Why Cleaning Your Brushes is a Waste of Time - Oil Painting Advice
2024 ж. 18 Мам.
140 646 Рет қаралды
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/
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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 KZhead 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!
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
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 .
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..
Thank you Mark for all the important information I always take your advice to heart. Love your oil paints!
So glad to see you back.
I completely agree! Your brush dip changed my painting life! 10 out of 10 highly recommend 👌
Good to see you again. I recently bought your paints and love them!
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.
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 to see you back. Have your brush dip, it's great.
Good to see you posting again. Hope you are well.
Thanks for this valuable piece of info, its going to save a lot of unwanted stress.
Great advice. Thank you for sharing your experience- I am going to adopt your advice in my arts practice. 🙏
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
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.
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 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 . . .
Please make a demonstration video. It's been so long since you uploaded one. It's a delight watching you paint. 🙏
Brilliant thankyou! 😊 I am very new to painting in oils but these tips are very helpful
the best teacher ever.... all the best Mark
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.
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...
Thanks so much ,..will keep my brushes clean this easy way ,love it !!
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!
Nice to see you back Mark
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)
Glad to see your vids back again, hope everything else is good
Nice to see you again!!
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
Thanks to you, Mark, I'll now have more time for painting.
Thank you for your advice, I will try to learn about that 😊
Great help for new artist sir mark,THANK YOU! GOD BLESS.ALHAMDULILLA
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
You’re a legend Mark. Thanks for all the great lessons.
Good to see ya mark!
TY Mark. Great advice. “Brush dip”, excellent.
i never knew this. great to see a new video
I have never heard of doing this before. Very interesting indeed. Love this channel so much. Thank you!
You and Stefan Baumann are my favorite Chanels on KZhead!
Fascinating and a very green tip.
Wow! So interesting and TY for sharing this knowledge.
Great insights, much appreciated!
I no longer clean my brush ever since I saw one of your videos similar to this. Clearly my brushes last longer with no cleaning method. I can only think of the benefits and no disadvantages. One dip into safflower oil and it lasts for about a month in my case.
And more time for painting.
@@NickNicometi Yes, most importantly!
what safflower oil do you use. will refined food grade safflower oil work?
That’s interesting. I use poppy oil and it lasts a while but I’m not sure it lasts a month
Last longer? I have no idea how people wear away brushes. I paint with the same brushes I bought 30 years ago (and I wash them every single time).
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.
Thanks again,love your paint!
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
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 :)
Wow! Tnx for this Golden tip master👍🙏😊🎨
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.
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
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…
Love your videos - thank you for this one, it was especially helpful
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.
Just clean your brushes with a good soap like Aleppo soap. It's easy cheap and fast.
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 so much! Very helpful!
Excellent suggestion & practice.
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.
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.
Excellent information!!
I just stand my brushes in water, make sure the oil paint is well worked into the brush stock first. Just wipe them off in a rag when you want them. They will stay soft for many months even longer. Oil paint needs air to dry, no air underwater.
Sounds good, but I hope you’re not standing them on the hairs but rather are suspending them in water? As a side note, when I was into printmaking I learned to preserve the (oil) printing ink in cans by filling the can with water. Just tip it out when ready to use.
if you put your expensive natural brushes in water,those bristles will never get back into shape...i"m not talking about pig bristles.
@@ruudratajczak2240 so many people comment with good intentions, and then I see a comment like yours refuting it. It is kind of tiring to not know what's best.
As always the very best of advice and lots of inspiration 🎶🌷🎵🙏
Thank you very much I really enjoy watching you Can I use sunflower oil for dip my brushes?
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!
Mark Sargent excellent painter!
If you’re using synthetic brushes with oil and you don’t want to use harsh chemicals due to the smell, mix some vegetable oil and dawn dish liquid in a cup and leave them to set for a few hours. After they’ve set use pure dawn and wash in warm water until the vegetable oil is gone. The paint should come off easily. The reason you don’t want any vegetable oil left afterwards is because if it gets mixed in your paint you’ll be waiting a lot longer for your pieces to dry. I’m sure this would work with natural brushes as well but I’m not sure using dawn on those is a good idea
if you leave vegetable oil to mix with your paints it will ruin the painting because vegetable does not dry it rots.
4 cooking!!!!?
@@zaidshah4535 Thank you for that important info! People could lose their painting.
Yeah, I discovered this method when I first tried to oil paint and realized I didn't have any solvent , essentially dilute the paint with another oil that's easier to clean, then use a strong surfactant to wash away the mixed oil
@@zaidshah4535 that's what the dishwashing detergent step is for (or liquid brush soap)
Well. I might say that be Very careful for paint drying in the brushes. Keep em dirty wet all you want but if they dry. You will never get it back. Even if you clean it. It will open its hairs due to paint shoved under the metal so i would advice two things!! Never use the whole brush hairs leave a space at the start of the hairs where is pressed by the metal case. You dont want paint there. It will dry and force hairs to open. Thinner wont get in there enough. I got old flax seed drys fast and cant leave paint for more than 2 days. My set up its not good but its what i have now.
SO YOU DIDNT WATCH THE WHOLE VIDEO DID YOU???!!!! HE EXPLAINS THE IMIPORTANCE OF USING BRUSH DIP WEEKLY TO KEEP YOUR BRUSHES FROM DRYING OUT. *EYE ROLL*
HE EVEN EXPLAINS THAT IF YOURE USING A FAST DRYING MEDIUM OR PAINT THAT USING BRUSH DID AFTER WILL ALLOW YOU TO KEEP THE BRUSH WET.
@@picklesdill9138 What else do you dip in his brush dip. Take it easy with the capslock buddy.
I’ll usually wipe my brushes clean when switching from a warm color to a cool color or vise versa…or I usually employ a warm brush and a cool brush as I paint… whenever I use black and need to go to a color using the same brush I’ll clean it tho… black is so strong and will really reduce the chroma of any hue with just the slightest amount left on the brush…
Thanks, I needed that!
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
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.
Amazing tips!!
This should work for camping on a long plein air trip, too.
Amazing videos on oil painting.
I do never use to clean my brush “Just manipulate the colour”, I leave my brushes in oil and wipe the brush on a rag in one direction, I always painted with the results being of the mother of pearl look This has a muddy looking out come, But then with the use of clean brush and colours as over paint I achieve my oil paintings for I like painting from my imagination.
Welcome back!:)
ive been. using baby oil and baby wipes and it works wonders hope it helps
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.
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.
Good to see you
Thank you, Mark.
Great title. I'm always looking for reasons not to do something.
🙌 👏 🙏 🤝 👍 This is "american" pragmatism . . . AND chinese WU WEI: Doing by NON-doing !!
This is sxactly why I am PAINTING: To a v o i d any labor/work, or - as my beloved art-comrade Francis Bacon once said: "Work is just something for folks who CAN´T PAINT!" 😁
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
Your drawing instructional video is very good and very helpful to me. I hope you can add Chinese subtitles so that I can understand well. Thank you so much
Well this is inspiring advice.
How about dip into sunflower oil? As sunflower oil was used to mix with pigments before linseed oil.
i love my old messy dirty brushes! love ur brush tips! lol
. . . the wonderful traces of the happy painter years
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.
TIO: The painter can also use n o n -drying oils, such as peanut oil, to wash out his brushes in between. To do this, the coarse paint residues are first wiped off. Then the brush is washed with a non-drying oil until the paint is completely removed. After the brush has been rubbed dry with a rag, it can be used again. At the very end, when the painting process is finished, the brush should then be cleaned as usual with brush cleaner or soap and water. Washing out with an oil is advantageous because it is gentler on the hair or bristles.
@AL-THOMAS Very useful tip, thank you!
Does the safflower oil also prevent any residue paint and pigment from drying up in your brushes?
I don’t know about this. I use liguin and Galkyd drying compounds to speed the oil painting process. Cleaning brushes makes the painting process more streamlined, at least to me.
Can you do a session on painting indoors without ventilation? I'm sure you have some good ideas here.
Eh….open a window and use odourless mineral spirits what else do you expect him to say?
@Sergej Grigorjev I would love to switch from acrylic to oil paint but I'm just afraid since my studio is in the basement without any ventilation. This is helpful thanks.
Would buy a starter set from Mark if I can use the paint safely in my room.
Just be sure to have a current will. If you have no window keep door open and have a fan to move the air
Use water mixable oil paint and medium, so there is no need for solvents.
I've been painting 15 years. Finally a product that makes sense. I've been doing this exact thing with other oils all this time with some success. Just ordered the brush dip and can't wait to give it a try. Thank You.
I am painting very sporadically, can go years between my painting-periods, I usually paint in acrylic paint, but want to try oil as I was gifted a set. But, in this situation, might it still be a good thing to clean the brush in case I won't paint with oil again for a while? Also, is it good to keep the brushes used for oil separate from the ones used for acrylic? Or can I use the same to both? (New on this)
Definitely keep your oil and acrylic brushes separate. You can use an acrylic brush in oil, but not the other way around (similarly, you can paint over acrylics with oil, but not oil over acrylics). In other words, once you've put a brush in oil, keep it just for oils. I don't really use acrylics much at all anymore since I took up oils, but I keep my acrylic brushes in a completely separate container so I don't mix them up.
@@gallagherwitt wow, didn't know, thanks for knowledge sharing, I am not so organized myself but will probably need to do something to separate. What will happen with brushes/colors/painting if I don't follow these rules? Nothing will explode or something scary? But things will be bad in some way?
@@linneahulten405 Nah, it's nothing like that. Basically, oil and water don't mix. Like they literally won't mix. So getting oil in your acrylics will screw up their ability to dry, etc. It's not dangerous or anything, it'll just ruin your paint.
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.
Great video. What would you suggest for liquin?
Great use of hand gestures here