Cooking Oil to clean Oil Paint Brushes

If you’re looking for an alternative to turpentine or expensive brush cleaner for cleaning brushes, I’ve had luck with cooking oil or canola oil for removing oil from brushes.

Also, after being cleaned with cooking oil, the bristles on my brushes are very smooth and soft. They’re not brittle or dry at all.

To clean brushes with cooking oil, here is what I do:

  1. Pour 1/3 inch cooking oil into a re-usable container (a takeout container, a coffee can both work well)

  2. Swish the brushes around in the oil (a coffee can works great for this if it is corrugated or if it has ripples, it has a washboard effect)

  3. Empty the container of cooking oil into the trash

  4. Wipe clean the excess remaining oil in the container with a paper towel.

I personally loved this when I discovered it because - no smell! And the oil is easy enough to get out of the container, so that the container can be used again.

This also works with olive oil, and though I haven’t tried it I bet it works with other oils used for cooking, like sesame oil.

Until next time -

December 2017 Studio Update

Fairy Slipper Orchids Painting - Leadville.JPG

Before moving to Maryland I made a couple final paintings in Houston, including this piece of a Fairy Slipper Orchid: 

Fairy Slipper Orchids.JPG

I will miss painting in Houston and I will miss the weird ideas that swooped down upon me while stuck in traffic. 

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These pieces will be available at http://www.harper-rose.com/ in Leadville, Colorado. 

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Right before moving I had the chance to visit Paris, France, and see some of the greatest paintings of art history. I was interested to capture the self-portraits of painters and paintings of painters.

"What do you mean, the painting has to be done by tomorrow?"

"What do you mean, the painting has to be done by tomorrow?"

 

There were moments in the Louvre that surprised me, such as my own awe at sculpture. 

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After the Louvre I tried a quick drawing of the sculpture with the photo as reference. The statue had too many admirers in the museum itself - I would have never been able to get close enough and have enough time to make a drawing there! 

While in Paris I was also able to pick up some water color pencils (more on those soon!) and very special paper.

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This paper turned out to be so special that when I searched for it online, the website seemed to be defunct. 

The art store in Paris that I visited was this one: http://www.magasinsennelier.net/ I was amazed by their selection of handmade papers, along with many other fine art materials such as pigment, pastel crayons, and easels.  

That is December on the studio side! Catch you guys soon.