A
- Damar Varnish – 1 part (15%)
- Stand Oil – 1 part (15%) (sun-thickened oil will do even better)
- Pure Gum Turpentine – 5 parts (70%)
- Damar Varnish – 1 part (33%)
- Stand Oil – 1 part (33%) (sun-thickened oil will do even better)
- Pure Gum Turpentine – 5 parts (33%)
- Cobalt Drier – 12 drops (optional, not recommended)
B
Gum Damar:
is very simple and much more economical to make yourself than to buy. Damar resin is tapped from the damar fir tree mainly in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. It comes in lump form and dissolves in gum turpentine. You simply wrap the resin lumps in a white cotton cloth (tied with string) and soak in turpentine for about 24 hours. The resin dissolves leaving the dirt and foreign bodies within the cloth. The medium then must be stored in containers that do not allow the passage of light as this will result in yellowing and cloudiness because of the water that is naturally present.
Pure Gum (Portugese) Turpentine (Pinus Maritima):
This is the purest form of turpentine. It is extracted from Portuguese marine pine trees and is the least prone of all turpentines to oxidise. It is also the closest equivalent to the old turpentine traditionally used.
Ordinary Turpentine:
Hardware shop grade for decorating use is not really good enough for artistic works.
Cold Pressed Linseed Oil
A yellow/brown oil which is extracted without the use of heat. In its unrefined form it will exaggerate yellowing in paintings. It is used to reduce the consistency of oil colours, increase gloss, flow and transparency, whilst reducing brush marks. The further refinement of this oil creates refined linseed oil – which is what we use in the making of Michael Harding artist oil paint.