Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

MATERIALS & METHODS - Painting - Oil Painting - Binders and Diluents - Varnishes - Natural Resins

Characteristics - Painting Methods & Techniques - Materials and Equipment - Work Space & Storage - Manufacture of Pigments - Protection of the Picture

From: Kay, Reed. The Painter's Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.

Natural Resins - Copal
The name copal covers a large group of varied resins--some fossil resins and some "tapped" from the live tree. There are great differences in color, hardness, and transparency. Soft copals, such as Manila resin, can be dissolved cold in alcohol. The most frequently employed copals--the hard copals such as Sierra Leone or Zanzibar resin--cannot be directly dissolved in turpentine or alcohol. They must be heated to about 200° C. and then melted into hot linseed oil.

When this varnish dries, the film is very glossy and hard. It cannot be easily redissolved, like the spirit varnishes, by turpentine or alcohol. It is said to darken badly or to cause cracking, but since so many varieties exist on the market, it is difficult to be sure that this applies to all grades and types. [p. 50]

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










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