‘Schmincke Medium W’ will turn any oil colour into water-mixable oil colour.
Since we have just added the Medium W gel to our range, in addition to the original more fluid Medium W, I though I would try them both out.
It turns out I loved the buttery texture of the Medium W Gel when mixed with my favourite oil paints.
Schmincke Medium W
I wanted to compare my favourite oil colours with and without the Medium W added. I painted an apple with 1. standard oil paints and low-odour solvent, and 2. with standard oil paints and Medium W (regular and gel) and 3. with with standard oil paints and Medium W (regular and gel) plus water.
It was amazing to break the paint down into a buttery consistency without any solvents! The room stayed smelling of nutty oil.
I loved the buttery texture of the gel.
Left has Medium W Gel, Right has no medium.
It increased the transparency of the paint which wasn’t helpful since I wasn’t glazing, but would be perfect if you were glazing. It has alkyd resin in it so it contains fat for painting fat over lean.
It is supposed to dry fast but it didn’t dry fast for me, not at all like a fast-drying alkyd medium.
The paler colour shift in the water-wet state didn’t bother me.
Schmincke ‘Medium W’ regular (fluid)
You need to mix two parts oil colour with 1 part Medium W to get the full water-mixable effect. The paint mixed with the Medium W gel was a lovely and buttery consistency but when mixed with the more fluid regular Medium W it was too runny for the way I was painting but would be perfect if doing small detail work.
Left has Medium W regular, Right has no medium.
The apple on the left I painted with standard oil paints and low-odour solvent.
The apple on the right I painted with standard oil paints and Medium W (regular and gel).
The apple on the lower right I painted with standard oil paints and Medium W (regular and gel) plus water.
All the paint is still wet in this photo.
Clean-up
The paint mixed with Medium W washed off my hands very easily!
Washing the brushes- I first used washing up liquid as it was to hand. Compared to standard oil colour the brushes I used with the Medium W were harder to wash!
But when I switched to the Masters Brush Cleaner they came clean.
Jackson’s Akoya Brushes washed very thoroughly with washing up liquid.
Jackson’s Akoya Brushes were much cleaner when washed again with Masters Brush Cleaner
Brushes I Used
I used the Jackson’s Akoya Brushes as they have been designed to mimic hog bristles while not getting soggy in water like hog does. So they are just what you would need for water-mixable oil painting. But I found in the end that the brushes weren’t in water much except for the washing up period.
You may wish to read this earlier post about Schmincke Medium W: Make Your Favourite Oil Colour into a Watermixable Oil Colour
Click on the underlined link to go to the Schmincke Medium W on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.
