What is your favourite glazing medium?

[vee_209]

I want to do some glazing on my paintings.. classical methods.. Rembrandt/ vermeer style. I find that many glazing medium tends to be very glossy. I've tried Liquin Fine detail and i don't like it for that reasonAre the any glazing medium which does not make the picture look that glossy? Background is meant to look more matt and transparent, right? I really detest the flare which appears when I take the the photo of my paintings.

Many thanks in advance.

Vee

[rroberts]

Vee, there is a ton of information already available on mediums. A forum search will turn up all kinds of stuff. Check the threads below. If you have questions about a particular medium, I bet members can provide more focused input.

You don't really have to use a medium in order to glaze. A simple "couch" of linseed or walnut oil, wiped down to a minimum, will work admirably; just paint into it. A teeny smidge of Venice Turpentine or Strasbourg Turpentine mixed into the couching oil will help prevent beading.

As for unwanted gloss ... almost all mediums contain a resin or balsam varnish, so there is going to be some degree of gloss. This all evens out when you apply a final varnish.

Glazing Tutty Fruity

Mediums - Why Do You Use Them?

First adventure in Scumbling/Glazing WIP

etc.

cheers!

[Brian Firth]

I believe that almost all the alkyd mediums are going to have a glossy finish by nature. Unless they are marketed as a matte alkyd medium. Have you tried using just a touch of walnut oil? In my experiences with M. Graham walnut oil paints they all seem to dry to a nice matte finish. Get the plain old M. Graham Walnut Oil and not the M. Graham Walnut Alkyd medium, it dries very glossy.

You may try using a beeswax medium to reduce the gloss of your alkyd mediums. Gamblin has a section on this on his website, here is the link:

http://gamblincolors.com/faq/mediums.html#q4

It is under the question "How can I make Galkyds more matte?"

[Jane Stuart]

Originally Posted by vee 209

I want to do some glazing on my paintings.. classical methods.. Rembrandt/ vermeer style. I find that many glazing medium tends to be very glossy. I've tried Liquin Fine detail and i don't like it for that reason. Are the any glazing medium which does not make the picture look that glossy? Background is meant to look more matt and transparent, right? I really detest the flare which appears when I take the the photo of my paintings.

I use regular Liquin for glazing, cut 50/50 with the best turpentine I can find. The glossiness is reduced simply by the addition of turps. Some paints are inherently more glossy than others (due to higher oil content during grinding, I assume), but I get a reasonably even finish using this mixture. I also tried Liquin fine detail, and I liked it more than Gamblin’s Galkyd or Galkyd Lite. I’ve tried just about everything for glazing, but Liquin has a somewhat faster drying time, which suits my work…

For photographing paintings, I use two lights at either side of the easel (not too close) – the angle is sharp, so the glare does not appear at all. Just adjust the lights until you’re satisfied, and make sure the illumination is even across the subject – I usually hold a pen between the two lights and study the strength of the two shadows created on a card. When they match, you can begin photographing…