More on FastMatte Oil Colors

On February 5, 2012, I put up a post called Oil colors and drying time - Part 2 - Solutions in which I mentioned that Gamblin Oil Colors had a recent release of FastMatte, a quick drying oil color which has a matte finish as it is originally intended for under-paintings.  My preference is using it as the finished surface.

Some asked about the formula to create the fast drying and matte finish mixture to add to regular oil colors as mentioned in the February post.

The formula is 50% by weight of each of these: Gamblin Galkyd Gel and Gamblin Dry Pigment "Whiting". 

Also get empty paint tubes to put the mixture into as the quantity that you mix will dry rather fast in the open air.  By the next morning the mixture will be either dry or very rubbery depending upon the volume exposed.

Gamblin Galkyd Gel Link

Gamblin Artist's Colors Dry Pigment Link

To make FastMatte and the Formula more fluid for under-painting techniques, thin it with a 50/50 mixture of Gamblin Galkyd Painting Medium and Gamblin Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits. Moderate use of this mixture ensures the adhesion of thinner paint applications while maintaining the matte surface quality.

In the February post I mentioned that there were more colors of FastMatte coming out later this year.  Here is the list of colors which do contain my preferred palette and  a few special colors that I just love to add. Click here.

Drawing Materials: Pencils 1

Pencils category of drawing materials is vast.  So much so that it deserves its own post just to cover the very basics of pencil types.

Historically, records show that graphite in solid form was discovered around 1500's. It was easily sawed into strips and wrote well. Pencil in many foreign languages means "lead pen".

The term "lead" was used for graphite as early chemists thought it to be a form of elemental lead, Pb. Graphite is an allotrope (form) of carbon.  Others are diamonds, carbon fibers, etc.  To a see more complete list, if you have an interest, visit this page on Wikipedia. 

Because graphite is soft and needed protection, it was first wrapped in string or sheep skin for protection.  Later on other materials like wood were attempted. 

Oldest Known Cased Pencil - Collection - Faber-Castell USA

Early Development of Wood Casings

Today, graphite lead for pencils is manufactured by mixing finely ground graphite with clays to produce 18 grades of lead, from the hardest, 9H, to the softest, B9. The ratio of clay to graphite determines the hardness by using more clay for a harder lead.  Lead pencils do not contain elemental lead.

From this point on, there are many types of various pencils. Colored pencils like Prismacolor has eight varieties of pencil types. There are hardened grease markers with peal off paper.  A newcomer to the industry are colored and graphite pencils which when wet with water, act like watercolors.  And the list goes on: pastel pencils, (See Post: Drawing Materials: Crayons 2 - Chalk & Pastels) and mechanical lead holders and eraser pencils, to mention a few.

To see a more complete list of available pencils, visit this page at Dick Blick.  It is overwhelming.

Search Resource

A good research source for art materials is Dick Blick because they have the very best cross reference index for finding materials and manufacturers in a fast and logical way.  I don’t always purchase materials from them however, as there is a local art supply store, but I can get information for 95% of searches.  Their prices are usually in the range of most art supply companies.