I know this question has surely been asked and answered, but I am having an issue with just 1 of my paintings not drying - just the titanium white. It is Bob Ross' Winter Sun. The snow areas around the pond that were applied with a knife are still quite wet to the touch and it has been over 2 weeks. In comparison, I have other paintings with heavy white application that are dry. Any thoughts???

2 weeks is not enough in general for oils to dry. Impasto takes 6 months to 1 year to fully dry.
At this point your painting could dry to a touch dry condition when top layer of paint polymerized but deeper paint is still wet.
Titanium white is a slow drying paint.

don’t worry and give it more time.

Some mediums speed up drying though. If I recall correctly galkid is the one.

9 days later

flippergirlpaints Yea Titanium White is the slowest drying I've found. Typically by 3 weeks the white has finally completely dried.

      Paint "dries" when the oil oxidizes. The pigment doesnt care either way 🙂. Most paint uses linseed oil and you may have a "wetter" batch which means it will take longer, More so if it's thick like when you use a knife. When I use a knife now, I almost always add some medium to help things along. Normally a mix of stand oil and linseed oil and for a lean mix, I'll add some turp or Oil of Spike Lavender ( my new fav solvent). The Stand oil is a "drying oil". Its been heated to kick start the polymerizing process (drying). Galkyd is a drier of sorts.. it's a custom resin with naptha as a thinner ( about 50/50 ish) there are dozens of ways to speed dry the oil paint. But they all get the job done. I mix my own bcause I like to play at being a chemist and understand what is going on with my paint. Not everyone wants to get into that sandbox so you can buy a bottle fairly cheaply like Galkyd and move on. You normally dont use a lot at one time so a small bottle can last for a few paintings at least. My lean stuff runs out quickly.. it's my goto for blocking in colors so the blocking dries rapidly. Tho lately I've been blocking in with acrylics more.

      5 days later

      I never have a problem with paint drying (or not drying) because I never lay it on thick, my interpretation of wet on wet is damp on damp. Although I did once do an oil glaze with too much oil in it (not enough paint) over a dry gesso underpainting. It's quite shiny, it's still tacky, and its been close to 2 years. Also I've noticed if I use oil as a thinner it takes a lot longer to dry than when I use the normal odourless paint thinner.

      Thank you everyone! The painting is officially dry as of today, so it took about 25 days. It was some THICK paint I applied with that knife.

      Write a Reply...