How do I stop from getting a oil painting that is a big blob? The colors blend too much and I clean my brush!?

To prevent getting an oil painting as you describe, you need to control the amount of oil paint you're actually putting on the canvas. This would mean you may need to use more turpentine to thin the paint before applying, use smaller, drier brushes that pick up less paint, use less force in your application, or get a rag or newspaper to wipe some excess paint off before you apply. A good way to do it is also to have a blending brush which you squeeze off all the oil paint on it, then blend. Consistently applying thin layers of colour prevents a situation with too much oil paint that is consequently difficult to control. If the situation is very thick and messy already, you could use a palette knife and scrape the excess off the canvas.


At worst, take a lot of the excess paint off, let it dry, and start work later.





Answering on behalf of quette irepse cuz she has rched her answer limit. (:How do I stop from getting a oil painting that is a big blob? The colors blend too much and I clean my brush!?
You really have to be careful not to use too much thinner. It can degrade the surface of your paint. As far as having too much paint or thickness of paint, think of the abstract expressionists. They used tons of paint an no mudd! Use you pallet to mix your colors and you will be fine. Report Abuse
How do I stop from getting a oil painting that is a big blob? The colors blend too much and I clean my brush!?
I have learned from some of the area's best painters. . . . and watched them at work. It sounds like you are hurrying your work. . . . most artists spend a lot of time thinking while they are painting, choosing colors and where to place their brush strokes very carefully. If you are ending up with mud, perhaps you need to work with a very limited palette and begin by studying values and composition before you begin painting.
I rarely clean my brushes during a painting session. I just load up several brushes with differnt colors and if I start to run out of brushes I clean a couple and let them dry completely. Also I don't use a strait solvent to thin down my paints. I use a painting medium which is 3 parts solvent, 1 part sun thickened walnut oil and 1 part Canada balsam. I put it in a dropper bottle and add a couple of drops to my mixed paint which was mixed (and this is very important) on my pallet with a knife. You save your brushes this way and you can get whatever consistency you like before you dip your brush in your paint. You should try to never mix paints with your brush. A couple of notes:





1. If you like to thin down your paints with only solvents use Gamblin's Gamsol. It is expensive so don't use to clean brushes. I wrote a conservator and she said to use this solvent to thin paints because it was developed to yellow less.





2. I read somewhere that if you want to clean your brushes and then have them dry quickly to first clean in your mineral spirits/turps/paint thinner, (I use odorless mineral spirits), dry with a rag and then dip quickly into acetone. Acetone has an extremely low flash point and it evaporates very quickly, So quickly that it feels cold on your hand. If you decide to try this, keep the acetone in a tightly sealed bottle and only open for this quick dip(acetone of not good to breath) and keep it far, far away from any heat source. Try for all your painting to have good ventilation anyway, but especially if you do this.





I hope this helps