I need some help with painting.

I painted an oil painting the other day, and I left the beushes in water, because I didn't have any thinner. Today I got some regular paint thinner from Home Depot to soak them in, because the crap at the art store is like 5 bucks for 2 ounces--is that going to harm my brushes?
Does anyone have any helpful hints as for what they do when they paint with oils, as far as cleanup and etc?

Hi Carmen.

Are you painting with water soluble oil paints or acrylic?

Water soluble oil paints are easy to clean. You can clean with brush soap and water. Rinse and dry with a clean towel. Lay the brushes down flat until they dry. (If all the paint doesn't come out, you can use a bit of baby oil.)

Acrylic paints can be cleaned with paint thinner. Wash with brush soap and water, rinse and lie flat to dry.

If you don't have brush soap you can use Lava.

You have to really make sure you get all of the paint out of the brush or the bristles will separate and get hard. Always wash the brushes immediately after using them.

More on oil painting- pick your link.

Neither...oil isn't water soluble and their not acrylic.

Done that!!!!! Ugh, not a good thing.
Go to the grocery store and get some Murphy's Oil Soap (the liquid)...put it in a glass jar up high enough to cover the bristles of the brushes. Put them in and let them soak for a while (overnight or a day). You'll still have to work on them a while to clean (rubbing between your fingertips), but this should do the trick for you.

I'd stay away from paint thinner, it'll break down the brushes sometimes, especially if they are thinner delicate ones.

Good luck!
~Lydia

From searching on the web, you can find an opinion in all directions... here's my take on it.

I don't think there is any difference between the art store solvents and paint thinner, turpentine or spirits from basic hardware store... to a certain extent a solvent is a solvent. The key to using them is that you want to be sparing, never soak the brushes in it, use some shampoo to clean them up and then end by adding some oil to the brush - I've read conditioner is okay but vegetable oil is probably the best thing.

You can avoid using the solvents by cleaning up the brushes using clean vegetable oil. Just like water will remove water based paint, clean oil will clean up oil based paint. But I still think using solvents is a good idea to make sure your brushes don't get all gummed up. By the way, if you ever get in a bind again where you don't have time to clean your brushes, just lay them horizontal with the tips in vegatable oil. You want to avoid putting them tip side down in a jar because it will deform the tip.

It might be worth your money to buy some art store "brush conditioner" because it might add life to the brushes better than using hair conditioner or oils. The nice thing is that you don't need to use much each time so it should last a long time.

My art teacher taught us to clean brushes in the palms of our hands to avoid damaging the form of the brush... a little dangerous when using a solvent but the idea is that you want to work the paint out of the brush by using a painting motion rather than jamming it into a solvent or scrubbing it. Just work the brush back and forth until it starts to come out clean... use a dish of paint thinner rather than just a jar.

quote:

Originally posted by carmen621:
Neither...oil isn't water soluble and their not acrylic.

quote:

How Does Water Soluble Oil Paint Work? by Marion Boddy-Evans:

Everyone learns in science class that oil and water don't mix, so how do water soluble oil paints work then? And why can't you simply mix traditional oil paints with water?

Very basically, water soluble oil paints don't contain water themselves, water is just what's used to thin the paints (instead of the turps or oils for traditional oils). This water then evaporates as the paint dries (just like the turps or oils would).

The 'trick' is in the manufacturing of the water soluble oil paint, which is formulated in a way that allows the oil paint to be mixed with water to form a workable paint (rather than the mess you get if you try to mix water and traditional oil paint).

Source: Water Soluble Oil Painting
From Marion Boddy-Evans
about.com

Just an FYI.

Thanks for the info Clare. Water soluble oil paints are a relatively new product (introduced in 1992 by Grumbacher) and I must admit, my favorite to work with now. When I first learned to paint in the late 70s traditional oils or traditional acryclics were the 2 choices. While I loved the blendability of using oils I detested the cleanup and the waiting period for the paint to dry on the canvas. Acrylics were easy to clean up and dried extremely quickly on canvas but because of the fast drying speed loss some of the blendability aspects. Then 3 years ago I picked up a paint brush for the first time in 15+ years and bought a paint-by-number for kicks and grins. The paints included in the kit were water soluble oil and I was amazed. It was the both of both worlds. I could blend perfectly (although paint still dries slowly) and cleanup was a breeze. Just hot water and soap. The paints are still more expensive than acrylic but one day I hope to replace all my acrylics with water soluble oil.

Water soluble oil paints are AWESOME!!!!! I was first introduced to them in highschool. They are what I survive on now since I have a baby in the house and I'm a bit apprehensive about using any type of solvent around my little one. They seem to have the same texture as oils and they stay wet for awhile on the canvas (they don't stay wet for as long as real oils, but they stay wet a lot longer than acrylics). I'm in love with them!!!