What's in a name?

Language Switcher

Spotlight

Subjects

Latest articles

Expected articles

  • Spinning wool, the basics
  • Weaving, the basics
  • Dying wool, the basics
  • Spinning silk caps and hankies
  • Wooden boxes with flowers made from Fimo clay

Welcome at To be defined

Welcome at To be defined, a website filled with creativity. Here you will find numerous manuals in words and images on various subjects. On this page you can only see a selection. Choose from the menu on the left for more articles on your favorite topic.

Water-miscible oil paint

ArtisanOil paint comes in many types and sizes. One of the disadvantages of oil paint is the smell of turpentine. Nowadays, there are also oil paints that can be thinned with water. These are made from modified linseed and safflower oils. These oils do not repel water but mix with it. However, the paint retains all the other properties of traditional oil paint. In fact, the composition is sometimes even nicer than that of some other brands of traditional oil paint.

Water-miscible oil paint does offer advantages over traditional oil paints. You don't need turpentine. This is especially appreciated by many people as a major advantage; less odor, no headaches, and less harmful to the environment. Brushes can also be cleaned with water and a little soap.

Although water-miscible oil paints can be mixed with mediums and oils for regular oil paint, this is not recommended. This reduces or completely eliminates water solubility. For water-miscible oil paints, it's best to use mediums specifically designed for them.
Basic set of colorsIf you don't have a separate workspace where you can work with oil paint, you might consider using water-miscible oil paints. There are two good brands of water-miscible oil paint:
  • Cobra, water-miscible oil paint by Talens, previously known as H2Oil.
  • Artisan, water-miscible oil paint by Winsor & Newton.

You can dilute this paint somewhat with water, but it is not intended to be used as watercolor. If you want to thin the paint for glazing, for example, you can use specially developed mediums for this purpose. Artisan has two color series. Series 2 uses more expensive pigments (including cadmium and cobalt pigments) and is therefore slightly more expensive. The series is indicated on the tube. The price is comparable to that of regular oil paint.
MediumsVarious mediums have been developed for Artisan: impasto medium, general painting medium, stand oil, linseed oil, and a fast-drying medium. The mediums should be well shaken before use. Of course, all these mediums are water-miscible and soluble.
H2Oil, now CobraCobra is Talens' water-miscible oil paint. The paint is available in 40 lightfast brilliant colors. Talens also offers various mediums for water-miscible oil paint.

  • Cobra painting medium: makes the paint smoother and better. This makes the brushstroke blur more. This medium does not affect drying time. The paint does become slightly shinier.
  • Cobra glazing medium: makes the paint smoother. Especially for the glazing technique. This medium is very fatty, so use it mainly in the final layers. This medium is also water-miscible and does not affect drying time.
  • Cobra painting paste: a colorless medium that is as thick as the paint. You can mix it with the paint and then use the impasto technique; however, the paint becomes more transparent. You can also use it to reduce the color intensity of the paint.

The price of Cobra is comparable to that of traditional oil paints.
Smoked fish, Artisan
You can use the same tools and supports as you would for traditional oil paint. It is even possible to mix water-miscible oil paint with regular oil paint again, but this reduces the water-miscibility.