Drying WMO WIP near heater?

[laika]

Hello all. I'm painting with Weber Woil WMOs in an unheated room (55-ish, 60-ish degrees F), which seems to slow down the dry-to-touch stage. Would it be OK to place the painting I'm working on somewhat near to an electric radiator to speed the drying a bit?

Thanks in advance!

[DaveGhmn]

I think we need a little more about your technique. For example, if you're adding an appreciable amount of water to the Woils, the radiator might evaporate the water faster. That has to happen before the drying oils in the paint can begin their oxidation and polymerization. But the gain will probably be only 30 minutes or so.

If you're using no water in the painting, the radiator won't make much difference, though the polymerization will be faster when it's warmer.

If you're looking for a means to achieve touch-dry paint, try adding a fast-dry medium (any brand except Lukas Berlin), which is likely to be based on cobalt or other metal salt driers and/or alkyd resin. These speed up the polymerization ("drying") of linseed

The Lukas Berlin fast-dry medium is an acrylic emulsion and it dries VERY quickly. Because it makes the paint mix more water than oil, it's no good on already-dry oil paint, where it will bead like rain on a freshly-waxed car. The Lukas fast-dry is best used in an initial layer, for underpainting.

[laika]

Originally Posted by DaveGhmn

I think we need a little more about your technique. For example, if you're adding an appreciable amount of water to the Woils, the radiator might evaporate the water faster. That has to happen before the drying oils in the paint can begin their oxidation and polymerization. But the gain will probably be only 30 minutes or so.

Thanks, Dave! No, I'm using very little water, so it's oxidation that I'm after. I wonder if oxidation might be retarded by the cooler temps and higher humidity of the unheated room?

Very little water, no medium, Woils thinly applied with Silver Bristlon synthetic bristle brushes - so far, and such as it is, that's my technique. I'm enjoying the lack of strong solvents or resins in solvent aspect of the straight WMOs, so maybe I just need to be more patient with the drying.

[DaveGhmn]

Originally Posted by laika

Thanks, Dave! No, I'm using very little water, so it's oxidation that I'm after. I wonder if oxidation might be retarded by the cooler temps and higher humidity of the unheated room?
....

Well, in general, oxidation reactions go quicker when warmer, slower when cooler. But even 50 deg. F is not cold, though it is on the lower end of the range suggested for linseed-based paints.

A quick search doesn't reveal a time/temperature chart for linseed oil "drying," and Weber's MSDS is totally opaque about ingredients, so there isn't much to go on around specific recommendations.

You might be better off by using, say, Winsor & Newton's Artisan Fast-Dry medium. You can get a small bottle for around $5 or less at AC Moore or Michael's with a 50% off coupon. The latter usually shows up every week when you sign up for email notifications from each, and each honors the other's coupons.

Artisan Fast-Dry does increase gloss, if that's a consideration. It cuts dry-to-the-touch time by half. It has a characteristic sharp smell that some people don't like, but doesn't contain hydrocarbon solvents. It's a fairly thick liquid, like a thick-ish honey. (There's no inner seal, so if you're careful, you can pop a lid at the store and judge whether you can live with the smell -- as with all chemicals, sniff under the lid, not directly from the bottle.)

[laika]

Thanks again, Dave! I actually have a little 30ml sample bottle of the Artisan Fast Drying Medium that was given to me by a buddy at the local art supply store, but I assumed it contained petroleum solvents. I'll give it a sniff and perhaps try it on some white and seee how it does. I'm an odd one in that I like the smell of turps and Liquin and such, but I thought it might be good to try painting without them using the WMOs.

Thanks again. Maybe my first WMO painting will be ready for the forum soon.

[DaveGhmn]

Well, there you are -- you're all set up for experimentation. W&N doesn't say a thing about how it accelerates drying, only that it contains 2-butoxyethanol. The latter is a surfactant, and major ingredient in many household cleaners, especially those billed as "grease cutting" or "de-greaser." It's in all the Artisan series and is how Artisan gains its water mixability.

[Crystal1]

I would be careful about putting a painting too close to the heater. I have a friend that paints with traditional oils, that was doing a portrait of his grandson. He spent a few months on it, drying it near an electric heater. One day the canvas burst into flames! Luckily, he got the fire put out, but his grandson's portrait was ruined. Good luck!
Dayle

[laika]

Dave, that sounds like some kind of alcohol mixture. Gads, who knows what's in this stuff?! But I'll try it on a test strip since I have a bit of it already.

Dayle, thanks for the warning! I wouldn't put the painting very near the little radiator, and there is no open flame or element. But still, I appreciate you taking the time to pass along that story.

[sarastar]

It does smell like it is alcohol based as does the artisan thinner.

I find that most of the time, rather than use fast drying medium, I prefer to use the faster drying colors. In W&N Prussian Blue and Raw Umber are fast drying, Whereas Aliziran Red and Ivory Black are rather slow. Before I start a painting, I make a pallette on some scrap canvas and then touch each color every day to see how long it takes to dry for a week or so. I mark next to each color how long it took to dry with some charcoal.

It helped me choose what order to use my paints in. So that I could use the fast drying pigments for the lower layers and the slower drying ones at the end when I wasn't going to need to work on the painting again.

[laika]

Originally Posted by sarastar

I find that most of the time, rather than use fast drying medium, I prefer to use the faster drying colors. In W&N Prussian Blue and Raw Umber are fast drying, Whereas Aliziran Red and Ivory Black are rather slow. Before I start a painting, I make a pallette on some scrap canvas and then touch each color every day to see how long it takes to dry for a week or so. I mark next to each color how long it took to dry with some charcoal.

sarastar, that sounds like a good approach. I should take your advice and methodically test the different colors under the conditions of my "studio," and then take a more informed approach to building the painting.

I'm convinced that the cooler temperatures and higher humidity where I'm painting are affecting the rate of drying, but I think I need to slow down, be more patient and appreciate the WMOs for their particular advantages. I very much appreciate your input.

[laika]

Originally Posted by DaveGhmn

Artisan Fast-Dry does increase gloss, if that's a consideration. It cuts dry-to-the-touch time by half. It has a characteristic sharp smell that some people don't like, but doesn't contain hydrocarbon solvents. It's a fairly thick liquid, like a thick-ish honey. (There's no inner seal, so if you're careful, you can pop a lid at the store and judge whether you can live with the smell -- as with all chemicals, sniff under the lid, not directly from the bottle.)

I finally got around to trying my Artisan Fast-Dry sample. Though I didn't use it in a methodical way that would give a concrete comparison in drying time, it did speed up the process to a degree that I found helpful for my purposes. I used it sparingly and had no problem with the smell (didn't notice it much) and it made the paint just a bit more fluid.

The temperatures are going up, so I'll compare straight drying times in a warmer studio and see if that makes a difference, but I will continue to experiment with the Fast-Dry medium too. Overall, I was happy with it.

[DaveGhmn]

Glad it might help. If your local home improvement store has japan drier and it's affordable, you might try that in the same restrained way. Japan drier contains metal salts, usually cobalt, as does the Artisan Fast Dry.

Unfortunately, since japan drier works only with oil-based paint, and oil-based home paints are going off the market, japan drier is likely going to become hard to find at reasonable retail prices...

[autolisp]

Since the w/m paints dry by oxidation once the oil content has evaporated. You would be better having a constant air flow over the painted surface. You could use a portable heater fan, but I doubt you will gain much drying speed and dust attraction might become a problem. The fast drying mediums are your best bet as suggested.

autolisp