HEALTH AND SAFETY: All Michael Harding oil paints have been tested and conform to the ASTM-D 4236 standards. The following industry-standard “best practices” should be observed when using any and all fine art oil paint products and media. SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS:...
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Storing Paint Tubes
The best way to store your oil paints is upside down. Why? Because pigments are heavy they can often sink within the oil and therefore separate.Storing your oil paints cap down thus allows the lighter weight oil to naturally flow up and the weightier pigment to flow...
Phasing out Zinc White?
"I read a report from a manufacturer about using zinc white causing problems in oil paintings, and they are phasing out the usage of it. Any thoughts about it?" Indeed we have after much consideration decided to err on the side of caution and cease making it....
What do the numbers in the Details and Descriptions of Individual Colours mean?
Details and Descriptions of Colours The individual colour descriptions provide assessments for certain determinable characteristics of all the colours presently in the Michael Harding Artist Oil Colours range as well as a few informal remarks by Michael on their...
Sun Thickened Linseed Oil
Knowing how to make and use this oil medium is probably the greatest secret a painter can learn. It is truly remarkable stuff, and yet it can be made easily by artists with minimal cost and effort. Before I tell you how to make it, I have to extol its virtues, because...
The Best General All Purpose Glaze
A Damar Varnish - 1 part (15%) Stand Oil - 1 part (15%) (sun-thickened oil will do even better) Pure Gum Turpentine - 5 parts (70%) B Damar Varnish - 1 part (33%) Stand Oil - 1 part (33%) (sun-thickened oil will do even better) Pure Gum Turpentine - 5 parts (33%)...
Recipes for Fast-Drying Painting Mediums
A 3 egg yolks 1 part stand oil 1 part damar B 1 egg yolk 1 part stand oil N.B. Egg yolk is one of the most ancient and permanent materials Method Wash your hands before you start the process. Separate the yoke from the white by gently passing the yoke from one hand to...
Recipes for Slow-Drying Painting Mediums
Poppy Oil will keep pale colours from yellowing, but does not have the physical strength of linseed oil and should only be used in moderation for finishing off layers of paint. It will keep pale colours bright and clear.
The Tate Gallery
Working with the conservation scientist Joyce Townsend, I was asked to formulate a 99.9% pure flake white paint which incorporated, as pigment, a lead carbonate we had made specifically for this purpose. Every aspect of its manufacture had to be considered, so as to...
Composition of Paint
If you think of paint as a two-part material, with the oil being the glue that binds the pigment particles into place, it is the pigment that is responsible for delivering the colour. The pigment must therefore have the following qualities: it must be light-fast to a...