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Over the last few weeks and more than 20 paintings later I’ve been testing Water Mixable Oils. In this video I want to give you a comprehensive guide to everything I’ve discovered while working with Water Mixable Oils.
All the positives and especially all the negatives.
Why am I doing this?
I’m doing this so you can make an informed decision before purchasing water mixable oils. Besides helping you out. My goal is to find an oil painting setup that is made up entirely of non toxic materials.
Not only for me but also for the planet.
I’ve spent way too much money on materials in the past couple years in the search for this elusive connection between oil paints and a non toxic environment.
And with water mixable oils I’ve finally found it!
But, I’m not pulling any punches here.
- I want paints that have working properties as close to traditional oils as possible.
- I want the same drying times as traditional oil paints.
- I want opaque and saturated reds and yellows without cadmium.
- I want all the colors I have with traditional oils.
- I want the final painting to look just like traditional oils.
- I don’t want any smells in my studio!
- I don’t want to be forced to make a trade off for my health just to use the paints that I like.
- And an easy clean up!
If there are any water mixable materials that I’ve used that don’t meet those standards I’m going to point it out. And probably never use them again.
I’m not affiliated with any of the brands I’m using. I am giving you my honest opinions on everything I review here.
There are many materials that I purchased that I hate and will never use again. And I’ll tell you which ones. I’m only going to point out the issues I’ve found with certain colors and brands. If I don’t mention a color or brand I’ve either not used it or have used it and have zero issues with it.
Now let’s get into it.
What are water mixable oils
If you don’t already know, water mixable oils are oil paints that can be diluted with water. That means you don’t need other oils and especially no solvents to thin these paints.
You can use plain old tap water. The oils in these paints have been chemically altered so they will mix with water. I don’t know the science behind it. Honestly I don’t care to know the science behind it. But I’m guessing it’s something like adding an emulsifier to olive oil so it will mix with vinegar in salad dressing…
Anyway, cool science, now I can use water, yay!
Next topic.
Basics of Water Mixable Oils
I want to get some of the basic questions about water mixable oils out of the way first.
Drying time:
From my experience the water mixable oils I’ve used take as long to dry as traditional oils. In some cases they dry a little bit faster. But this is always dependent on the surface you use them on, any mediums you use in them and how hot or humid your environment is.
For the most part, the drying time is exactly the same as traditional oils.
Mixing with Others
Water mixable oils can be mixed with traditional oils. But if you mix traditional oils into your water mixable oils you must treat them as if they are traditional oils.
Meaning they will no longer be water soluble.
You can also use traditional mediums with water mixable oils. I have not tried this but it is possible.
And again, if you mix traditional mediums with water mixable oils they will no longer be water soluble.
You can paint water mixable oils over traditional oils and you can paint traditional oils over water mixable oils. You can paint water mixable oils over acrylic just like traditional oils.
Cost
Water mixable oils cost very similar to traditional oils and there are many brands and colors to choose from.
Now let’s get into the specifics.
Clean Up with Water is not new
Here is something that annoys me. Cleaning up with water is not new!
I’ve already gotten my traditional oil painting process to use no solvents and clean up with soap and water. In fact if you use safflower oil and a paper towel you can clean all the paint out of your brushes and never have to wash them!
And if you do want to spend the time washing your brushes with traditional oils, soap and water works great!
This is no different than cleaning a pan in your kitchen that you just used cooking oil in. Linseed oil is a seed oil just like canola oil.
You don’t use solvents in your kitchen right! No! Just soap and water!
The selling point of cleaning up these paints with water is not helpful. It brings nothing new to my solvent free home.
BUT!!!
If you just want to use one brush for the whole painting.
Bad habit…
Or clean out your brush after every mixture. Then these paints are great!
You could do the same with traditional oils and safflower oil but then you risk getting too much of the safflower oil in your paints.
Safflower oil takes forever to dry.
So it’s nice to have the option to fully clean out your brush between mixtures with water as much as you want. For me, I use multiple brushes for every painting. But now I have the option to clean my brushes easily between mixtures if I choose.
Awesome!
On one painting I just used one brush just to try it out and I found that using multiple brushes is much faster and you save paint that way.
So, cleaning up with water after you’re done with your painting session is NOT a selling point.
But cleaning your brushes between mixtures with plain water is fantastic!
Starting the painting with water
With water I was able to brush on the paint easier and get longer strokes. But, the thin mixture of water mixable oil and water began to get sticky very fast on the palette.
I had to continually add more water to remove the stickiness with my mixtures.
Not super bad, but very different from traditional oils when using solvent. At least from what I remember with solvent because it’s been over a decade since I’ve used solvent. Even with water it’s still difficult to cover raw paper even with very fluid paint.
This is just like traditional oils. Nothing new here.
Raw paper just likes to really soak up paint. The connection between surface and any type of oil paint is going to be very important in order to get them to work how you like. With water mixable oils and raw oil painting paper I find that I have to constantly dip into water to get them to move around on the raw paper. But with a non-absorbent surface these paints move around just as well as traditional oils.
Every brand of oil paint has different viscosity. I find Gamblin paints very stiff and M. Graham paints very soft. Windsor & Newton is somewhere in between.
Regardless, on gesso ground the water mixable oils move around just like traditional oils do.
The other thing I noticed when working with water on raw paper is that the paper bows much more than just using oil paint. This would not be an issue with canvas or if I gessoed the paper before painting.
One thing I like to do with oil paint on the initial layer is go back into the paint and soften everything and fill in the cracks and crevices. With oil paint you can do that pretty easily, even with a thin initial layer, but I found that with these paints, I must add a bit of water to my brush and kind of reactivate the paint that’s on the paper to move it around.
It’s different and not super bad.
It does provide some different effects in the paint that I don’t get with traditional oils.
If you are wanting to do transparent layering with water mixable oil I would suggest not using water. The stickiness is not so good. Besides there are mediums I will get into later that will work well for that.
Now, even though there are some negatives here I have chosen to continue starting my paintings with water and not mediums. I’ll talk more about why when I get to the mediums section later in this article.
Usage With No Medium
For the first couple paintings I used them right out of the tube without any mediums or water. I didn’t want to muddle the tests at the beginning with any other variables.
I’m mostly working with Windsor & Newton Artisan water mixable oils because this super awesome person named Pam gave them to me for Christmas.
You rock Pam!
Eventually I added in other colors from other brands. Right out of the tube, for most of the colors, there is no difference from Windsor & Newton traditional oil paints.
Their viscosity is exactly the same.
Heavy Metals
I got this comment and everything changed with Water Mixable Oils.
The comment:
“I resolved to start oil painting without solvents or heavy metals – your previous videos on the topic were very helpful! – and I thought WMOs were going to be the key. Then I discovered W&N puts cobalt in all their white oils…”
As soon as I looked on the back of my titanium white I saw the warning symbol.
Darn it!
So frustrating!
Then I went down a huge rabbit hole of research.
Cobalt
I found an article by Jacksons art .com that was very helpful.
If you would like to read the full article see the link below.
The article talks about how cobalt is an essential metal in the human body and only at high concentrations does it become harmful.
Okay I can totally understand that certain substances already exist in the human body without any issues.
BUT as a kidney transplantee of 8 years I also know that not every human body is the same.
Like protein, harmless right?
Protein may be super great for you but I have to watch carefully how much protein I eat daily to keep my transplant healthy.
So when I’m given scientific guidelines on how much of x is okay in the body I understand that for many of us these guidelines don’t work.
I have enough issues with kidneys, I don’t want any extra cobalt around me.
Then the article goes on to mention certain cobalt pigments may trigger allergic reactions in some individuals when it touches skin. And other cobalt pigments that are respiratory sensitizing when sprayed.
I would say that you should never spray any oil paint and also if you’re sanding down a painting you really need to protect yourself with a good mask.
Basically, if you use any paint containing cobalt it may be okay for you, or it may be bad for you.
But why take the chance?
For me, I don’t want that extra worry.
So if it has cobalt in it, I don’t want to use it.
Also in the article they talk about cadmium.
Again, they mention that we are exposed to cadmium daily in small amounts and that it’s harmful when inhaled or ingested in large amounts.
Then they say…
“There is widespread agreement across regulating bodies that cadmium compounds are carcinogenic, and there is evidence that they may be mutagenic and toxic to reproductive health.”
That’s all I need to hear to cut out cadmiums.
Again, I don’t want the extra worry, so no cadmiums in my studio.
For cadmium in the environment they mention a proposal to restrict cadmiums in artists paints in the EU.
A further study related to that proposal found that artists’ pigments have a minimal impact on the environment when compared to other sources.
Then they list the correct way of disposing of oil paints that have heavy metals like cadmium.
But the whole process of correct disposal is so arduous that it makes yet another really good argument for NOT using cadmiums.
Lastly they compare cadmiums to laundry detergent and other household cleaning products and state that if mishandled any one of them can cause harm.
I can agree with that but I don’t need to call my local dump to figure out the best way to dispose of laundry detergent.
What I do really agree with them on is this last passage.
“It ultimately comes down to choice. Many painters find cadmium and cobalt pigments invaluable, while others choose not to use them in their practice. The beauty of the modern palette is that there is so much choice, and artists can make an informed decision about what is best for them”
We don’t NEED to use them! Yay!
We have choices!
Here is what I’ve come up with to have a cadmium and cobalt free palette in water mixable oils!!!
Cadmium and Cobalt replacements
After researching and purchasing multiple titanium whites I can’t find any that do not have cobalt in them.
I’m guessing here but I think titanium and these chemically adjusted oils have some issue with drying so cobalt is necessary.
The one that I found, so far, that works really well is Ceramic White by Holbein Duo Aqua oil line.
Like I said previously I found that it came out of the tube with a little more texture than titanium white.
Ceramic white is not as bright as titanium and it is a tiny bit warmer as well.
I find this okay. I kinda prefer it.
It’s as opaque as titanium and the drying time is a bit shorter as well which is nice.
For cadmium replacements, we could use the cadmium red hue or cadmium yellow hue by windsor & newton.
These are manufactured pigments that take on the same intensity as cad red and cad yellow.
But they are way too transparent!
I found Vermillion Hue and Naples Yellow Light both by Holbein in the Duo Aqua Oil Line.
Both are opaque and very bright.
Although they are not as intense as the cadmiums.
But I found that if I mix a little bit of the cadmium red hue with the vermillion hue I can get a more intense red and keep the opaqueness.
Same with the Naples yellow light, just mix in a bit of cadmium yellow hue and it gets more intense.
I Love this! No cadmiums but I have very intense opaque reds and yellows.
For most of my paintings I don’t need the crazy intensity of cadmiums anyway. I find the Naples yellow and vermillion do just fine.
In fact I did a previous video where I compare relative intensity in regular life and most of what we see never reaches those intensities anyway.
But if you are a painter that wants super intense colors and to really push that saturation I think the combination of Holbein opaque colors and windsor & newton intense hues will work well for you.
Mediums
Water
I only use water for the start of a painting if I don’t draw out with graphite.
As I said previously.
The more water I add, I do get a slight value shift.
And it gets a little sticky as well.
The only time I use water when painting is just for drawing out the painting if I don’t use graphite to draw out the painting.
Water in my opinion is great for convenience and the start of the painting but I don’t think it’s good for anything else.
Winsor & Newton Thinner
I purchased this water mixable oil Thinner by W&N that is made as a replacement for water.
It worked really well!
No smell at all!!
It thinned out the paint well and it didn’t get sticky like with water.
It is much better than water for drawing out at the beginning as well.
When using it to paint it created some interesting textures, a little similar to watercolor.
If I wanted to do transparent layering with my oil paints this would be a medium I would try.
I prefer my paint to be thicker so if I do use this in the future it will only be for drawing out the painting at the beginning.
I ended up leaving the thinner in a can overnight to see how fast it dried out as well but there was no difference the next morning.
So it’s nice that it will last long without being covered that could result in less cost.
But, I want to make my setup super simple where I need the least amount of materials and setup.
I don’t want to complicate things, I just want to focus on getting to the painting.
So for me, I would rather just use water or graphite to draw out the painting first and deal with the stickiness.
Most of the time I’m going to choose graphite because I love training my drawing before every painting.
Big Game changer
I will say that this is the biggest game changer in water mixable oils.
Because going solvent free with traditional oils makes it almost impossible to draw out your painting at the beginning with paint.
I never found a solvent free medium in traditional oils that will allow that to happen well.
Now with water mixable oils I have a choice of water or a thinner to use to draw out in paint and it’s fantastic.
This was the biggest issue with solvent free traditional oil painting and now it’s solved with water mixable oils.
I’m super happy with this.
Let’s move on to the other mediums.
Winsor & Newton Impasto Medium
The impasto medium by Windsor & Newton.
Terrible! I hate it.
It has no smell.
But it’s so thick that I can’t use a brush to mix it in with my paint.
I have to use a pallet knife.
And as soon as I mix it in, it does lighten the color a step.
What is really nice is that it keeps the opacity of the paint even though I mix a lot of the impasto medium in with the paint.
That is the only good thing in my opinion.
Application of paint with this impasto medium is not very nice, it is somewhat sticky.
And using it on a raw paper surface or even a gessoed surface would be very difficult.
The only surface I could use it for so it moves around well is an oil ground or less absorbent surface.
But the big negative of this medium is the adhesion.
Even after the paint with impasto medium dried I had a lot of trouble with it sticking.
It wants to come off the oil ground easily.
This could have been something I’ve done wrong but I wouldn’t recommend this medium at all.
Cobra Painting paste
The cobra painting paste works much different than the Windsor and Newton impasto medium.
It also does not have any smell.
It is easier to pick up with a brush and utilize, and it goes on smooth and buttery.
It feels very similar to the non-solvent gel, medium by Gamblin, that I used to use with traditional oil paint.
I used the Cobra Painting Paste on the same painting as the W&N Impasto Medium and the paste is adhering just fine.
I like the painting paste much better.
In the future if I want to use a gel medium the Cobra Painting Paste is my go to.
Holbein Quick dry medium
The quick dry medium by Holbein works well and smells terrible.
If smells don’t bother you or if you’re in a very ventilated environment this may work well for you.
It’s smooth and buttery and mixes easily with the water mixable oils.
And within minutes it’s already drying.
I would guess that I would have a few hours to continue working with this paint before it gets too stiff.
It reminds me of the W&N Griffin paints which I loved but also smelled terrible.
This is due to the alkyd medium in them that just stinks.
Like I said, if you want a really nice gel medium that dries your paints fast and keeps good impasto this is for you.
But if you are sensitive to smells, stay far away from this.
Schminke Medium W
The Schminke medium W will turn any traditional oil into water soluble oil.
What kinda dark magic is this!!
I had to try it out.
I purchased a tube of the gel.
It has no smell to it.
And I used it with a few paints.
The first was the cadmium free red by W&N.
I love this paint. It has everything cadmium is but without the heavy metal and I would love to have it on my palette with water mixable oils.
I added some of the medium to it and like magic I could clean the paint out of my brush with water.
Crazy!!
But, you have to add so much of the medium to it that it loses its opacity and becomes transparent.
The one positive to cadmiums is the saturated color AND the opacity.
If you don’t need opacity though this could work really well for you.
I then tried using it with Titanium white by W&N.
It didn’t work that well.
I had to add so much medium W to it that it was super transparent before it would finally dilute with water.
That just won’t do for me. I want the opacity.
But I’m going to still keep this medium.
Being able to take any of the 100 plus tubes of traditional oil paints I have and make the water soluble is amazing.
It opens up so many possibilities to use colors that do not exist in water mixable oils.
And if I want to work transparently for any reason this medium is even better.
If I want to draw out my painting with the medium in whatever tube I own, this medium is great!
All Mediums
One thing to watch out for when using these mediums is that you increase the amount of glare on your painting.
This is because of the extra ridges in the paint and the glossy nature of most mediums.
Just an FYI.
My Palette
Let’s go over the palette that ended up with.
My current Zorn palette with water mixable oils is this.
- Ceramic white by Holbein
- Yellow Ochre by W&N
- Vermilion Hue by Holbein
- Ivory black by W&N
I priced the Zorn palette out on Blick Art and it comes to around $50 without tax or shipping.
For extra colors beyond the zorn palette I use.
- Ultramarine blue by W&N
- Burnt Umber by W&N
- Naples yellow light by Holbein
- Cadmium red hue by W&N
- Cadmium Yellow hue by W&N
- Phthalo Green by W&N
The Zorn palette plus the 6 extended colors would cost you around $100.
I’m sure at some point I will experiment with other colors that don’t have any heavy metals in them but with these colors I feel like I can mix anything I want for any situation.
Form mediums.
I will mostly use water at the beginning but sparingly.
I may use the Cobra Painting Paste and the W&N tinner for certain situations as well.
And the Schminke Medium W if I must have a color from one of my traditional tubes.
Unexpected Benefit
I took these paints with me to urban sketchers.
For those that don’t know about Urban Sketchers.
It’s an international group where artists in cities all over the globe get together and paint in urban settings.
Mostly drawing and watercolor.
Normally when I take my traditional oil painting setup on the road I have to be very careful with my brushes after the painting session.
I wrap them up in a paper towel and bind them together so the paint left over in the brushes doesn’t get everywhere.
Then when I get home I wash them out with safflower oil.
Or if I’m not at home, wash them out with soap and water.
But with water mixable oils I can take an empty can and fill it up with tap water anywhere.
Then when I’m done, clean out my brushes and pour the water down a drain.
(only with water mixable oils that don’t have heavy metals!)
It’s super nice to be able to wash my brushes out on the spot and not worry about how to get them home without getting the paint everywhere.
I still have to worry about how to get the painting home without ruining it though.
That’s always fun.
Oil Primed surface
One source says that we should avoid oil primed surfaces because these paints will not adhere correctly.
Another source that I read said that you can use an oil primed surface but you don’t want to use a lot of water or it will not adhere correctly.
I did a test of a painting on an oil primed surface.
The painting sucked, but I did learn a lot.
The water mixable oils adhered to the surface.
Except for paints mixed with the impasto medium by W&N, it still wants to come off easily.
But oil mixed with the painting paste by cobra and paints right out of the tube adhered just fine.
Plus I didn’t find any issues with adherence when using a little bit of water or the W&N thinner with water mixable oils on an oil ground.
So, if you love the slickness of an oil primed surface then water mixable oils can work for you.
Personally I will not be using oil primed surfaces.
They are a bit more expensive and there is a lot of drying time involved if I do the oil prime myself.
Acrylic gesso is inexpensive, dries fast and I like how it absorbs the paint slightly.
Plus I’ve been working on it for years so I know how it’s going to perform.
Direct Comparison on the Same Painting
This was the best test I did.
I created a painting where on one side it was all water mixable oils and on the other side it was all traditional oils.
I worked with both water mixable oils and traditional oils at the same time.
On the same palette, divided in half.
But with different brushes.
The idea was to get a direct comparison between the two, in the moment.
I wanted to remove the time frame between making a painting in water mixable oils then making a painting in traditional oils.
This would make sure that all my comparisons are as accurate as possible.
I compare it to trying on shoes.
You can put on one pair of shoes, and then another, and not tell the difference between the two.
But if you put one brand on one foot, and another brand on another foot.
The differences are instantly noticeable.
Comparing the tastes of food is the same.
How do you tell which cake is the best?
Side by side taste test!
Back to my side by side paint comparison.
I’m super happy to say that the working properties between both of them are super close and I don’t feel any significant differences.
Water mixable oils are a tiny bit more “chunky” ; they build up impasto a tiny bit easier and do have a bit more texture than the traditional oils which are smoother.
Of course this could be brand related but the difference is barely noticeable.
For colors I have no problem reaching the hues and saturation I want in both paints.
This is where I discovered the mixture of cadmium red and yellow hues with vermillion and naples yellow light to get super high saturation with the opacity I need.
And that is all I discovered for the differences between the two.
I tried really hard to find any other negatives when working with both of them together but I couldn’t.
And when the painting was done you can’t tell the difference between each side of the painting.
It all looks like traditional oil.
I would say that this was the deciding factor that gave me all the information I needed on whether or not to use water mixable oils exclusively but it was the next topic that really sealed the deal for me.
Varnishing
When you’re trying really hard to remove all solvents, smells and heavy metals from your life and work with traditional oils, varnishing is where it all falls apart.
I don’t wait six months for a painting to dry to use traditional varnishes.
Maybe some artists can do this but after I make a painting it has to be ready to show and sell as soon as possible.
I’ve tried Gamvar by Gamblin, Daler Rowney retouch varnish, W&N retouch varnish, and a few others.
All of them smell terrible and have some form of solvent in them.
They are so bad I have to varnish only a couple small paintings at a time in my garage.
Even then the smell is horrible.
And when it’s cold out I have to wait till it warms up because you’re not supposed to put on varnish below 50 degrees.
And there is no way I’m bringing that stench into my home.
But I also wanted to test traditional varnish over a water mixable oil painting.
One of the paintings I completed in water mixable oils I varnished with W&N retouch varnish and the result was absolutely indistinguishable from my traditional oils.
What I’m beginning to learn is that when water mixable oils dry completely they are basically just like traditional oils at that point.
Again, some chemical science that I have no idea about.
But I wanted to get away from the darn smells and solvents completely!
So I purchased the water mixable oil matt varnish by W&N and tested it.
But I didn’t go into my garage.
I wanted to see if I could varnish my painting in my house without any smells.
It worked wonderfully!
As I was applying it there was a small amount of smell to it but not bad at all.
And that went away quickly.
It applied well.
It didn’t bead up like Gamvar likes to do sometimes.
It went on smoothly and I could apply it quickly.
It didn’t pick up any of the paint like the other varnishes with solvent.
I’ve ruined several paintings because of this.
I didn’t feel like I was killing the last brain cell I have with the fumes.
And within about 10-30 minutes it was dry.
The paint surface was a wonderful even matt finish and any tiny smells were completely gone.
Absolutely fantastic!
That did it for me.
At this point I’m 100% convinced and I’m switching completely over to water mixable oils.
They do everything I need and keep me, my family and the environment healthy.
** Update ** I wasn’t thinking and I used this varnish as if it was a retouch varnish, it is not. W&N indicates that you should wait 6-12 months before using this varnish or it will MAYBE discolor or crack. I will post updates on my youtube channel and here if I have any issues with the painting and this varnish considering I only waited a few weeks before using the varnish. If I see no issues I’m going to continue to use it as if it was retouch varnish.
Final Thoughts
I’m switching completely to water mixable oils.
But, I just want to say that they are not EXACTLY like traditional oil.
They are very close but ultimately this is a different medium.
The change is not as different as going to gouache or acrylic but it is a change.
It’s like changing from one traditional oil brand to another.
I know that the viscosity, color, working properties and drying times are going to change if I go from W&N to Gamblin or to Old Holland.
Moving to water mixable oils is the same.
So if you are expecting to switch to water mixable oils and have the same exact experience you do now with traditional oils you are going to be disappointed.
But, if you go into this change and understand there will be some changes to how you work but the benefits will outweigh the changes then I think you will be very happy with water mixable oils.
For me the positives outweigh the changes tremendously and I see no reason to move back to traditional oils anytime soon.
That’s it!
I hope this was helpful!
Please ask any question and I will try to answer as much as I can.
