Painting With Water Soluble Oils

Learn to successfully work in this exciting new medium. Multiple demos reveal water-soluble oils unique characteristics and benefits.

Dye is an artist, an instructor at the University of Vermont, and a technical consultant for manufacturers of art paints. In his opinion, the advent of water-soluble oil paint is as revolutionary as the emergence of acrylics was in 1950. The jury is still out. In the meantime, Dye has written the most comprehensive exploration of the medium, which retains the traditional characteristics of oil paint but is mixed and thinned (not to mention cleaned up) with water. By the 1980s, most schools and universities had banned the use of solvents in art departments, effectively banning the use of oil paints. With water-soluble oils, the toxic solvents associated with working in oils can be eliminated, making it safe to reintroduce oil painting to the classroom. Water-soluble oils and traditional oils don't behave identically on the canvas, however. (The latter holds a brush stroke more firmly than the former, for example.) Dye clearly lays out differences in pigments, light-fastness, opacity, texture, and application. Eleven artists add demonstrations and personal opinions to this important addition to the field. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.