It is never fun to announce the loss of a pigment. Many have long histories with Williamsburg and some are even unique to us and us alone. Such was the case with our Zinc Buff Yellowish, made from a rare and special form of Zinc Oxide. We would also be lying if we didn’t share that this was also one of those pigments that was always a bit problematic, drifting a little this way and that, its color relying on the slightest variables during its production that proved to be….well, variable! That said we were committed to carrying it as long as we could. Sadly the only supplier of this pigment recently let us know that is was being discontinued, forcing us to make some hard choices. Do we simply drop the color altogether or try to make a blend to replace it? Even more importantly, can it even be replaced? The difficulty with Zinc Buff Yellowish was how to match its beautiful translucency while holding onto a warm and pale yellow tone. Get one quality, and the other would slip slightly out of reach. In the end, as is so often the case with single pigment colors, there was no way to achieve an exact match, although we were able to hold onto the translucency we felt was essential from the beginning, even while the color grow a touch cooler and ever-so-slightly deeper in the process. As a way to acknowledge these small differences, and reduce confusion, we also decided to give the resulting mixture a new name as well: Zinc Buff Yellow*.

Anyway, while available and ready to ship, Zinc Buff Yellow will probably still take a little while to make its way onto all the shelves and fully replace the remaining stock of older Zinc Buff Yellowish. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts and any concerns. And while announcing the loss of a pigment is never fun, and for some this will clearly mean adjusting your palettes, hopefully it will be to make room for a useful and new found favorite.

In the course of my job I get the pleasure of treasure hunting through old historical texts on painting materials and methods. For an established paint-geek like myself, this is pure heaven, especially when uncovering an insight or finding a gem to be gleaned from all those past experiences. Every now and then, however, I come across something that is – shall we say  - of a more curious nature that can certainly raise an eyebrow or two. The following is one that caught my eye the other day and thought I would share. It is an excerpt from Robert Dossie’s Handmaid of the Arts published in 1783, and found in Storm,  A. “Eighteenth Century Paint Materials And The Painters Craft As Practiced In Louisbourg” 1982, (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada) :

“To make a drying oil to make any color that is mixed with it, dry quickly:

Add two ounces of litharge of lead to a quart of linseed oil (though some use red lead) powdered very fine, and boil it for near an hour in an earthen pan, or till the oil be grown fat, or almost of the consistence of molasses, then set it on fire with a lighted paper, keep it stirring while burning, which need not be above a minute or two, then put out the flame, and let it stand till it be thoroughly cold, and that the litharge has settled well to the bottom; then pour off the clear oil, and put it in a bladder, close tied up for use. “

Well, some things in the 18^th century are really best left in the 18^th century.

And I hope it goes without saying, don’t try this at home. Or anywhere else for that matter.

More and more these days oil painters are finding they have developed sensitivities, allergies and reactions to the solvents used in oil painting. Skin contact with solvents of the strong varieties, turpentine and mineral spirits, can cause defatting of the skin, dermatitis and skin allergies while inhalation can lead to dizziness, headaches, drowsiness, nausea, fatigue, loss of concentration and respiratory irritation. While there are odorless and low odor varieties of mineral spirits and turpentine, many find that prolonged exposure to even these weaker varieties can cause bouts of sneezing, headaches and general discomfort to the eyes, nose and throat. Many of these irritations have lead oil painters in many directions, some move to water based paints and some find that using lighter, thin bodied oils for thinning to be an acceptable alternative. Clean up, especially of brushes, is an important matter and figuring out my own method of cleaning without the use of solvents turned out to be easier than I had initially thought and really a welcome alternative. First, just for a moment think about your brushes. Many oil painting brushes are natural bristles and while they can be hardy and robust, the natural hair of the brush cannot take the constant washing with solvent over the years without drying, splitting and breaking until you are left with something reminiscent of a doormat and completely worthless as a painting tool.
My personal method to cleaning my brushes is one that I have used for years. First, brush out any excess paint. Do this onto a piece of scrap canvas or an old terrycloth towel. Take the canvas or cloth and wrap the brush and squeeze any excess starting at the ferrule and through to the tip. This will help get out large bits of paint hiding near the base of the brush hairs. Once the excess paint has been brushed out and squeezed out then get some safflower oil from the grocery store (this is cheaper than the variety you want to use for painting). Dip the brush in the oil and allow it to coat the bristles. Using your scrap canvas or towel, brush the oil soaked brush out to remove even more paint. Do this a few times until all traces of paint are gone. At this point your brush should be able to handle a soap and water washing without too much effort. I have found that dipping the brush in dishwashing soap and scrubbing the bristles on a surface to really get the soap to penetrate the brush prior to introducing water helps the washing process as the water will naturally be repelled without the addition of soap. Wash the brush several times in soap and water until it is clean. One other little suggestion I would like to offer is that every now and again you may find that your natural bristles are dry and lifeless and an occasional application of hair conditioner can help revive the brush. Doing this repeatedly can cause the brushes to splay and the bristles to separate so it is really recommended only when necessary and be sure to rinse will.

How do you clean your brushes without solvents? Please share.

Amy McKinnon

For more information about this or anything else, give us a call (800-293-9399 / 607-847-8843) or drop us an email techsupport@WilliamsburgOils.com

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From the beginning Williamsburg was always known as a ‘painter’s paint.’ Partly it was because the founder of the company, Carl Plansky, was first and foremost a painter by both temperament and training. Everything he made was infused with a painter’s sense of touch and passion for color. The hours spent over a mill or mixer were in constant dialog with the hours spent in the studio. As any painter knows, at the end of the day the paint always has to ‘work’, the color has to be beautiful, the overall sense…..well, sensuous. And those criteria never came from cold concepts or rigid recipes, but from the lived experience of the paint being pushed and attended to in the studio. As the company grew, the dialog continued to expand far beyond Carl’s own paintings and practice to include the constant conversations and feedback painters provided when calling or visiting the factory and eventually to the thousands of emails and other contacts with artists that Williamsburg has had over the years.

The launching of this blog is another step in that ongoing tradition – an invitation to a dialog and discussion about the deep traditions and new discoveries that inform our craft and underlie our shared love for the materials of painting. Let us know what you think and what you are thinking about. And if you are ever in upstate New York, please visit our factory where the same mills and mixers that made Carl’s paints many decades ago are still in operation. We are always eager to hear your thoughts over a cup of coffee or, better yet, while pushing around some paint in our applications area. In the meantime, however, we want to invite you into this new space as well and to let those conversations begin to take shape.