How to Oil Paint Without Solvents: An Interview with Kimberly Brooks

Kimberly Brooks is a contemporary American artist known for her portraits and landscapes in series addressing history, memory, and identity. Her work has been showcased in numerous juried exhibitions among museum curators including the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Her recent solo show, “Painting Architecture”, at the Museum of Art and History Lancaster featured large interiors and landscapes collapsing in on one another.
Throughout her thirty-year career, Brooks has focused on the medium of oil with occasional integrations of gold and silver leaf. in 2008, Brooks started to feel increasingly suspicious about the fumes she inhaled as a part of her practice. Coinciding with modern science and historical manuscripts, Brooks created an ultimate guide for oil painters illuminating why solvents aren’t necessary when you oil paint. Learn more about Kimberly and how to contact her in the show notes for this episode at passionatepainterpodcast.com/episode70
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#fineartpodcast

[@mjjames2442]

Demonstration? Is that too much to ask.

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

Please check out the demo at Passionate Painter Podcast episode 96 here on KZbin or at passionateoainterpodcast.com/episode96

[@thehappypotter9612]

Thank you so much for all this information! I have been thinking of switching from acrylics back to oils (which I stopped using for health reasons). I learnt about formaldehyde in acrylics only yesterday and now you have confimed it here; shocking! Have been concerned about the plastics pollution as well. And that tip about carbon carbonate and oil - what a gem!

[@amyhaas9102]

I bought Kimberly’s book. Love it! I’ve done quite a bit of research on toxic free painting as I have severe MCS, but never found information about using marble dust/calcium carbonate. Game changer information! Thank you! My only question is which type should I buy for the lean under painting? The book doesn’t go into detail concerning the different types of chalks and I’m learning that chalk and marble dust can contain different ingredients. Just looking for clarification. Thank you again!

[@Blick_Art]

Lots of thought-provoking issues raised in this discussion! We think it's a great time to be an artist, when there are so many options for materials and studio configuration, and more transparency than ever before about art supplies. Today, it really is possible for a professional artist to exclusively use products that carry the AP seal of the ACMI (safe for all ages) without sacrificing permanence. We love the point about the role of craft, and the value of maintaining skill. Robert Hughes (we're paraphrasing here) said that "art" is what one makes only once, never to be repeated, but "craft" is the aspect of art that one must be able to duplicate reliably, time and again, to an exacting standard of quality. We think artists deserve to be proud of their hard won skills and their achievements in studio craft!

[@BijouPrunelle]

Wow what a nice interview!! I didn't miss a word. I started painting with oil after acrylic because of all those solvents and I'm not using any solvents now that I found the courage to start with oil. So thank you to confirm everything I thought about oil paint and I am definitely going to guy this book.

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

Hi Bijou, thanks for your thoughts on this topic! I’m so happy it helped you decide to try oils.

[@lisengel2498]

I wish you had put links to the home page of Kimberly because it’s truly an important subject for everybody interested in toxic free painting process. I liked very much the radical advice avoid all toxins - use chalk and stand oil as a kind of medium and use water color paper as a dry cleaning 🙏🙂

[@patricia4169]

This was fascinating and so useful. Thank you. I’m off to order the book!

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

Hi Patricia, checking in to see how it’s going and if you read more on this topic or tried it 😃 Thanks for your comments.

[@suzannebonham583]

Hi I have been using a ton of solvents for many many years in furniture finishing, and I have a very strong constitution and no body problems yet, but I feel really stuck because I know how to use them and they make a very durable finish, yet now I have a new interest in oil painting and I am committed not to get started with ANY toxics in my new endeavor. I don't want to get used to using them, I just want to start off without them. As I say I am like a former junkie, rather a stickler about this. Thank you for sooo much information and deep thought - I bought your book and I like your voice - it would be nice to hear you read your own audio book. I so appreciate the fact that you have gone deep with your investigations, have many unique perspectives and methods, and are not simply parroting off what everybody else is saying.

[@BJones-yw4dd]

Hmmmm... Maybe I came to oil painting late enough (within the last 15 years) or maybe it's because my earliest instructors were knife painters who paint straight from the tube, wipe off the knife and go on... or maybe I'm staunch enough of an environmentalist to want to avoid chemicals. but I frankly haven't run into any oil instructor who does NOT point out that the use of solvents is optional, or that there are cadmium-free pigments available, or who doesn't point to this or that artist who, e.g. soaks his brushes in oil and wipes them on newspaper or washes her brushes only in e.g. dish soap, or to point out that *just because it's odorless does NOT (duh) mean its fumes are harmless!* There are all manner of eco-friendly solutions that many artists prefer. So I'm rather surprised that the host didn't know (?) this information is already out there... But: loud kudos to those who are informing people and embracing a non-toxic practice. I'm tired of defending oil painting to folks who are inexplicably proud to be pouring the dregs of their acrylic (!) paint down their drains and into our waterways.... And I will indeed buy this book!

[@fontainerouge]

A tiny bit of turpentine in a mouth rinse cup (used for oil pastels on a cotton swab) overnight in my bedroom gave me nausea. Basically, goes straight to my liver.

[@pepa1420]

Waiting for your new book. Live in Australia, can't get the marble dust as you recommend in your book. Different ideas and products are available now and it would be great if you could present ALL of them together only in ONE BOOK. THANKS for your guidance.

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

This is an insightful point, Pepa. Please keep us posted on what you end up working with and how you like it. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

By the way, @havefundrawing made a great suggestion in checking out Gamblin solvent free gel - maybe you can get some of that? I have not used it yet, but that sounds interesting so I’ll probably try it 😁

[@wuznotbornyesterda]

I have a very sensitive air passageway. I can't paint in a closed room with acrylics! I found that anything made with petroleum products is a burning annoyance that lasts for a few days after even if I'm not exposed long. I have to stay away from all molds and all petroleum or my mucous membranes swell and if I'm in it too long, it's really irritating and it's like having a cold. Just going in the city and having to breathe car exhaust sets it off. Actually, air fresheners and cleaning products are just as bad. I can't even be in my own car unless the windows are down. Not so convenient in winter without heat and having the widows down some. Not all cars have done that to me, but my present one and our truck are that way. We're building a house and I can't imagine how long it will have to offgas before I can move in. I can use w/c indoors and I hope I can paint in my new studio with water miscible oils. I just watched Thomas Kitts showing how to paint with oils and no solvents.

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

Thanks so much for your comments on this. I, too have dozens of allergies and must be extremely carful with solvents and chemicals. For me, I can't use the solvents, but everyone is different in their sensitivities. Please do continue to share what is working for you!

[@captainnolan5062]

The "New" Oil Painting is really the OLD OIL PAINTING. Solvents were not used by oil painters before the 1900s (solvents were not invented until the 1920s). All the masters used oil rather than solvents.

[@GoreTheSummoner]

haaaa this is why pleneir painting is the best :D jokes aside, would be great to use something normal instead of turp to clean the brushes

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

Yes, built-in ventilation! Thanks for your comment. Let me know what you think if you try any of the alternative methods.

[@kennethwisseman]

I was just wondering about the fat over lean rule, do you add less marble dust or chalk as you layer your painting? I am a acrylic artist, using atelier interactive acrylics, and am considering trying oils, was thinking about using water mixable oils or going with this particular method and using real oils. I keep hearing artists complain about mixable oils being tacky and harder to blend. Any suggestions?

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

Hi Kenneth, I apologize for taking a bit to respond. I have not worked with water mixable oils for the reason you note. For me it's a texture thing, and I guess I doubt its ability to achieve the same effects as oils. I do add more oil than dust in the early phases of the paintings, thinning out the pigment concentration. Sometimes I work straight from the tube as well, but scrubbing it into the canvas to keep it thin. Please let me know if you try the water mixables; I'd love to hear your opinion.

[@kennethwisseman]

@@CarolineCarlsonItalia I am leaning on trying acrylics for my underpainting then using straight oils without medium and if I need medium just use walnut oil. I do have Windsor brush cleaner or may try using linseed oil to clean my brushes, I believe if you soak them overnight it should get the oil out. The Atelier Interactive Acrylics are a dream as far as acrylics, they are very forgiving. I live in California so it gets pretty hot and my paints dry fast, which is why I am considering oils.

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

@@kennethwisseman you probably already know about the importance of using artist grade walnut oil (I learned that the hard way). Let me know how it goes!

[@wuznotbornyesterda]

I've heard that every brand of water miscbles are different and to try all of them to see which one you like best.

[@kennethwisseman]

Yes, well i have heard that Cobra is a good brand, especially when using Winsor Newton water mixable linseed oil. If you don't use water I heard it works better. I am just using acrylics on a very limited budget right now, and just looking for something to give me a little bit a time to blend. Landscapes can be done very well in acrylics, but for portraits I always had a difficult time with for many different reasons.

[@vermis8344]

Calcium carbonate? What a revelation! I'm off to check the availability, after I buy that book.

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

Thank you for your interest in the interview! There are certainly many ways to approach oil painting and mediums, but I am content with this one. Please let me know how it's going!

[@natlegere]

I’m seriously questioning the studio safety in inhaling chalk dust. I’m thinking we should be using a respirator to mix in chalk and pigments for that matter.

[@CarolineCarlsonItalia]

Yes, it’s important to make sure you don’t make clouds of dust. I use about a teaspoon at a time and don’t stir it up. I wear a particle mask when adding it to my palette most of the time, even though I’m very careful not to stir it up.

[@thehappypotter9612]

The body surely gets habituated to the chemicals it is routinely exposed to. So changing to healthy painting habits could in effect require going cold turkey...

[@wolfsonn4061]

Most artist don't die because of paints or solvents, they die because of old age.