Painting with Water-Soluble Oils
Dye is an artist, an instructor at the University of Vermont,  and a technical consultant for manufacturers of art paints. In  his opinion, the advent of water-soluble oil paint is as  revolutionary as the emergence of acrylics was in 1950. The jury  is still out. In the meantime, Dye has written the most  comprehensive exploration of the medium, which retains the  traditional characteristics of oil paint but is mixed and  thinned (not to mention cleaned up) with water. By the 1980s,  most schools and universities had banned the use of solvents in  art departments, effectively banning the use of oil paints. With  water-soluble oils, the toxic solvents associated with working  in oils can be eliminated, making it safe to reintroduce oil  painting to the classroom. Water-soluble oils and traditional  oils don't behave identically on the canvas, however. (The  latter holds a brush stroke more firmly than the former, for  example.) Dye clearly lays out differences in pigments,  light-fastness, opacity, texture, and application. Eleven  artists add demonstrations and personal opinions to this  important addition to the field.Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.