The title of an over-sized Jackson Pollock study in color and texture? Noooooo! Just a description of the piece of palette paper on which I've been thinning and mixing my alkyd oil paints for a couple of evenings as I apply the colors to my Prussian and British officers and horses. The addition of London Yellow this morning -- to approximate the yellow of an officer of Prussia's 2nd Kuirassiere -- just seemed to pull everything together. It's funny the things that cross your mind as you paint. And as I thinned the blob of yellow with several drops of Original Liquin earlier today, it occurred to me that the mix of puddles of various colors had a pleasing effect. At least to my eyes. Hence the reason behind, and the title of, this post.
Now, lots of wargamers and figure painters state that they have always avoided using oils because of, among other things, the perception that it takes a long time for the paints to dry, preferring the convenience of acrylic hobby paints of one brand or another. Fair enough. Especially if you are using old-fashioned oils thinned with something like Linseed Oil, which can take weeks to dry out.
But, alkyd oil colors, like those produced by Winsor-Newton, dry to the touch overnight, and the Liquin thinner itself also speeds up drying times appreciably. Using the two together mean that it's safe to begin the next painting step on a batch of figures within 24 hours and sometimes even sooner. So, if you're after something slightly different with your miniatures painting, I urge you to give oils a try. They can produce some really nice effects applied over a white undercoat.
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