ratio pigment to oil, or is it: oil to pigment?ApproveRejectUn-ApproveSubscribeUn-Unsubscribe
Question asked 2023-05-09 09:20:05 ...
Most recent comment 2023-05-18 09:43:47
Paint Making
Oil Paint
Dear members,
When I am making paint with my students, I often use the Artist's Handbook by Ralph Mayer, fifth edition, for the ratios oil to pigment. Or is it pigment to oil?
When reading page 63 (right before the charts of pigments starts), I read: "The oil-absoprtion-rate figures give the ratio of pigment (by weight) to oil (by weigjht) needed to form a stiff paste."
But when we apply this, it often turnes out wrong, very wrong. Sometimes it seemes I misread, and it should be the ratio of oil to pigment.
Like with titanium white Mayer says: Ana 18-30 wt/ 100wt. So about 25 grams of pigment to 100 grams of oil. While in the Just Paint (by Golden) article about oil, weight and ratios, it says 20 grams of oil to 100 grams of pigment. So the other way around!
Who should I trust (other than my own results). Did Ralph Mayer make a mistake?
Thanks in advance
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Moderator Answer
(mkinsey)
I'd encourage you to trust the results of your own experiments! Sarah Sands authored the Just Paint article, and I think you can always trust that the information she set forth was fully researched and reliable, based on in-person, hands-on experience and current paint chemistry. That article is still pretty fresh, too. Ralph Mayer's book still has a lot to recommend it, but it's so long out of print, and far from authoritative on many topics.
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