A couple of questions about casein (in general) and Richeson Casein

[marioz]

I’ve prepared some home-made casein paints, and I’ve been pleasantly impressed. Compared to gouache (which I like very much), casein seems to keep some good qualities (matt surface, “natural” look, accepts drawing on top) but also allows a wider range of techniques, for example glazing (up to a point). But making paint is a bit of a hassle, and based on my experience with casein glue and fixative, I don’t expect the paint to last more than some months… so I was looking for some alternative solutions.

The most obvious solution is to buy commercial casein. Unfortunately Richeson Casein is not easily available here in Europe (the only reseller I’ve found is Peters Art online shop / Germany) and, due to many reasons, the paint is not cheap, so I would like to know a couple of things before buying:
1) how does it smell? I know smell is very subjective, but I would like to know if the smell is strong/chemical/irritant (I tend to hate smelly paints).
2) what about the shelf life? Does it last for a long time (let’s say at least a couple of years)?

The second solution may be to add casein glue/gel to some other tubed paint (tipically watercolor or gouache). Obviously I would get a paint with intermediate characteristic, but maybe strong enough to allow layering and glazing. Do you have any experience of this kind to share?

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[Yorky Administrator Ormskirk]

Sounds like a possible solution.

Doug

We must leave our mark on this world

[llawrence]

I’ve mixed casein binder with both watercolors and gouache. It works just fine. At the end of the day I decided not to work with the binder regularly, being happy with the three mediums as they are. But I still mix all three mediums together on a regular basis.

My website: http://www.rusticportraits.com
My artwork blog: http://llawrencebispo.wordpress.com
My art materials blog: http://sunsikell.wordpress.com

[marioz]

llawrence, thank you for your answer.

In your blog I’ve found useful information on this subject, too.

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[monarch-butterfly]

I have two tubes of Richeson Shiva casein paint, Titanium White and Payne’s Grey.  My personal experience is that I really liked the way the paint handled the two times I tried it.

However, I have found the smell to be too unpleasant for me.  In my opinion, the paint has a strong chemical smell, sort of like ammonia.  After just a few minutes, it makes me feel ill.  That is why I’ve only tried painting with it twice.

However, it seems that not everyone is affected by the smell, and it really is nice paint.  Maybe a good solution would be to use it outside where there’s more ventilation.

 

-monarch

C & C welcome and appreciated!

[marioz]

monarch-butterfly wrote:

I have found the smell to be too unpleasant for me. In my opinion, the paint has a strong chemical smell, sort of like ammonia. After just a few minutes, it makes me feel ill. […] However, it seems that not everyone is affected by the smell

Thank you monarch-butterfly, I think I won’t buy the paint because I am rather sensitive to bad smell. I will try alternative ways to use casein, because it has some nice qualities.

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