Alkyd Resin Medium - Painting Procedures

At first the artist should put smaller amounts of each color on the palette than is usual. Since the colors dry more quickly, large amounts may harden on the palette and be wasted. If the color seems too stiff, the painter may add a small amount of mineral spirits to each color, mixing it with the palette knife on the palette in order to give the paint a softer consistency. The fat over lean sequence of paint layers, described on page 83, should be followed in alkyd painting as in oil painting.

Painters using direct methods can employ alkyds in the same way that they use oil colors. Since the color sets at the end of several hours, paintings can be transported with less risk of smearing the paint.

Indirect painting effects, such as glazing and scumbling, can be developed with alkyd paints with greater rapidity than is possible in oil technique. Since the underpainting should be "stone dry" before it is glazed or painted over, the quick-drying alkyds make it possible to proceed with less waiting time for the hardening of the lower layers of paint. The usual glazing medium can be used, or the new alkyd mediums can be added to the paints to dilute them to the desired glazing consistency. [See pages 78-83 in the book] [p. 200-201]

[Kay, Reed. The Painters Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.]