Home › Forums › Explore Media › Casein, Gouache, and Egg Tempera › Useful Casein Text
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March 7, 2018 at 11:10 pm #452592
Cindy Moon McKee wrote up a .pdf of all her notes on Casein and the interactions she has read or tried with it and various mediums. I found it a useful resource file and had it saved on my computer for a couple years now but realize that others may not have been aware.
Here is the link:
https://cindymckee.com/librejo/Casein-advice.pdf
Almost everything in there is stuff I personally located while researching Casein as well, but thought it very nice to have it all in one spot. Of particular interest, and one not found in almost any artists resource is the chemical interaction that takes place between oil and Casein over time. The two become more than just mechanically bonded according to studies done in medical and agricultural experiments. This is actually reinforced by the fact that ready made Casein paint available on the market happens to have a tiny bit of oil actually in the binder according to a few online articles.
Well, enjoy the read, I found it quite useful.
- Delo DelofashtMarch 9, 2018 at 9:58 am #580644This is a wonderful document. I used it to learn how to make casein.
I have tried mixing casein binder with tube oil paints, and they seize up immediately and look like casein paint instead of oils (matte). It was fun to experiment with, but I am not sure about how it would last.
https://www.haroldroth.com/
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https://www.facebook.com/haroldrothartistMarch 10, 2018 at 9:02 pm #580636Yes, and I have not even got to try all the various mixtures yet. The casein does make the oil paint dry really fast. As to how long the mixture with oil paint will last, it should last at least as long as the Casein. The chemical compatibility between them is good too, they actually will crosslink according to a few resources I had read. That said, there is very little scientific study done on Casein with other mediums compared to Acrylic, Oils, or watercolor even. There are a few blogs and articles about Casein as well that held quite a bit of historical information. It seems like Casein is one of the oldest mediums in the world, having been used since prehistoric times.
- Delo DelofashtMarch 11, 2018 at 3:30 pm #580645You are right–it sure is darn hard to find any research or historical info on casein. Have you used casein + oil paints regularly? Or have you noticed how they last? I am real tempted to play with this combo more. Do you think I could still call it “oil paints”? Or would it have to be “mixed media”?
https://www.haroldroth.com/
https://www.instagram.com/haroldrothart
https://www.facebook.com/haroldrothartistMarch 12, 2018 at 4:39 pm #580648Thank you so much for the PDF! I am getting ready to start experimenting with casein paint. I’ve been comparing so many recipes and suggestions. It’s fun but overwhelming. This guide is a very helpful addition to my research.
March 12, 2018 at 10:37 pm #580642I have a bottle of the Shiva casein binder, and it sure does contain some oil (it floats to the top if you don’t shake the bottle). I’m guessing it’s linseed oil. But the paint does dry completely matte as others say, so the main binder is clearly the casein of course.
March 16, 2018 at 5:41 am #580637You are right–it sure is darn hard to find any research or historical info on casein. Have you used casein + oil paints regularly? Or have you noticed how they last? I am real tempted to play with this combo more. Do you think I could still call it “oil paints”? Or would it have to be “mixed media”?
Cannot say I have used it regularly, the samples I made on paper some years ago are currently in storage. When I get back to get that box from their storage location I will see about how they have done. Last check before storing, the layer looked as good as when I painted the sample (a mixture of ultramarine blue and transparent oxide yellow oil paint). The resulting gray paint was in excellent shape and still flexed fine with the paper, though I did not try folding it through the sample (not trying to break my sample yet). The sample was thinly applied, not a heavy impasto at all, which is recommended to avoid for Casein or oil on a flexible surface such as paper.
I would still call it oil paint, as oil painters add all sorts of mediums to their artwork very frequently. Sometimes they add alkyd, wax, resins, varnish, spirits of various types, chalk, egg, or any number of other additives. So long as it looks like oil when finished, it largely doesn’t make too much of a difference. The matte quality of Casein does have a very different look than most oil though. The major thing to remember is that Casein is more brittle and less flexible than oil, so if mixing it in with your oil, do it in the earlier layers and be sure to add less in later layers. Flexible > inflexible.
Nadia_gnar, you are welcome for the link, big thanks go out to Ms McKee for sharing her findings in a nice condensed form for us.
Trond, that was my finding as well. It was when I noticed the oil in the Shiva line of paint that I started researching the compatibility of the mediums.
- Delo DelofashtMarch 16, 2018 at 8:36 am #580646Thanks, Delofasht! Good point about all the stuff that oil painters add. I have actually been planning on trying the addition of egg to oils after reading about it.
https://www.haroldroth.com/
https://www.instagram.com/haroldrothart
https://www.facebook.com/haroldrothartistMarch 16, 2018 at 11:25 am #580635Casein emulsifies with oil quite well, and I’ve used it often. It isn’t required when making casein paint, but adding a small amount of oil can help alter the texture of the paint and make it more “buttery” as well as slowing the drying time some and making it easier to blend, aspects of oil. A lighter weight oil, like safflower or poppy works well in general, but if the intent is for undertones of an oil painting, I would recommend mixing linseed for the initial layer.
Reading her text, I would add that care should be taken to avoid the term “drying the oil” when talking about casein emulsion, since casein isn’t a dryer. Instead, the oil is held in place by the dry casein as the oil continues to oxidize. This is one of the advantages of using casein emulsion in the beginning with oil, since you’re not diluting or weakening it as you might with solvents, but actually thinning the oil and adding a glue.
David Blaine Clemons
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My Website
My BlogMarch 16, 2018 at 11:15 pm #580638Excellent point David, Casein does indeed have that touch dry feel in minutes and remain curing for up to weeks when mixed with oil. One can even use mostly oil paint and add just enough Casein to that paint to reduce the sheen and glossiness of oil paint. Proportions of Casein to Oil alter the resulting touch dry times and handling qualities. In the above proposed composition, heavily oil, it will remain open and act like oil paint longer but dry with less surface sheen.
Casein may well be the most versatile paint on the planet, able to function like most any other paint, without some of the negatives that are sometimes present in other paints. It’s major failing point is just not being flexible, which restricts it to rigid surfaces, and sometime prone to cracks or chipping.
- Delo DelofashtNovember 16, 2018 at 1:08 pm #580647Thank you, I would be interested to read but the link doesn’t seem to work. Is there another? I have been enjoying painting with casein for about 6 months now, appreciating it for itself and especially the matte finish when it dries. I do know people who use casein for an underpainting, painting over it in oil, but this thread seems to be talking about actually mixing the casein with oil? What does that do to the final appearance?
~Christine
January 6, 2019 at 12:01 pm #580639Sadly the link here has died, the author’s website appears to have gone down. If anyone wants to view the copy I have contact me by private message.
I wish I could find an email address for the author to see if there is a newer version.
- Delo DelofashtJune 25, 2019 at 7:26 am #580649I have found another site explaining how to make casein.
https://www.earthpigments.com/artists-casein-paint/
December 16, 2019 at 2:54 am #580651Sadly the link here has died, the author’s website appears to have gone down. If anyone wants to view the copy I have contact me by private message.
I wish I could find an email address for the author to see if there is a newer version.
I’m really interested since I’m started to get into casein. Unfortunately there is not much information about casein on the web.
December 17, 2019 at 8:57 am #580640DB Clemons has a ton of information on Casein making and usage for a number of purposes. He has a website and a blog both having lots of information or examples, he even “recently” proposed the idea of making and selling tubes of Casein paint, which I would be interested in buying at least some.
There are more various sites on the web with some information on making Casein blue for use as a binder for a number of things, and a very informative brochure on usage and methods of making and using it from the mid 1900s that I read through, though I have been having problems finding the link again more recently.
- Delo Delofasht -
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