Yellowing of Oil Mediums No.1

This trial was made at the end of 1988 on white oil painting paper. I used pure oil painting mediums without any pigment. When dry, I left the paper far from light, in a drawer. As you can see, there are enormous differences between these ten mediums. The choice of the medium is thus a very important problem for the painter.

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(Note: The dark vertical lines on some patches are artifacts due to my flatbed scanner.)

1. P. med. No.1:	A painting medium for glazes from manufacturer “A”.
2. P. med. No.2:	A “siccative” painting medium from the same manufacturer “A”. The precise compositions of both these mediums remain a mystery. We only know they contain “non-yellowing synthetic resins” (which ones?), “non-yellowing siccative vegetable oils”, driers and a mineral solvent (probably white spirit).
3. Alk. med. No.1:	An alkyd painting medium from another manufacturer “B”.
4. Alk. med. No.2:	Another alkyd painting medium from the same manufacturer “B”.
5. Copal med.:	A painting medium containing Copal (a hard fossil resin known for darkening on ageing) — from manufacturer “C”.
6. Stand Oil:	Stand Oil from manufacturer “D”(= linseed oil polymerized by heating it to a temperature of about 250° C).
7. Bd. Lins. Oil:	Boiled linseed oil. From manufacturer “A”. (= linseed oil boiled with driers at a temperature of 130 to 150° C, so that there has been a partial polymerization).
8. Lins. Oil No.1:	Raw linseed oil = “Purified Linseed Oil” from manufacturer “A”.
9. Lins. Oil No.2:	Raw linseed oil = “Clarified Linseed Oil” from manufacturer “C”.
10. Lins. Oil No.3:	Raw linseed oil = “Purified Linseed Oil” from manufacturer “E”.

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