U of S | Mailing List Archive | alt-photo-process-l | oil print color media

oil print color media



Hi:

Just a FYI in case other people are working with oil prints.  I've been
trying to find a media to make "constructed color images" using oil
printing.  An oil print is similar to a bromoil print.  It relies on
using a oily media that is repelled by water.

I have been experimenting with a variety of media to use for doing color
oil prints.  I've been avoiding using litho inks - I think using smaller
volumes with a wider range of pigments is more manageble.

Most references I've read state thats its possible to make your own oil
print media using tube of oil paint with magnesium carbonate and or wax
added to make the paint stiff enough to use with oil printing.  Others
state its possible to make an oil media by mixing stand oil with
pigment.  I was not able to produce an oil media "stiff" enough to use
with the oil print matrixes I produced with either of these methods. The
media was not sufficiently repelled by water to be effective.

I have found a technique that looks promising.  I tried using litho
varnish, mixed with tube oil colors.  This produces an oil media that is
sufficiently stiff enough to work on the oil print matrixes I make. 
Litho varnish is used in lithography to stiffen a litho ink.  Litho
varnish is produced in a range of numbers - the higher the number the
stiffer the varnish.  I'm using a number 8 varnish - from American
Chemical & Ink.

This appears to produce an oil media stiff enough for  oil printing . 
Now all I have to do is make better oil matrixes.

Gord Holtslander