# Water Mixable Oils??



## SooHoo

I have been painting with acrylics for as long as I can remember (although I suspect when I was tiny, I used those watercolor palettes for kids). I am considering trying out oils but I don't want to deal with the smelly chemicals involved. I heard about water mixable/ water soluble oils and was wondering what other artists have to say about them. 

Any tips or reviews would be appreciated. Thanks!


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## TerryCurley

First let me say Welcome to the forum. 

I paint with oils now but when I first started I used only acrylic. Oils have become my personal preference. 

I've seen those water soluble oil paints for sale but never tried them. I can't imagine how they work....you know the old saying water and oil don't mix. But then technology seems to be able to do anything these days.

The smelly part with oils is the cleaning fluid. I use Odorless Mineral Spirits and don't have any smell issue. For thinning the paint I use Walnut Oil. I've learned there are different grades of Odorless Mineral Spirits....my husband bought me some cheap stuff at Lowes and it was horrid. Had a bad smell and was milky white. I use the Michael Angelo brand and it is water clear and no odor at all.

I'll be interested to know if anyone on the forum has used those water soluable oils.


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## jane.w.taylor

Be careful with odorless mineral spirits! Be sure to have adequate ventilation. Just because you can't smell it doesn't mean that it is not affecting you!


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## M Winther

jane.w.taylor said:


> Be careful with odorless mineral spirits! Be sure to have adequate ventilation. Just because you can't smell it doesn't mean that it is not affecting you!


There is no reason to use that anymore, now when we have odourless isoparaffine solvent. I don't understand why people keep using those old solvents. Isoparaffine is clear as water, totally harmless, and evaporates slower than other solvents.

This means, of course, that there is no reason anymore to use water-soluble oils.


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## Mermaid Blue

I would love to know about the water soluble oil paint as well. I have used oils ... I love oils but not the clean up. So I started using water colors which I also love. I took a class with my daughter and acrylics were used. I found them very hard to work with and I am now going crazy trying to learn to use them (don't ask why) Anyway, I would love to know if these water soluble oils move like oils or more like acrylics. Also what a is the drying time of the paint ... are the like oils or acrylics


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## john551

Hi, I moved from conventional oils to water mixable about a year age. I have found them to be equal to conventional oils without the mess of cleaning up.
I don't use water to thin I still use oleogel medium which I used to use with my conventional oils.
You can mix them with conventional oils but the more you do the less soluble in water they become ( obviously ).
I think they are far superior to acrylics ( just my personal feelings ) and would recommend them to anyone.
I have found Cobra to be the best personally. They do both a Student and Artists type.
There are still one or two colours not available ( cobalt teal for example ; but I just use my conventional one ) but most are.
Hope this helps


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## Brushaway

*Go for it.*

Hello...I'm completely sold on water mixable oils. Couldn't stand the smell of the chemicals of regular oils, and I find that washing out my brushes with soap and water to be delightful. I like watercolors for that reason as well. The "pop" of an oil compared to an acrylic painting cannot be compared. If you don't like what you put down, you have time to wipe it off. After they've dried completely, I find that using a cold wax medium as a finisher is super. Cobra is best, but you don't have to go into debt to pick up some good student oils. Have fun!


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## mooch art supplies

Water mixables oils have the same pigment loading as traditional oils so are just as vibrant, the only difference is the the oil used is modified to be water mixable (or miscible if we are being technical).
They do however dry to a more matt finish and a lot of water mixable ranges don't have as many colours in them. The fact that most people, myself included, don't use half the range of a large oil paint range doesn't matter, weirdly it can put off people there isn't a huge range of colours on show. Cobra is the exception and they seem like excellent paint in testing.


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