Making oil paints at home

I have long wanted to try my hand at mixing my own oil paints with pigment and oil. The thing that stopped me was that it seemed like an unnecessary step to add to my process as an artist. It is not necessary but fun and a bit more control over color and consistency of the paint.

It is not difficult. If you can make brownies from a box you might be over qualified.

The ingredients are another story.

I already had linseed oil and natural mineral pigments from a project I did years ago. I found a resource for pigments should I want more than the tiny leftover bits I have.

The trick is not to use too much oil.

The first mix I did have too much oil, which is actually relative. The silky, fluid paint I ended up with was wonderful on the brush but it will take a long time to dry. That can be helped with drying mediums but at this point I just wanted unadulterated oil color.

I added more pigment to make a very thick paste.

I then found an itty, bitty glass jar to store it in and mixed the remaining color with titanium white from tube and an alkyd drying medium to get a pale blue for painting.

I doubt I will do this all of the time but it was fun and is a great way for me to get small amounts of a custom color.