Happenstance

A few years age I made a mistake, while at the art supply store. I was looking for linseed oil and grabbed stand oil instead. After I got home and realized my mistake and the next day I went back to the art store to return the item. Since I had broken the seal the cashier said she couldn’t take it back. I took the stand oil back to my studio frustrated thinking, what am I going to do with this?

Stand oil is a thick additive for oil paint. Unlike regular linseed oil which extends and improves the flow of oils, stand oil (a by product of linseed oil) works in the opposite way. Stand oil looks and acts like honey, it pours slowly and is thick and gooey. Stand oil acts to thicken paint and when dry, adds a high gloss to surfaces. I began using stand oil on my canvases pouring it directly on to my paintings. The medium works best when the painting is laying flat. Stand oil can be spread with a large brush or better yet a palette knife. The best quality of this medium is the ability to suspend pigment within and through out the thick layers. I often use stand oil in the “skies” of my landscapes to add a brilliant sheen to the surfaces. The downside to this medium is it adds to the drying time of paintings (up to 10 days depending on the thickness). It also can tend to sag and shrivel when applied too thick.

The moral of this story is my mistake lead to new ways of working. There are many different mediums that can be added to enhance the paints properties and open doors to new ways of working your canvases.