are an awesome artist!

[hannahsengart]

Chris, you're a saint! Thank you for all your research and sharing. I switched to acrylics eight years ago after moving into a not-so well-ventilated studio with an indoor house cat, thinking there was just no other solution to painting healthy because of how I learned to paint in college. Rather than do my own research, I just stuck with what I know, and while I've enjoyed developing skills in acrylic painting, I have missed oils so much. I was just working under the impression that everything about oil painting is toxic, no matter what. I am so grateful to have discovered your channel.

[archadeinteriors]

great ide using fresh paint and less or no solvents, however a couple things some people might want to consider: 1) i was very interested in thinning or altering my paint with linseed oil ( and i also thought this was a great way to avoid solvents and use more natural compounds ), i thought this was great, but i began to learn that i also like the appearance sometimes of paint with solvent which gave it a more watercolor like look, so in this case using solvent like turpentine or mineral solvent still becomes necessary unfortunately, and 2 ), the former idea in mind, adding linseed oil will also make your paint turnout glossy and shiny, whereas turpentine will result in giving a flat " matte " look, much less shiny or glossy, something that may compliment this whole fat lean discussion for some of you out there + fat, shiny, lean, matte!

[annafdd]

As somebody who got into oils recently after years of watercolor, I only did it because water mixable oils exist. But despite the fact that everyone who’s tried them says that they are pretty much the same as regular oils, they are not popular. I go to shop after shop in my native town and everybody tells me, “We used to keep them but they didn’t sell.” So I come along and can’t find them.
But why? It would be such a simple solution. You can use *water* as a solvent. No toxicity unless you drink from the jar.
But people don’t use them and eventually they will disappear from the market. Daniel Smith has just discontinued their line (they got out of oils completely), Jackson’s also discontinued their line…

[fromeveryting]

I personally love what you can do with solvents, especially undertones and what you can do with painting into a damp surface. But it is a bit of a hassle, you have to ideally buy a non-toxic one (NEVER USE TURPENTINE), deal with how runny it makes the paint, dullness.

Oil paint straight from the tube is usually really thick, too thick. And it can be a real struggle to cover area and then horrible to come back into pure oil pain to corect colors. Quickly becomes mud.

I’ve tried liquin original (a gel-like plastic-y alkyd based medium that quickens drying) but it becomes sticky too fast for me and smells strong and toxic. Many love it, though.

My by far favourite favourite medium is a 50/50 mix of non-toxic solvent and linseed oil. I mix it myself. It thins paint, but not too much, doesn’t smell, doesn’t try quick, makes the paint extremely plyable so you can cover ground quickly, more similar to how acrylics are but without the time race with drying.

Simple, reccomended by age old experts 50/50 (non-toxic) solvent + linseed oil.

[donniebobb]

Ive start playing with Georgian water mixable oils. After using acrylics and house paint for years, but studying oil painters, it's such a welcome sea change and feels much more forgiving and painterly :)

[ArtbyPatrickPetruccello]

I just picked up the Michael Harding "Miracle" line of glazing and mediums for my traditional paintings as they are plant based. I do a color underpainting that depending on the colors sometimes a little medium helps. It is basically a scrub in layer. Agree fully in that I go from thin layers of paint basically straight from the tube to then tube paint then to paint mixed with oil for finer details. After that it dries then I will glaze. All layers are thin so dry times are quick. Luckily my pop art pallette knife paintings require no medium with the oil paint.

[Fabrizio.deitos-navalesi]

Hi Chris.
I discovered your channel recently and wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for all the precious content. That's a great ressource 👍

I wanted to jump in on this topic, since each time, when discussing on "fat over lean", people seem to forget to mention what would happen if you keep painting with "out of the tube" paint and layer this ? Since the amount of fat is equal, and you go sequentially, the layers of paint would dry "in order" .
You could then fatten if you want for glazing on top or such, but if you keep using your paint without altering it with any kind of medium, does it also work ?

Thanks for your insights on this 😉
Take care !
Greetings from France.

Fabrizio

[NellyMariaArt]

This is how I paint, straight out of the tube. If I want a thin underpainting, I’ll use acrylic

[charla.weddingpainting]

Love your videos! Very direct and informative! <3

[Ihavegumption]

Chris, have you read “The New Oil Painting: Your Essential Guide to Materials and Safe Practices, ” by Kimberly Brooks? It's a good, quick read. My question is about Galkyd Lite. It is alkyd based. Doesn't it require thinner/gamsol? I am a real fan of liquin but try to use it rarely. I was hoping this might be a better alternative. I try to use as little thinner as possible, and use safflower oil mostly to clean brushes now.

[jc-aguilar]

I just wanted to note that Golden doesn’t recommend anymore to paint oil over any acrylic gloss medium or gel like GAC 100, When using oils over matte or satin acrylic mediums or acrylics colors they recommend to add oil to the paint out of the tube. Please read the post in Just Paint titled “Revisiting Oils Over Acrylics”.

[SomethingImpromptu]

This was really interesting; lots of great info. One question about something I’m confused about though (which happens to be what I was largely trying to find an answer to):

So, I just recently started oil painting, & was trying to go solvent-free (I don’t have a big space to paint in most of the time). After a good bit of research, the first medium I ended up going with to try is the same Gamblin solvent-free (safflower oil + alkyd) medium you talked about here, except I got the fluid version rather than the gel.

What I’m unclear about (vis-a-vis the fat over lean rule & this medium) is this… I was puzzled about how to integrate it to begin with, since it does include an oil, but also alkyd… I know you said that in your process, you use neat paint first, & then you begin to add more & more medium for subsequent layers… But the bottle says that this medium speeds up drying time. My understanding was that the whole point of the fat over lean rule was that the lean layers dry faster, so you want them to be closer to the foundation, with slower drying layers toward the top… So if this medium speeds up drying (whether it’s because of the alkyd or for any other reason), wouldn’t that tend to mean that you’d want to use it on the lower, leaner layers? And then use less of it (thus having the slower drying linseed oil binder of the neat oil paint make up a greater proportion of the paint) on later layers? Or is there just so little linseed oil in neat paint (from the tube) that any significant amount of medium adds enough safflower oil along with the alkyd that it needs to come after the neat paint? In that case, does it depend on which paint you use? Because I know that some pigments (strongly tinting ones like ivory black or pthalo blue) require much more linseed oil binder, whereas some have very little oil & come out of the tube quite lean…

Linseed oil, by all accounts, should dry slower than the medium with the alkyd in it, in my limited understanding… So how does this work? I’m not doubting that you’ve had good results with your method (maybe it really is just that with alkyds, & especially if you’re letting layers become fully touch-dry before painting over them, as you mentioned, the fat over lean isn’t so crucial?)… But I’m having trouble rationally making it make sense with what I know about the rule. I suppose it could also just be that will the gel version you’re using (or maybe with any version) you’re adding enough thickness to the later layers, compared to the way you’re painting with the neat paint, that it ends up being thick enough that, with the safflower oil balancing out the quick alkyd dry time as well, it ends up slower drying than the neat paint anyway…

But yeah— basically, if the medium says it speeds up the dry time, & it ought to dry faster than the linseed oil in the neat paint, then why does it still come after the neat paint, & use more medium in later layers? I’m trying to find some kind of logic & consistency to the guidelines here so that I can reason my away around what order to use other kinds of mediums with other ingredients, but it’s not really making sense. Maybe it’s just the inclusion of alkyd throwing things off for me.

Thanks for any input! And I appreciate the video overall.

I’ve also been experimenting with spike lavender oil as an alternative to turpentine, & that does make it a bit more straight forward (I know that if I do an underpainting with that, a layer with a little medium OR neat will certainly come after that, & then I can do another layer with a little more medium if I want). It is an inconvenience needing to use it outdoors, basically as I’d have to do with turpentine, because it smells POWERFULLY & lingers even if it isn’t carcinogenic [I’ve heard it’s still an irritant & not something you want to inhale concentratedly for a prolonged period], but it seems to work reasonably well, though the price makes it less than ideal for very casual brush-cleaning uses… Not a bad option for people to try if they’re trying to paint toxic solvent free, but I’d still advise caution & ventilation. But yeah, my question is more about neat paint/the linseed oil that is already in it vs layers with this solvent-free medium in the mix. Thanks.

[billjenkins]

You are the future. Keep up the research

[FritzVonR]

So if I understand it correctly, I can go from color straight out of the tube to adding, let's say, linseed oil into the color, adding more oil for every succeeding layer. And if I want a better flow of the color in the beginning I can use galkid as a substitute for solvent?

[alexandre.montagnac]

Hi ! Thank you for your video, it was very helpful ! How would you do a stain on a white canvas though ? I am used to do a burnt umber wash before beginning to paint. And I was doing so with mineral spirit and fast drying paint. I have tried a Vegetable Solvent from Divolo but it doesn't quite dry the same way. I loved the effect of the very thin layer. What would you suggest to someone that doesn't want to use acrylic ? Thank you so much ! Cheers

[HondoTrailside]

Thomas Jefferson Kitts called fat over lean something like "more oil over less oil. And all you need to do it is linseed oil. Fat over lean, which everyone uses, seems to confuse people, as they look at their art supplies and ask themselves which are the fat and the lean.

Also, not to be a dick, but there is too much emphasis out there on "lasting for 500 years". Particularly from newbies as they can apply their technical prowess to figuring out the technology of painting. It is familiar territory to think technically for many people, and it is a great thing. But what they might want to do before they blow the family fortune on ACM panels, etc... is ask themselves these two questions:

1) How many paintings were sorted through until we got the few we now revere. Painting people used to light their fires, or close of a window.

2) How many paintings did the select few we remember do before they produced these eternal works of art.

There is no reason to start with poor practices, it isn't any easier, but cut yourself some slack when you are starting out.