Why Cleaning Your Brushes is a Waste of Time - Oil Painting Advice
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
- In this video I explain why oil painting artist should never waste time cleaning brushes.
For online classes with Mark Carder visit www.carderartacademy.com/
For private classes in my Austin TX studio visit www.drawmixpaint.com/
For more about my art supply company and the paint that I use visit:
genevafineart.com
To view my Full Course for how to paint in oil, go to www.drawmixpaint.com
I have been using your brush dip for years and love it! I recommend it on my channel all the time. The best!
Love to see you here coach ❤️
Nice to see you here paint coach! Lol you’re my CZcams coach and it’s exciting to see you here!
I originally saw the dip on your channel reference. Works & smells great.
Because you recommended it, it’s what I do now, too. What a game changer. Thanks Paint Coach.
Hey paint coach. You da man!
I’ve never tried this method, but am intrigued. I wipe my brushes with paper towel and clean in solvent. If I’ve missed a brush that then has gotten hard or ruined bc it dried with oil paint or whatever, I just dip it in a cup of a Murphy s Oil soap without any water for a day or two, then rinse and they’re as good as new. I’ve saved many of my brushes this way over the years.
I saw over 300 painting videos. I learned the most from you! Thank you my teacher!
Thank you Mark for all the important information I always take your advice to heart. Love your oil paints!
Good to see you again. I recently bought your paints and love them!
So glad to see you back.
I have the brush dip and love it ! Not only saves time in the studio but I have noticed the life of my brushes last longer .
Great to see you back. Have your brush dip, it's great.
If I watched this 10 or 20 years ago I would have disagreed with this but the last few years Ive learned so much about desaturating colours that this makes perfect sense. thanks for the tip
Good to see you posting again. Hope you are well.
I completely agree! Your brush dip changed my painting life! 10 out of 10 highly recommend 👌
Hi, I am so happy to be receiving your video once again. Thank you andI hope you will kindly continue to do so. It was quite some time since I received the last one and I missed them a lot. This came as a wonderful surprise.
Wish you and your family the best. Tülün Harmankaya
Thank you. This is the first vid I have seen in a long time, that obviously - obviously - has pure experience and "practical" theory behind it.
A pleasure to watch - and even more pleasure to practice!
Thanks for this valuable piece of info, its going to save a lot of unwanted stress.
the best teacher ever.... all the best Mark
Glad to see your vids back again, hope everything else is good
Nice to see you back Mark
I just dip them in linseed oil, dry them with paper towel and leave them for the next day. It has been working for me, better than cleaning with turpentine. turp made me lose many brushes. Might try this brush dip recipe.
Great advice especially for those of us with allergies . . . I don´t like using solvents either. Oil is such a w o n d e r f u l invention of nature. There are also oils which n e v e r dry (like peanut oil) this all should prevent every beloved brush from hardening. . . .
Great advice. Thank you for sharing your experience- I am going to adopt your advice in my arts practice. 🙏
Please make a demonstration video. It's been so long since you uploaded one. It's a delight watching you paint. 🙏
Fantastic advice from you. Thank you very much. I used to clean brushes while doing painting and always whished to be a better way to do that. And your tip is brilliant. It is clicked
I have never heard of doing this before. Very interesting indeed. Love this channel so much. Thank you!
That brush dip smells sooooooo good from the clove oil! I love using it between painting sessions.
isn't it not good for you?
@@T2a585 I don't think the smell of the oils is harmful. It's certain pigments and thinners that are toxic. I wouldn't recommend huffing anything though. haha
When ships were made of wood, I was thinking of being a sign-writer. I was taught to get Vaseline and work it into the ferrul of a new brush before it's ever been used. Then no paint can get down there. Sign-writing brush hairs are very long and need to flex for long clean lines. Sign-writers don't use dirty brushes. Different art form.
Brilliant thankyou! 😊 I am very new to painting in oils but these tips are very helpful
You’re a legend Mark. Thanks for all the great lessons.
Nice to see you again!!
I’ve finally gotten the studio built- now I’m searching for the video (I think I remember you having on lighting) - I’ve got to have installed electric and lighting, then walls.
Building is 10 x 20 and 8ft ceiling.
Be careful what lights you buy. The CRI of LEDs is abysmal. If you can afford a fluorescent setup, that's the way to go. Otherwise you won't get any of your warm colors right (some led are 95 cri but even that is not as good as fluorescent)
Even more interesting than the info in the video itself are the comments on this one. This is one of those topics that have less to do with art, personal expression and techniques, but very much with personal habits and traits in general. There are so many ways to clean your brushes (and make no mistake: even what Mark describes here is a way of cleaning them, despite the title to the contrary). Just use what works for you, what fits your way of doing things. If cleaning up after work is part of your routine in general whatever you do, cleaning brushes will not feel like a waste of time. If you feel like it, experiment with other methods. I myself use different methods for different brush types, sizes and shapes and depending on if I expect to use the same brush the next day or probably not.
Thanks so much ,..will keep my brushes clean this easy way ,love it !!
A lot of advice on the internet, and in books, directly conflicts. Virgil Elliott and George O'Hanlon tell us to avoid clove oil, and have, at the least, doubts about safflower oil - yet you're recommending dipping brushes into a mix of the two.... I tend to agree with them rather than with you, and also with Rella Ingram: if you're not painting all the time - I still think you need to clean your brushes, because if you don't they'll harden and turn into a useless tool; whereas if you soak them in the mix you suggest, even drying them out by pulling through a paper towel afterwards, you're introducing mediums to the paint which will at the least cause it to take an age to dry. Now - you're a paint-maker and an artist with long experience, so I have to grant you know what you're talking about - but while I'm not a paint-maker, I've been an artist for some 50 years, and I would not use these methods. So we're going to disagree, which is fine - but I should be interested in your observations.
🤮
I think you can clean them in OMS right before you start painting
Safflower oil is ok. Most manufacturers are using it regularly for some colours, along with linseed. I'm not sure about clove oil, though..
I agree that from time to time cleaning with soap and water is necessary, but not everyday, especially if we're painting on a frequent basis.
Personally, I'm using different methods, depending on the brushes and the mediums ( how big, synthetic or natural, mediums like liquin etc .)
Common linseed oil is ok for cleaning ,along with paper towels. At the end of a session some further cleaning with a bit of solvent , then a tiny amount of oil and that's it!
Every 4 or 5 days I'm cleaning with soap and water, though. I don't want my brushes to get sticky..
Great insights, much appreciated!
Great help for new artist sir mark,THANK YOU! GOD BLESS.ALHAMDULILLA
Good to see ya mark!
Wow! So interesting and TY for sharing this knowledge.
To keep my paintbrushes supple for a long time, I use plastic bags or aluminum foil. I also use a cotton swab to blend the color without getting in with the brush.
Thank you for your advice, I will try to learn about that 😊
Excellent suggestion & practice.
Fascinating and a very green tip.
You and Stefan Baumann are my favorite Chanels on CZcams!
Excellent information!!
i never knew this. great to see a new video
Love your videos - thank you for this one, it was especially helpful
Thanks to you, Mark, I'll now have more time for painting.
Thanks again,love your paint!
That's interesting. One thing I do when changing colours and want some purity is pull the brush through a paper towel and then dip it into a little bit of the new colour, work it in a bit and then pull it through the towel again.
Which is pretty much what he said in the video…
TY Mark. Great advice. “Brush dip”, excellent.
I still have my signwriting quills for 35 years...Use them for oil gold sizing too...Always cleaned in white spirit , spun by hand and then petroleum jelly (Vaseline) to keep the shape......Worked for 35 years...Signwriting quills are pretty expensive and there are ways to make them last a life time...
Hi Mark, i know you since years and even once won the monthly painting you choose one of my paintings to be the best this month and since i know you and i bought the dvd years ago, its the only way i want to paint and its the only paintings i want to see, like rembrant or singer seargent, and your students paint awesome paintings and i even bought just simple saffloweroil from the supermarket and keep my brushes wet, and for sure you tell the people always the best and effective way to do something in oilpainting, and when i see this video i even dream of a room, my paintings on the wall and brushes everywhere and the desks, my kitchen nearly looks like this and i love it, and i want to say that brushes are really cheap in some stores and buying brushes is a lot of fun too and im pretty sure, if you are an artist you cannot have enuf brushes, so i write this kinda bring people to smile maybe when they see how much i love painting since i met you and maybe even give a shit if my brush dries, coz even me who has really no money, i spent the little money i have for new brushes XD gl to all and youre channel and youre family and all people who manage to run away from any war others start
Thank you for all your comments, you are my favorite contemporary artist. But I have a question for you...When you are mixing the paint it gets all the way to the ferrule part of the brush sometimes, how do you clean that part without using turpenoid?
you sure can. clean up good and then deep in the oil when not using
This is interesting, I am trying to find techniques that may be applicable to miniature painting using oils. I am going to give this a shot. Rather than using the odorless mineral spirts or brush restorer to clean use safflower and clove oil instead.
Thank you for the helpful advice. I haven't made the step into oil painting yet, I'm still using acrylics. Good to know for the future.
Thank you so much!
Very helpful!
As always the very best of advice and lots of inspiration 🎶🌷🎵🙏
Great video. What would you suggest for liquin?
so - not to clean the brushes until they look new, after each use?
I honestly did it until now and IT DID get the fun out of using oils for me, I enjoy it, but the upkeep was very annoying. I used to paint daily.
with this knowledge, I will change things with my workflow for sure.
thank you for sharing and wish you (all) a great week :)
Thank you very much I really enjoy watching you
Can I use sunflower oil for dip my brushes?
Thanks, I needed that!
Amazing videos on oil painting.
Wow! Tnx for this Golden tip master👍🙏😊🎨
I generally agree with you on most things, but if you're a person who can't paint regularly or switch mediums often, you need to clean your brushes. If you're using a longer drying paint and painting daily, then I might agree. However, that doesn't fit all situations. But as usual, I still enjoy your videos!
I've been using this process for about 3 years. I've gone almost a year without painting and I just needed to re-dip from time to time. Not only is it a massive time saving, but it also encourages me to be less lazy about using the right brush for the job. I'm more prone to use any brush I want since I don't need to bother cleaning it. (I'm busy, so every little brush is a few minutes I'd rather not spend cleaning.) I keep about 25 brushes oiled and ready to go. Sometimes I paint daily, sometimes not for several months. Just dip from time to time and that's it. I use Mark Carder's slow-dry medium recipes and various other mediums, no problems with any of them.
Alternative: I have a cup of walnut oil I keep all my brushes in. I haven’t painted in weeks, and just picked up a brush still “wet” and ready to go with the paint it had on it. A couple passes in a paper towel and it’s good as new
Have ruined brushes when not cleaned. This can be dangerous advice. They can solidify and become a nightmare.
@@charlesnader8492 Yep Charles. Peanut oil could also make this job . . .
I simply made my own pallet box, a wooden box with a cover, that I can place a cottonball with a couple drops of clove oil on, put my brushes on the inside with the paint, and everything stays moist. For several days until I use it again, then put a few more drops on the cottonball.
Amazing tips!!
ive been. using baby oil and baby wipes and it works wonders
hope it helps
As always you’re the best! I just had to purchase new brushes because I couldn’t spend all that time cleaning them w mineral spirits. Excited to try this!
Good day Mark. I would like to know whether you ship to South Africa yet?
Very informative video on a technique I've never heard of before. Thank you.
An artist once recommended cleaning brushes in 'Baby Oil' ( which is a petroleum derivative). I found that it cleans brushes really well but I've always wondered if traces of the Baby Oil might interact badly with the oil paints. The brush dip sounds like a good alternative when I know that I won't be able to paint for a week or two.
(NB: Baby Oil, in Australia, is a very light oil that can be used on the body... makeup removal, 'moisturising', massaging etc. I don't know if it has the same name in other countries; it may sound a little weird without context.)
his brush dip is safflower oil and 2% clove oil by volume, just make your own.
@@omnesilere Thanks. I'm going to try it out.
Baby oil is mineral oil.
Little did they know, outside of Australia they use actual babies 🤷♂️
I worked with an old-time sign painter and he would use Motor Oil at then end of the day. I adapted this to baby oil, but any non-drying oil should work fine. I do tend to clean with solvent first, and use the baby oil to prevent any oil paint from ever drying in the brush.
Welcome back!:)
One of my first jobs between high school and college was at a sign painting company. We used to lay our brushes in a tray of brake fluid to keep them wet over night. lol. Before use we would wash brake fluid out with turps or paint thinner before resuming painting. 1970's.
Thank you, Mark.
Does the safflower oil also prevent any residue paint and pigment from drying up in your brushes?
Great use of hand gestures here
How about dip into sunflower oil? As sunflower oil was used to mix with pigments before linseed oil.
Sometimes I think I cleaned my brush enough and go for a hard stroke only to get a few streaks of nasty color that were deep in my brush. I feel like the paper towel trick is for a light hand. I may be a novice but this doesn’t always work for me because I press hard when I go for a block in or whatever I’m doing really
I was thinking "but what about the artists that really scrub the paint into the canvas?" during the entire video. That's how I do my first layer and it really brings out all the paint that's hiding between the bristles. The tiniest bit of residual paint can ruin your color and value...
@@RamoArt Yeah I like to tone my canvas too and I usually want the colour to be pure. any residue of old paint would taint it. Also depends how you paint. I find the less you mix in medium, the easier it is to avoid colours getting dirt. I'm thinking if you usually tone the canvas with same colours you could again keep a large brush just for that. Or always wash that one, keep others dirty.
My counter point would be... good luck on trying to get rid of phtalo blue with a paper towel well enough to not green your yellow. It is jsut faster to "wash it " in some solvent.
I agree. I'm sure the no wash method works for some but my brushes are 20 years old and still work great with the solvent wash method.
@@paintingsbypenelope Yeah, it depends on the case. How small or big our brushes are, the strength of each pigment, the mediums ( If they're fast drying like liquin ).
In general, there is not a single perfect recipe for everything.
It's easy: just use another brush for yellow and lighter colors, then you don't need to wash the blue out that extremely well
Where ya been? Thank for the tip!
Good to see you
Is the Geneva store in Austin open again?
Love it, thank you. I’m a bit of a novice; what are your thoughts on wrapping the brush head loosely in cling film to prevent drying? This may be artistic blasphemy, but decorators use this method to prevent brushes drying out.
I was thinking that just laying them out and putting plastic wrap over top would be enough. Or a piece of wax paper on the bottom and a piece on the top.
Put them in freezer
Dawn dish washing liquid until the water is clear and squeeze it flat . For small brushes, use Ivory or Kirks bar soap.
I've been doing exactly that for over 30 years and my brushes are still in a very good condition. l
Just clean your brushes with a good soap like Aleppo soap. It's easy cheap and fast.
This should work for camping on a long plein air trip, too.
Mark Sargent excellent painter!
I'm wondering where your studio is located...I noticed the window panes and they look like original or early period panes. They must give incredible lighting for your paintings.
It's a photo used as a background.
The grid in the windows remind me of Vermeer.
I pour a slug of walnut oil into a small glass, and will regularly rinse residual paint off into it throughout my painting. I don't get too fussy about what colour is (was) in the brush, as I tend to remove pretty much all of the pigment through rinsing and wiping anyway.
I use Old Holland straight out of the tube, and will really lay it down heavy, so the brush dip might actually be of benefit to me - especially with those transparent oxides I use, which will dry almost as fast as acrylic.
I bought your video many years ago after seeing your portrait of George Bush. It was spot-on and very informative. It is still the best tutorial I have come across.
Thank you soo much!!!!
Hi. this is off topic, but I was wondering if you have done any videos on water mixable oil paints. From what I've heard, they are very similar but the molecules have been altered to allow water and oil to bond. I don't know how true that is. thank you.
awesome advice
i love my old messy dirty brushes! love ur brush tips! lol
. . . the wonderful traces of the happy painter years
Well this is inspiring advice.
Does the brush dip advice applies also for water mixable oil paint? Great to have you back on your channel, by the way
Guess just dipping it in water soluble linseed for example should work ? I will try that.
just use water, only for cleaning.
Thank you!!!
great.. thanks
Thanks for another great and helpful video. FYI, your website is coming up as "not secure". You do not have the HTTPS configured.
If you don’t have safflower oil for your brush dip can you use linseed? With the clove oil of course.
A secret tip recommends the non-drying p e a n u t oil !!
It’s just that you have to have a turpentine to break up heavy chunks of monthly non-use. Sometimes brushes get that chunk that a paper towel just can’t break up. Hidden within the forest is the stone.
Curious….Wouldn’t storing your brushes in the safflower/clove mixture eventually compromise the integrity of the adhesive that binds the bristles?
He has video about holder for brushes, he mentions there that the brushes should be tilted little (brush tip facing down) so it doesn't store at bottom where there is adhesive
I'll just keep using Zest it dilutant/brush cleaner. Dip it in a few times and clean. Been using the same brushes for years.