How to Make Your Own Oil Paints

In a previous blog post, we discussed the benefits of making your own paints, rather than buying commercially-made paints from art supply stores. Two of the most appealing reasons for making your own paints include the ability to control the color and the quantity of the paint that you make. In today’s blog post, we’ll take a more in-depth look at how you can make your own oil paints using just a few simple supplies.

The two main ingredients you’ll need for making your own oil paints are powdered pigment and an oil, such as linseed oil (which most oil painters usually have on hand anyway). The tools you’ll need to mix the ingredients can either be a mortar and pestle (shown above), or a sturdy spatula and a flat glass surface. The mortar and pestle is the preferred choice because it will allow you to grind the pigment into finer particles.

To make your own oil paint, place your desired amount of pigment onto the glass surface or into the mortar. Add a small amount of oil and grind together the pigment and the oil using your pestle or spatula. Be sure to start off with a small amount of oil, because you don’t want your mixture to be too runny.

As the pigment absorbs the oil, note the consistency. If the mixture looks too dry, add more oil. If it is too oily, add more pigment. Your goal is to create a mixture that resembles the consistency of toothpaste.

Once the pigment and oil are thoroughly mixed, then you are ready to paint! The process is as simple as that. Your homemade oil paint can be mixed with commercially-made oil paints, and it may be stored in tubes or airtight jars for future use. segmation dot com.

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The Lingo of Color www.segmation.com

It is said that the human eye can discern between 1 million and 7 million colors. Do you think you could name them all?

Most people can easily identify the 3 primary colors (red, yellow, blue), and the three secondary colors (orange, green and purple), plus white and black. It’s their many mixtures, variants, tints and shades that cause a stumbling block when it comes to identifying colors.

Because of their familiarity with pigments, artists have a slew of color names at their disposal when it comes to naming colors. (For instance, “I painted a Cerulean sky over an Ultramarine ocean, tinged with hints of Light Hansa.”) These terms may leave non-artists scratching their heads. Where do these color names originate?

As we discussed in a previous article, some artist pigments are named for the material that they are made from (cobalt blue, made from cobalt), or the place where they the pigments first came from (burnt sienna, from Sienna, Italy). Other colors are named for the person who first discovered the pigment that could be used to create the color (fuchsia, named for the German scientist Leonard Fuchs).

The complexity of color is difficult to pin down with the limitations of language – especially when one person claims to see lavender while another argues that the color is actually lilac. Aside from the necessity of naming pigments and hues for color-matching purposes, perhaps many color names are best left to the imagination, where poetic expressiveness can assign the most appropriate color name for that particular purpose and moment.

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Season's Greetings Paint by Numbers

Season's Greetings are often spoken with good intentions to friends, family, and strangers during the months of December and January. "Happy New Year", "Merry Christmas", "Happy Holidays", "Peace on Earth", and "Season's Greetings" are shouted with joy during this time period. In other languages, you can say "Boas Festas", "Bon Carnaval", "Feliz Navidad", "Glædelig jul", "Hyvää joulua", "Iyi Seneler", "Nollaig Shona Duit", "Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon", and "Joyeuses Fêtes". Our Season's Greetings artwork has been provided by Puffy P who creates edgy and humorous properties for licensing, with a specialization in the teen/tween, Latin, and women's markets. You find snowmen, menorahs, snowflakes, Christmas trees, confetti, champagne, and cookies among the greetings!

This set contains 25 paintable patterns. We know you'll enjoy coloring these great patterns!

Follow a number key to fill in sections of the picture and gradually, the image emerges in color segments. Paint-by-numbers meets modern technology in SegPlay® PC, a computerized paint-by-numbers program for Windows 7, 2000, XP, and Vista.

What our customers are saying about Segmation....

One of my minors in college was art so I am very familiar with a lot of the artists and their masterpieces. While I'm using your Segmation program I have a peace of mind while ironically feeling addicted to complete each work of art I begin. A big plus is I do not make a mess of my art room by bringing out all the paper, mediums, etc. to create my own works of art.*** I love SegPlay. I find myself using it as a fun mind challenge when I have nothing else to do. Years ago, I even told my mother about it when I set her up with a computer and she loves it too*** I have thoroughly enjoyed all the pattern sets that I have purchased from Segmation. Keep the pattern sets coming and know that we frustrated artists out here will keep buying them.*** My grandkids just love painting Segmation. Actually so do I. ***I am addicted to Segmation. My granddaughter is learning her numbers by using the simple paintings you offer. ***Thank you for coming up with such a fun.*** I love this Segplay game!!!!! I get so absorbed in it, that sometimes when I color a big spot, I wonder if I'll have enough paint to cover it or finish the picture. ..I LOVE IT.***I enjoy my “Painting” so much.*** www.segmation.com

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Season’s Greetings from SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

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