Artist Vs. Oil Paint

Have you ever opened up a tube of oil paint and found a puddle of pure oil sitting on top of the pigment inside the tube? You probably think, "What the heck? How do I get my paint out of there without making an oily mess? And hey, doesn't my paint need this oil in it to work right? What do I do now???"

Never Fear! You didn't get a "bad" tube of paint. You don't need to return it or throw it away.

Oil separating from pigment is actually a normal occurance. Any decent oil paint will potentially separate depending on several factors, such as the age of the tube, the weight of the pigment, and the amount of binder in the paint. Oil paints are made using recipies with specific amounts of pigments and oils, so this isn't excess oil. It's part of your paint formula!

Try to think of your oil paint like Italian salad dressing and it will all start to make sense. The pigment in your paint is like the spices and garlic in the dressing, while the oil is ... well just oil... but you get the idea. A really good dressing will separate and need to be mixed up before you use it. A really bad one will have a lot of filler that keeps everything suspended in one suspicious mass.

In oil paints this filler is known as a 'binder' or 'binding agent'. Binders are a necessary evil to make your paint workable at all, but a really good paint will have less binders and more PIGMENT. The only drawback to this is that the pigment can settle, causing the oily problem I mentioned earlier.

One solution to this dilema is simple enough. All you need is one blunt ended, thin implement to stir up your paint in the tube, like swizzle sticks or chopsticks. Don't use anything sharp or you might puncture your paint tube! That would be sad. Also, I've seen folks try kneading a closed tube of oil paint to work the pigment and oil back together.. DON'T KNEAD THE TUBE! It's very likely the tube will burst when the metal gets fatigued... it's just not made to be kneaded that way. If it's an older tube of paint with some room to spare, gently insert your chopstick or swizzle stick into the tube and slowly stir the oil in. If the tube or opening are too small to stir, then use a plunger-like motion to mix. Use care not to squeeze the tube while you are mixing. You will notice the oil will be very viscous and will need to be worked in gradually... be patient. This is fine art after all.

If it's a brand new or full tube of paint, you will need to remove some oil before mixing so the stir stick doesn't displace oil all over the place. Squeeze out oil and pigment onto your pallette, mix it with your pallette knife and then if you wish, add it back into the tube or if the consistency is good, start painting!

If your tube is broken or compromised, you can re-tube your paint. Squeeze all the pigment and oil out of the tube, mix it all back together and re-tube it into a new tube. A good art supply store will carry empty, fillable paint tubes for this purpose - the bottom end is open to provide a wide enough opening to stuff paint into. Crimp the end once it's filled and you're ready to go. You will probably lose a little paint this way, but at least it isn't all going to waste.

This technique will not help oil paints that have dried out in the tube. If your paint dried in the tube there can be many reasons, such as a crack or hole in the tube, paint buildup on the threads of the opening that keeps the lid from being closed properly, inproper storage in an area that is too cold or too warm (or goes from too cold to too warm all the time) or simply old age.

Hope this has been helpful for all you mystified painters out there :-) Now go to your studio and make stuff! -Ida