Questions for you oil painters

B

Bob Reitmeyer

Active member
I've decided this is the year I'm going to try finishing a few decoys with oil paints instead of the usual acrylics. I'm probably going to go with black ducks to keeps the colors low and I'm going to hunt over the decoys anyway. Is there any difference in sealing the decoy before painting? Also any thoughts on the use of Alkyds or water soluble oils for decoys would be useful. I'm going to need to stay away from the typical odors and long drying time. Thanks in advance.

Bob
 
Bob~

A basic question: By oils, do you mean artists' oils in tubes? or pre-mixed oils/alkyds in cans/bottles?

All the best,

SJS

 
Steve Sanford said:
Bob~

A basic question: By oils, do you mean artists' oils in tubes? or pre-mixed oils/alkyds in cans/bottles?

All the best,

SJS
Click to expand...

Thanks Steve. I’d probably like to go with tubes, unless decoys are better done with premixed. I’m using tube acrylics now that I thin with water.
Bob
 
You can mix the tube oils with some Ronan’s to help dry faster. The Ronan’s has a drier in them but will also make the finish a little flatter.
 
Bob~

Although I used oils for painting gunners in my youth - mostly Herter's and Parker's pre-mixed, I am new to tube oils on decoys. (Significantly more experience using oils on flat work.) I have been learning for several years - but always on my "mantel-piece" birds - and not my gunners. I will occasionally use flat oils (alkyds like Rustoleum) as topcoats. I especially like the FME (Flat Marine Enamel) Black Duck body color that Lou Tisch sells. You might want to base coat your birds with that - and use the tubes for the face and bill and other lighter areas.

I like to seal with spar varnish and then a flat oil. This works for either latex or oil topcoats. However, some who use strictly oils prefer the traditional approach of linseed oil as the sealer. I will defer to those with more experience than I.

A big part of mastering oils is mixing the media - oils, thinners and driers - to work as you want them to. There is a bewildering array of products in any art store. Of course, durability under gunning conditions is seldom a concern of the purveyors. Pre-mixed colors usually have driers added and can be relied upon to cure overnight. Pigments in tubes, on the other hand, dry at varying rates (whites seem to takes forever....) and so you'll need to vary your media with each pigment. Similarly, different pigments dry with different lustres.

So, this is probably not terribly helpful. I will let others with more experience weigh in. I do know that I like the time that oils give me to blend - but am also frustrated by the longer drying times.

One last word - a bit of wisdom that I learned from others on this site: If you use tube oils, spend the extra money for the best stuff - same for thinners, driers, etc.

All the best,

SJS


 
So fast forward a few months, I have three decoys i'm working on using water soluble oils. One is a teal that I'm painting as miniature black duck for practice and the other two are black ducks. I'm kind of experimenting my way thru. The teal was previously primered gray with acrylic gesso. My first coat of tube oils on that was thinned only with a fast dry medium. Went on as a fairly thick coat, but a week later is still tacky. Can I paint another coat or does it have to fully dry before more paint?

The full sized black ducks were primered with oils and thinner. Not a very thick covering, but after a couple more I should be ready to move on. Not knowing drying times should I be able to hunt these this season? Say October? I'm drying in a good sized metal garage, but no AC.

Thanks,
Bob
 
I have no experience with water soluble oil paints. I do paint over tacky oils all the time with a coat that has more turpentine than the previous coat. Each layer should be a little more thin. This allows the upper levels draw into the oil heavy lower levels. Most of my base coats are a mix of alkyd and tube oil with a touch of cobalt dryer and a drop or two of high grade turps. This will allow them to be dry the next day. Sometimes pure white may take a couple days to be dry using that technique. Will your birds be dry by October? I sure hope so. If they are not, wipe it all off and put new paint with better drying agents on them.
 
Bocour/Aquatec used to make a product called MAGNA, which was soluble with both oils and arcylics. You might look into that brand.
As far as sealing, corks, especially require sealing, due to to the myriad voids in the matrix, which WILL eventually fill with water. Even wood needs sealing.
You can go with a urethane based sealer, or spar, or GAC 700. All will work.
 
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