Education and Inspiration

Fast drying oils
As any oil painter will tell you, no medium is as rich and versatile as oil. But what makes oil so desirable also makes it challenging to work with. Because it takes so long to dry, one must often work wet into wet and for the beginner or novice, this can can pose a great technical challenge. Acrylics are the obvious alternative, but they have drawbacks: they have a plasticy feel that many artists do not like, they dry too fast, (nearly instantly if you’re painting outdoors) and worst or all, they dry as much as 15 percent darker!

Griffin Alkyd Colors by Winsor & Newton
Fortunately there is an alternative which few artists are aware of. Imagine a paint that offered all the advantages of oil — versatility and buttery feel — in a quick drying form, but with none of the disdavantges of acrylics.

Alkyds dry much faster than oils, but slower than acrylics. The paint remains workable (wet) for four to six hours, but in my experience, much less than that, especially if the paint is not applied thickly. Alkyds become stiff and semi-dry within an hour; thus, they are ideal for plein air painting. You have the option of being able to blend wet into wet, or reworking areas (dry over wet) within one painting session. Both impasto and glazing can be achieved in considerably less time than oils. Alkyds are reduced with the same solvents as oil.

On a scale of 1 to 10 — where 1 is pure plastic and 10 is oil — I would say that acrylics are about a 3, alkyds, an 8, and oils a 10.

Fully compatible with oils
Alkyds are a high quality, professional medium (not to be confused with water-based oils). They can be mixed with regular oils are reduced with the same solvents. Regular oil paint can be layered over alkyds, but it is not recommended that they be layered over oil, as the less fexible alkyd film may crack. Chemically, alkyds are made from pigment and oil-modified alkyd resin, which acts as a binder and causes the color to dry more rapidly than linseed oil, but more slowly than the binder used in acrylics. Mix them with your favorite oil colors to speed up drying time.

Find out more about alkyd colors at Winsor & Newton.