Learn Painting: The Danger of Using Gels and New Facebook Scam for Starving Artists.

[@openstudiod]

Hello Friends! I'm back in the studio and ready to rock-n-roll... working on a lot of ideas and will be posting soon. This episode was spontaneous just to share something that I just experienced. Let me know if you have any ideas or requests - will work on it. Currently, I'm in the process of finishing my business plan for 2025... which is very interesting - will share!

[@raymondsmith543]

Vlad-how long do you think it took for your painting to crack?

[@openstudiod]

@ this painting was done about year and half ago… and I. Pretty sure I look at this painting about six months ago… I was thinking to submit it to the show.. and the cracks were not there. So, I would say it started about 5 month ago.

[@raymondsmith543]

@@openstudiod sorry that happened to you my friend! Good thing you had not sold it! I just finished a bunch of clouds and I used gel and Titanium White…I hope I did not use too much gel. Thanks for sharing and referencing your previous demo

[@tabuena.fineart]

MMMM Interesting

[@whdempsey4842]

Hello, I noticed your title and was curious about what you had to say regarding the danger of gels. I have been using gels in my paintings for years. Initially, I experimented with homemade mixtures of Cabosil fumed silica in either alkyd or linseed oil as a medium. For convenience, I’ve used Galkyd Gel, and more recently I’ve experimented with Gamblin’s solvent-free gel, using it sparingly, with colors negatively affected by yellowing. I have only experienced cracks like the ones you showed on a single occasion. It happened when I layered a faster-drying color over a thick layer of slow-drying paint that had not fully cured. I lacked patience and worked too fast. Contrary to my assumption, the gel in the impasto’s base layer didn’t set quickly enough. This broke the fat-over-lean rule. Aside from that single incident, I’ve only encountered issues with gels when I’ve overused fumed silica in my custom blends. Doing so can cause gels to crack if the mix contains too much solvent and insufficient binder. I find, if used properly, the gels work well for adding additional transparency. I have to agree with another commenter, the cracks in your painting actually look pretty cool. I would either accentuate them with a wash, or mix up a white filler paint and apply it with nitril gloves, wiping off the excess to make them less visible. Just a thought. The gels added transparency is also a potential problem since it accentuates binder yellowing with age. If you build that into your expectation of how the painting will look over time, it isn’t usually a problem.

[@ARTDETAILS]

I had the same issue with another type of dryer. top coat dried faster than the one below, hence cracking.

[@coraannetoledo-merritt1220]

Get on with it !!

[@arcuda2001]

this may be a silly question , but couldn't the issue have been the white paint ( rather than the gel?) .. since it only happened with the white areas?? thanks so much for sharing your experience with the scam .. sorry it happened ..

[@michaeldallas]

I like the effect.

[@paintingtracey]

If your white has Zinc in it, it might be the Zinc. That is proving a problem with cracking and loss.

[@mattmedium2388]

Stay away from gamblin Whites. They yellow in a very short time. I stay away from anything Gamblin. Check the labels. For instance I buy Old holland Raw umber Pbr7. Rembrandts Raw umber is a mix of colors to make it look like Raw umber.

[@maletu]

"Kindly" is not Indian English, it is a bit old-fashioned but is perfectly normal US or UK English. In the US at least, it is used now mostly in formal situations involving a request made to a stranger.

[@openstudiod]

@@maletu but it is overused by scammers from India and Pakistan

[@onpointsporthorses141]

Ive only had scam people use "kindly" also. Its a thing, its real.

[@meloearth]

Zelle is a common scammer's favorite. You tell them what you use. You don't let them tell you. This scam is not new.

[@gingertunstall7739]

Gamblin clearly informs you not to add more than 25% of gel to your oil paint. Why blame the product for user error?

[@openstudiod]

@@gingertunstall7739 if you can paint with the scale right next to you and every time you want to use the gel just scale it to make sure it is not more than 25%. I would recommend not to use it at all. Nothing is wrong to paint using just oil paint… it is actually dry fast

[@dorisr6424]

Vlad did say it was his own fault, that he used more than the recommended amount.

[@cindycreateforlife]

He said multiple times that it was his error, using too much! He is taking responsibility and has chosen not to recommend it, that is his right!