Daniel Smith Water Soluble Oil Paint is genuine artists’ quality paint with easy water clean-up.
Please note: Daniel Smith Water-Soluble Oil Paints are no long available. Shop Water-mixable oil paint at jacksonsart.com
Real Oil Paints
Daniel Smith Water Soluble Oil Paints have the buttery, creamy brush-feel and rich appearance of classic oil colour but without the toxic fumes of solvents and tedious clean up.
Made with the same formula and high quality pigments used in the Daniel Smith Classic Oil Colours (which we will have at Jackson’s in the next couple of weeks). The only difference is the use of Water Soluble Modified Linseed Oil to make the paints. You can use the Water Soluble Modified Linseed Oil to thin these paints on your palette or up to 20% water to thin the paints but they will dry more matt. You can paint on the same surfaces you would with traditional oils and when fully cured, they are indistinguishable from traditional oils. Their colour strength is outstanding, even when mixed with Titanium White. Available in 43 colours in 37ml tubes plus a 150ml Titanium White and six painting mediums.
An Easier Way to Clean Up
Traditionally artists who wished to avoid the toxic fumes from minerals spirits and other solvents will clean their oil brushes with safflower oil instead of solvents. With water soluble oils to clean your brushes between colours and at the end of a painting session simply rinse the oil paint out of the brush with plain water.
Water Soluble Oils are Safer and Easier
Artists who have given up oil painting because of issues with solvents will be able to use oils again. Also great for use in spaces that do not have adequate ventilation for solvent fumes, or in shared workshop spaces. Since you can’t travel most of the times with solvent these are great for travelling, you only need to use water.
Painting Mediums for Water Soluble Oils
These are special Painting Mediums for Water Soluble Oils that you can use to mix with the paint instead of water and then only use the water to clean up. The benefit of using the mediums is that the mixture of paint on your palette remains the same for hours as you paint, whereas if you use water to thin the paint it will evaporate on your palette and the paint thickens up during your painting session. Daniel Smith make six Water Soluble painting mediums, five in bottle and one in a tube: Water Soluble Modified Linseed Oil, Transparent Blender, Safflower Oil , Painting Medium, Fast Drying Linseed Oil, Fast Drying Painting Medium.
Drying and Varnishing
Aqua oils dry in two stages: the water evaporates and then what is left is similar to conventional oils and dries by oxidation at a similar rate to conventional oils. Just like conventional oils you still need to remember the fat over lean rule, you still need to let the painting dry completely (often 6 months) before you varnish with regular picture varnish for protection, you cannot mix with acrylic but can paint over acrylic. You can mix aqua oils with regular oils but as you add more you will lose the ability to clean up without solvent.
Verifiable Lightfastness
Daniel Smith tests their paints by placing samples in a Xenon Fadeometer which exposes paint to the equivalent of 100 years of sunlight in ten days. Artists can rely on 42 of the Water Soluble Oil Colours to remain virtually unchanged for over a century.
Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers on the Daniel Smith Water Soluble Oils on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.
20 thoughts on “Daniel Smith Water-Soluble Oil Paint”
Can you mix Daniel Smith Water Soluble Oils with Alkyd
oils?
Hi David
Yes you can, but they would lose their ability to mix with water.
Many thanks
Lisa
is daniel smith linseed oil is soluble in water? will it increase the shine of polyurethane too when add with water base release agent??On what temperature it can operate without burning?
Hello.
Daniel Smith make both regular linseed oil and water-soluble linseed oil.
https://www.jacksonsart.com/brands/daniel-smith/daniel-smith-mediums-grounds/to-use-with/oil-watermixable-oil/mediums—type-group/oil
Both types are designed for use by fine art painters and so we can’t advise you on their use with plastics or in heated applications.
Perhaps an industrial or carpentry specialist supplier would be able to give you the advice you are looking for.
I’m curious how these Daniel Smith water-
soluble oil paints compare to Jackson’s
water mixable oil paints?
Hi Joshua
I am going to do a comparison of all seven of our water-mixable paints to update this post WATER MIXABLE OILS COMPARED – which was written when we only had three of them. It will be a few weeks, but check the blog for that coming up.
Hi Joshua
The Daniel Smith tested as having the highest pigment load of the 7 brands we do.
Read more about them in the new blog post Water-Mixable Oils: Vibrant Colours, Easy-Cleanup and They Needn’t be Sticky
Can you mix water-soluble linseed oil with
standard acrylic paint?
Hi Darrell
No, they are not compatible. The acrylic will interfere with the oil forming the molecular structure it needs to dry, and the oil will interfere with the acrylic doing the same.
But there are loads of great acrylic mediums that would do the same job and work very well.
If you tell me what you want the medium to do I could advise you on the best acrylic medium to accomplish that.
I need information about how to safely dispose of paper towel/rags used for wiping brush while painting. Household members are VERY concerned about spontaneous combustion as we heard of someone whose house burned down from this. Would appreciate a detailed, quick reply, thanks very much!
Hi Cathy,
Rags and paper towels at at risk if there is a high concentration of oil kept together. As the oil oxidises it heats up, so if there’s a pile of oil soaked rags there is a risk of them overheating and catching alight. The best thing to do is to either spread the rags out on a surface until the oil has dried, or, put them in an airtight container before disposing.
Many thanks
Lisa
Is it possible to mix Daniel Smith Water Soluble Oils with Gamblin
cold wax medium?
Hi Nicole
Yes, water-soluble oils can be used with cold wax medium – but only if you use them like traditional oils, without water.
Since water-soluble oils do not contain water in the paint they are entirely compatible with cold wax medium. They are oil and pigment just like traditional oil paints, only the oil has been modified to enable it to be thinned with water, if you want to. But they can only be used with cold wax medium if you don’t add water because the cold wax medium does not dissolve with water and still requires a solvent. So there is no advantage to using them over traditional oils, as you still have the solvent contained in the cold wax medium, you would still need solvent to do the removal techniques, and you can’t just use water for cleanup.
Do you know of any solvent-free
alternatives to clean up the cold wax
(with the water-soluble oils)?
When I use palette knives the wax just
wipes off, but I would like to try
brushes and I would imagine the cold
wax won’t rinse or wipe off.
Thanks! Anna
Hi Anna
I am not aware of any. Cold wax is designed to work with solvents.
What ingredients are in the Water soluble
paint medium by Daniel Smith? I can’t use
Linseed oil. I have Holbein Duo Aqua water
soluble oil paints and need a medium to help
soften and thin the paint, especially for the
first layer of paint. Thank you.
Hi Deidra
Daniel smith Water Soluble oils and mediums are made with modified linseed oil
You might find these articles helpful
Mediums Are the Key to Water-mixable Oil Paints
Water-Mixable Oils: Vibrant Colours, Easy-Cleanup and They Needn’t be Sticky
Hi Julie, I’m new to oils and have Daniel
Smith’s water mixable oils. They are
really lovely, but I’m stuck with how to
make background washes in this new
medium.
I guess my options are to dilute down
the paint with water, or use an acrylic
paint base. I’m trying to avoid using any
water in the bulk of my oil painting work
– only use it for clean up ideally. But am
thinking this wouldn’t be possible
without solvents.
Also, if I decide to use to use water to
make a thin base wash for background –
are Daniel Smith watermixable oils
stable in water and if so how much water
can I use?
Thank you
Hi Depal
Yes, they all work well with water for washes. Water is the solvent.
If you want the paint to look like watercolour or to be the underpainting using a very wet brush is usually enough to melt the paintinto a nice wash.
For the later layers of the painting you may want to avoid water and start using solvents with a little oil in them for fat-over-lean and a few drops of medium makes the paint flow better than a few drop of water for most brands.
If you haven’t already you may wish to read these earlier articles
https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/?s=water-mixable
Do you know of any solvent-free alternatives
to clean up the cold wax (with the water-
soluble oils)?
When I use palette knives the wax just wipes
off, but I would like to try brushes and I
would imagine the cold wax won’t rinse or
wipe off.
Thanks! Anna
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