How to Correct Dull, Sunken Colors: Oiling Out Vs Creating a Couch

Have you ever come back to a painting after a couple of days of drying and realized that the colors are not what they were when wet? Or that there are spots that look dull and sunken while others look bright and glossy?

This can happen for a couple of reasons: 1. The ground you are working on is extra absorbent and is sucking the oil from your paint, or 2. You are using too much solvent in your medium solutions. 

Luckily the solution, oiling out, is simple, but the application from artist to artist can be varied.  

Oiling Out During The Painting Process 

Oiling out is simply a process by which a medium is applied over the dull area in order to bring back the area's luster. How this is done varies from artist to artist, but the general steps are the same: 

1. Using a brush or makeup sponge, apply your oiling out medium either over the entire painting or just over the dull area. Some oiling out medium solution options are as follows: 

• 50/50 Oil Medium to Solvent 
• Straight Linseed or Walnut Oil Medium  

2. Once applied, allow your medium to be absorbed for about two minutes. During this time some artists will rub the medium into the painting with their fingers. 

3. Wipe off your medium with a lint-free cloth or paper towel. 

• I first learned to oil out by repeating steps 1-3 first with straight solvent and then with straight medium. When I have done this, a small amount of paint will lift off onto my towel. While it does work well at bringing the dull areas back to life, because of this I have stopped using this method. 

4. Continue painting using the Thick over Thin rule. 

Oiling Out After the Painting is Finished 

Because I do not use solvents while painting, I tend to not have a terrible time with my paints sinking; however, this does not mean that I do not oil out. I like to oil out my paintings when they are finished. To oil out a painting when finished, you can use the same process above or increase the oil content of your mixture for greater gloss. 

I like to use 70/30 Stand oil to Solvent (or rather my Walnut Alkyd Drying Medium, as again I do not use solvents).

Oiling out once your final painting is dry to the touch helps even out glossy and dull areas. This should always be done before you varnish a painting. I will be discussing more about varnishing in a future post. 

Below are two videos. While not of awesome production value, they do explain Oiling Out wonderfully: 

Creating or Painting into a Couch

Oiling out and creating a couch are similar, but are used to do different things. A couch is a thin layer of medium that is not meant to luster dull areas, but rather to create a thin layer you can paint into. Your couches should be the same as the medium solutions that you are using for that particular layer. 

For example, if I am using 3 drops of Walnut Oil to 3 drops of Alkyd for the layer that I am working on, my couch will be made of the same solution. To paint a couch do the following: 

1. Apply your medium solution only over the area you plan to paint. 

2. Allow to sit for two minutes. 

3. Wipe off excess medium. 

4. Start Painting. 

Couches allow for even medium usage throughout the layer; as the medium is already up on your canvas, you will not need to dip your brush into more medium. Couches are also ideal for glazing.

I love couches, but I do not use them all of the time. I have found that for some textures I will use a couch and for others I will not.

To read more about Oiling out, I recommend reading here and here. For more videos go here and here.  If you have any questions about Oiling out, please leave a comment. For more about Oil Painting check out my main Tips and Techniques page.