Using Alkyd Medium for Faster Glazing

There are as many types of painting mediums as there are paint types. However, many times, artists find it hard to choose mediums they want from those they cannot do without.

Some people even believe that you cannot have a worthy painting unless you use each and every one of them.

The truth is that your painting will not be a mess even if you don’t use each and every one of the painting mediums. But a little knowledge in advance helps a lot.

Note that the term ‘mediums’ in this case is in relation to the painting additives, as opposed to using the term in the context of the type of paint being used.

How an Alkyd Medium is used

A small amount of the alkyd medium, such as Liquin, is deposited onto the palette and mixed with a small amount of oil paint. The pigment turns into a transparent one just like watercolour paints are thinned by water. The transparent paint can then be applied onto sections of the oil painting as needed in order to change the tonal value of the color below or to make it richer.

Alkyd Medium for Glazing

Oil paints of the alkyd medium have faster drying properties in comparison to regular oil colors. Alkyd mediums, when mixed with ordinary oil paints, can help speed up the drying time by up to 50 percent. They are also used as glazing mediums (they are ideal for glazing with oil paints).

Glazing is a technique where a translucent color is painted upon another dry color. The color below will radiate through but the density of the glaze on top will affect it. Glazing is usually employed to create misty or smoky backgrounds.

When you use alkyd mediums, you can apply a second glaze just within a day because alkyd mediums dry faster.

Oil paints are particularly ideal when you’re doing portraiture, floral art and sky sketches as subject matter.

Glazing with oil paints yields delicate neutrals, rich colors or sift hues, which are not easy to a chive with ala prima. Some artists of years gone by used to apply more than ten thin glazes of oil paint before they could really get what they wanted, however, more effective glazing techniques do not need to go to such lengths. Typically, two to three glazes can be enough for a painting.

Basic oil painting materials for glazing

Some artists may prefer using a selected range of Griffin Alkyd oil paints. However, the same effects can be achieved using traditional oil paints with Liquin. Most glazing techniques require soft brushes. Sizes range from 3 for finer details, up to 20 for areas that are wide.

While you can get soft brushes in a variety of shapes, but glazing large areas requires flat or fan brushes. Some artists even use rags to wipe a glaze over the painting when it’s completely dry, which will give it an airbrushed finish.

It’s important to immediately clean the brushes in artists’ spirits when using Alkyd mediums since they dry pretty fast.

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