R&F Drawing Oils™: Your Top 5 Questions
R&F is pleased to introduce the newest addition to our paint line - R&F Drawing Oils™. Taking inspiration from our Pigment Sticks®, Drawing Oils™ offer a smooth & portable drawing experience with a harder formulation (less oil, more wax).
The size, shape, and formulation make R&F Drawing Oils™ ideal for play and practice, pairing well with your favorite sketchbooks, stretched canvas and panels. We offer 40 different colors in our Drawing Oil line. They are also available in three curated collections. Our Introductory Set is perfect for artists new to working with Drawing Oils. The Landscape Set is earthy and serene, ideal for capturing atmospheric elements, mood, and depth. And finally, the Modern Set offers our take on the modern age of expressionism: bright, energetic, and experimentative.
We’ve received many questions about our Drawing Oils™, so we put together a blog post to address your top five questions.
Will R&F Drawing Oils™ form a skin like Pigment Sticks®? How fast do they dry? Will different colors have different drying rates?
R&F Drawing Oils™ are made with linseed oil and will form a protective oil skin on the outside of the stick. This skin will preserve the fresh paint on the inside.
You can remove the skin using a pencil or crayon sharpener (.50” diameter), a razor blade, or simply draw on a piece of scrap paper. Wiping the end of the R&F Drawing Oil™ with a tissue prior to use will ensure an effortless drawing experience.
Many drawing materials present long term archival considerations. Oil pastels never fully dry. Soft pastels, chalk, and charcoal, remain loose and require fixative and must be presented behind glass. One of the great things about R&F Drawing Oils™ is that they will fully dry and do not require fixative.
R&F Drawing Oils™ contain no driers and will dry according to the pigments present in the formulation. Earth colors such as Raw Umber and Payne’s Grey will dry in just a few days, whereas Egyptian Violet can take weeks, depending on the substrate, thickness of application, and ambient studio conditions (heat, light, and humidity).
Can R&F Drawing Oils™ be thinned, or blended with oil painting mediums, or mixed with R&F Pigment Sticks®?
Drawing Oils™ can be used with oil painting mediums such as linseed oil, turpentine, or odorless mineral spirits. They can be combined with Pigment Sticks®, tube oil paint, and many other drawing and painting materials. In comparison to Pigment Sticks®, Drawing Oils™ will dry to a matte finish because they contain less oil and more wax.
Can I use a brush, a blending stump, or an eraser with R&F Drawing Oils™?
R&F Drawing Oils™ can be manipulated with a wide variety of drawing and painting tools. A brush with a dab of OMS will create painterly washes reminiscent of watercolor. A blending stump or tissue can help create hazy layers to draw back into. A firm eraser applied to a freshly made drawing will allow for reductive drawing techniques similar to charcoal drawing.
Are R&F Drawing Oils™ compatible with encaustic?
Drawing Oils™ work beautifully for mark making on the surface of an encaustic painting or three-dimensional sculpture. We recommend giving them a light fuse if working with them between layers of encaustic medium or paint to set them and prevent trapping oil inside your painting. This fuse helps to encapsulate the Drawing Oil™ and will also prevent it from smearing when you apply another layer.
Drawing Oils™ contain less oil than R&F Pigment Sticks® so we do not recommended using them in the same way some artists work Pigment Sticks® into the texture on the surface of their paintings to create a patina or intaglio affect. They are best suited for drawing and mark making.
What substrates can I use R&F Drawing Oils™ on? Are they suitable for unprimed surfaces?
R&F Drawing Oils™ work well with your favorite sketchbooks, stretched canvas, and panels. For finished artwork requiring archival stability, we recommend preparing your surface with gesso.
R&F Drawing Oils™ are harder than Pigment Sticks® and will respond uniquely to different surfaces. A smooth surface will yield a fast, gliding experience, while a rougher surface will grab more color reminiscent of painting.
