Oil painting is a serious business, and you can’t go into it blind. If you decide to start oil painting, you need to learn about painting mediums, drying oils, brushes, drying time for different paints, varnishes, etc. And it can feel very intimidating at first. Amongst all the products recommended by fine art majors and skilled oil painters, an artist’s turpentine comes up often. You might ask, why do you need turpentine for oil painting?
Well, using turpentine has its advantages. And this article will help you understand its versatility and exactly what it does, so you can include it within your essential collection before you start painting.
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Why Do You Need Turpentine for Oil Painting?
Turpentine is a traditional solvent in an oil painter’s studio. It mainly acts as a paint thinner for your oil paint. Store-bought oil paint tubes can be very thick. So, the turpentine works as a solvent to slightly dilute and thin oil paint and apply them on your working canvas.
Due to its fast-drying properties, you can use it for your first layer or other underlying layers of your artwork. Turpentine applied in thin washes evaporates as water does with acrylic paint.
The fast-drying layers help you work quicker and focus on more detail and another layer of paint. Moreover, you can also mix turpentine with paint pigments to make a homemade version that is just as fast drying as most artist quality paints.
For painting Alla Prima, which is the wet-on-wet technique, you need to block in the colours using a paint diluted with thinner.
After the solvent evaporates, the thin layer of lean paint feels dry, which makes it easier to overlap with another thicker and fatter. It follows the “fat-over-lean” rule, which cannot 
be violated in an oil painting session.
The thinning property of turpentine also helps to clean brushes. The solidified particles soften when dipped in the liquid, unclogging the bristles after a few swirls. Wipe off the excess with paper towels.
Most artists prefer linseed oil since it is better performing when directly used with pigments. However, it is not as versatile as turpentine. So, if you want something that gives you multiple benefits and higher flexibility, you would be better off with the latter.
On the other hand, linseed stand oil mixed with turpentine can create a slow-drying medium. The concentration is quite thick, and it is slightly translucent, which makes it perfect for getting glazed or a glossy sheen.
A Safe Guide to Using Turpentine with Oil Paints
Turpentine is extracted from pine trees after its bark is removed. This generates an oleoresin secretion. The raw extract is then purified via a distillation process which creates a slightly viscous consistency.
But there are different qualities of turpentine as an oil medium. Household turpentine is of lower-grade versions and is toxic and flammable. It can irritate your eyes, skin and damage your lungs. Besides, they are not suitable for painting because they are naturally tinted. So, you must be careful mixing lighter colours.
Better grade turps contains fewer impurities and are made specifically for the art. So, they react better, do not leave behind a residue that prevents the painting from completely drying, and prevent a yellow paint film from developing.
They also undergo multiple distillation processes. For example, triple distilled turps evaporates and dries faster without leaving behind any residual coating.
Most Recommended Turpentine for Artistic Use
You can try rectified spirit of turpentine as it is probably the highest quality there is. It doesn’t emit any foul odour and instead is quite pleasant and fresh to the nose.
Some even contain added scents. Citrus is a popular choice, and they are non-aromatic, inflammable, and can be used for both thinning and cleaning brushes.
There is also another type called the Larch Venice Turpentine, which is a professional medium devoid of abietic acid crystals that are mainly responsible for discolouration. It helps get an enamel-like final layer without any brush strokes or brush marks, and it increases gloss as well.
LVT is a highly viscous balsam. It is slow drying and thixotropic, which is a term for time-dependent shear thinning property. If you want to achieve a silky consistency, try adding in a bit of high-quality distilled turpentine.
Avoid solvents like Liquin or Galkyd or mixing alkyd resins and paints with turpentine. And turps thickens when exposed to air, so you might need to dilute it more than you initially thought. Remember to always work in a well-ventilated space when using turpentine minerals.
How to Mix Pigment with Turpentine and Make Your Own Paint?
You can mix three types of pigment with turpentine or other mediums:
- High-quality pigment sticks
- Paint pigment
- Mica powder
There are also other options for DIY oil paints, such as food colouring, old eyeshadows. But they perform very poorly not just with turpentine but also with most oil mediums, including linseed oil.
Now to make your own paint, all you would need is distilled turpentine, paint pigments, and a container to mix them in. Pour in some of the solvent and a small amount of pigment. Adjust the oil colours’ vibrancy and thickness as you mix with a palette knife.
If you want a darker shade, add more pigments. Remember to mix thoroughly so that there is no clumpy substrate left behind.
Starting with a small quantity of colour makes it easier to mix, adjust the colour or add more oil. It also prevents the need to add lightning agents and keeps the process short and simple.
What Can I Use Instead of Turpentine?
Turpentine is very fast drying, no matter what surface you are applying it to. But if you do not want to carry it around, here are other oil painting mediums you can use:
- Linseed oil
- Poppy oil
- Walnut oil
- Liquin
- Safflower oil
- Stand oil
Linseed oil is the most popular alternative oil painting medium. However, sunflower oil’s popularity is also rising slowly, even though it has a lot of drawbacks. But it is best to avoid using it as a drying oil alongside coconut oil. You can even try out odorless mineral spirits or solvents.
Final Words
And there you have it – so many legitimate reasons for why you need to use turpentine for oil painting. While many argue that it is not an essential item, it is better to have it in your kit because of its versatility.
But if you want to avoid its toxic fumes, there are other alternatives. Refined linseed oil is an excellent option, although not as flexible. Hope that answers all your questions. Happy Painting!
