November Brochure
Q. I understand that the School of Colour does not currently offer water miscible oil paints. Have you considered stocking them? I ask as I find them convenient to use.

A. I can understand the need for some painters to use such paints as the fumes from solvents can be an irritant, however, we have no plans to produce them ourselves.

The reason for this is due to the fact that we have no idea how they will react with age.
Oil paint has been in use for hundreds of years yet we still have much to learn about the way that it behaves over time; and oil paint is a simple combination of a drying oil and pigment with a few minor additives.

To take this combination and add an emulsifying agent is, in my opinion, rather risky. Who is to know how such paints will behave over the years?
We will be passing too few paintings to following generations as it is due to the common use of poor materials and technique. To my knowledge such paints have not been subjected to any tests which would give an indication as to their long term performance.
 

Hopefully such paints will prove to be durable but one thing is certain, there are many products on offer to artists because they can be sold, not because they are known to be reliable.

I would certainly consider their use for health reasons, rather than for convenience in serious work.
Q. I made the mistake of leaving my favourite watercolour brushes head down in a jar. Not surprisingly the hairs became bent and they are now unusable. Is there any way that I can restore them to their former shape.
A tip from one of our Members - Paul Brand:
To clean your oil brushes without the use of a volatile solvent
First, use ordinary vegetable oil from the supermarket to loosen and wash out paint from the brush. For this purpose you can make a brush washer from a straight-sided glass jar and a piece of wire screen (or use an old food sieve). Put the screen in the jar, cover with vegatable oil and rub the brushes gently against the screen to clean them initially. Pigments will settle to the bottom of the jar. The same vegetable oil can be
used for many months.

Next, gently rub the brush on a cake of hand soap. make a lather with warm water and continue washing until no more colour comes out of the brush (suds will be pure white). Rinse out the soap and dry the brushes. I have used this method for many years and have very old
brushes that still work like new.

PS Your questions, tips and suggestions are always welcome.
A. I find the best way to restore brushes that have been damaged this way is to take a bar of ordinary bathroom soap, dampen it and work some up into a ‘gel’.
Then simply rub this soap ‘gel’ very carefully into the filament (haires). Allow the soap to dry a little and then, whilst it is still damp, mould the hairs into their former shape.
Lay the brushes down flat and leave for a week or two. On washing out the soap the brushes should return to their former shape. This might need to be repeated if they have not fully straightened out.
Health tip:
If you use a solvent such as turpentine to clean oil brushes, always wear rubber gloves when rubbing out paint etc. This will prevent the solvent from being absorbed by the skin.