schmincke oil medium mussini 1

Mussini Medium 1 is a low-fat (“lean”) painting and thinning medium for oil colours. It is recommended for thin grounds and to set up transparency paintings on gouache, tempera and acrylic paints.

Adding solvent to oilpaint was first popularised by the Impressionists in the 19th Century, who mixed small amounts into their paint to matte the colour and thus distance themselves from the glossy, heavily varnished paintings of the past.

If you want a thin, “lean” first layer, then a solvent-based (lean) medium works well. Solvent by itself is not so good for the paint layer – solvent breaks down the oil binder and weakens the paint film. Too much solvent will result in a chalky, unstable paint film which subsequent layers won’t bond well to.

Mussini Medium 1, made from resin and safflower oil dissolved in mineral spirits, will retain the film integrity and colour strength of your oilcolour. If using over several layers, reduce the amount of Mussini Medium 1 in each successive layer so you’re painting fat over lean.

To be mixed into oilpaint at 10% to a maximum 20%. Always use a palette knife to mix your medium thoroughly into the paint.

ABOUT SCHMINCKE
Schmincke began at the end of the 19th Century, when the colour chemists Josef Horadam and Hermann Schmincke saw an opportunity to provide the artists of the day with a truly superior artists oil, and so set out to Italy where traditional studio painting was still taught, in search of the nearly forgotten resin oil formulations.
In 1881, at the Academy of Fine Art in Florence, they secured the precision formulations of the Professor Cesare Mussini, a guardian of the old masters techniques, and on these formulations, the two founded their manufacturing establishment under the name H.Schmincke and Co.

In subsequent years, artists’ colours to suit all techniques were introduced, such as Josef Horadam’s patent watercolours of 1892. Through the entire 20th century, every generation of owner has lead the company to its current position as one of the worlds leading manufacturers of finest artists’ colour.