Clove Oil to slow drying Time
There are driers aided to help speed the drying time of oil paint, but it is not widely known or discussed on how to slow the rate it dries. If you like to paint alla-prima or wet and wet and are frustrated with the paint drying before you are done, try adding a bit of clove oil to your mixture. Cloves contain an aromatic oil called eugenol, a substance that retards the oxidation period of oil paint. You can purchase clove oil in drug stores or health stores such as GNC, which is where I found my bottle. Typically there are three different types - bud oil, leaf oil, and stem oil. All three versions of clove oil are suitable for painting as long as it is 100% pure. The small 1 oz. bottle I have has lasted over two years.
There are two different ways to use clove oil when painting. If your goal is to keep paint on your palette fresh longer, saturate a cotton ball or small paper towel and place it on your palette. Then place a cover over the palette to contain the aroma. The aroma of the oil alone is enough to slow the oxidation of the paint.
There are two different ways to use clove oil when painting. If your goal is to keep paint on your palette fresh longer, saturate a cotton ball or small paper towel and place it on your palette. Then place a cover over the palette to contain the aroma. The aroma of the oil alone is enough to slow the oxidation of the paint.
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The second method is to add the clove oil directly to the paint. This allows the paint on both the palette and canvas to stay wet longer. Clove oil is very strong, so little is needed to do the job. One drop of clove oil to 1 inch of paint squeezed from the tube can dramatically slow the drying time. It will keep a fast drying color like burnt umber wet for almost a week. Keep this in mind when mixing it with slow drying colors such as titanium white and cadmiums; in fact you may want to avoid doing so.
I do not use clove oil very often, but when I do, it is very helpful. The amount you mix with paint will determine how long it takes to dry. This is not an exact science so you may want to try testing this oil yourself to understand how much you need. When I do use it, I use very little in my paint mixtures, just enough to keep the paint workable on my panel for 2 or 3 days. I add one drop to the palette and use a palette knife to distribute it to the paint. As the picture above demonstrates, just a knife tip of clove oil per half inch of paint is needed for me. Remember, a lot goes a long way.
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Clove oil Darkening test
To the right is a small test for yellowing that might be associated with using clove oil in oil paint. The paint used for this test is Winsor & Newton Titanium White which has a safflower binder. The left color swatches are straight from the tube paint. The right swatches contain about two drops of clove oil per 1 inch of paint squeezed from the tube; way more than ever would be needed, especially in a slow drying color. I made two samples of this test so I could keep one in regular indoor light and the other in complete darkness.
The test was performed on 11/29/12 and then observed and photographed on 1/28/15 - about 2 years and 2 months. As you can imagine the clove oil swatches took a few weeks to dry, but they did eventually form a hard film. So far, the clove oil has not darkened or yellowed either test sample. The swatches kept in the light are a bit brighter, but that is expected as oil paint tends to darken slightly when stored in the dark for prolonged periods of time. Any darkening can be reverse by exposing the paint to light again. This will be an on going experiment and I will observe this test again in a couple of years and update the results, if any. |