Studio
The 24-hour dry time, matte surface, and compatibility of Gamblin FastMattte colors make them ideal for a range of painting techniques in the studio.
Many artists we work with are fortunate to be able to paint every day. We found they adopted FastMatte because they needed a paint that could keep pace with the flow of their ideas. The fast drying rate of these colors gives them the added benefit of returning to a dry surface on their paintings the following day. This aspect is especially beneficial to students.
FastMatte colors are compatible with Gamblin painting mediums and our traditional oil colors to give painters the utmost control over working properties, drying rates, and surface qualities of their painting materials. If desired, applying Gamvar Picture Varnish will saturate colors and impart a uniform satin or gloss surface to your finished work.
The FastMatte colors can be mixed in varying degrees with our traditional oil paint to modify the sheen and dry time of your paints. This is a great way to customize your colors to meet your specific dry time and surface needs.
For illustrators, the fast-drying rate supports the demands of working against deadlines. The matte surface makes finished work easy to photograph and reproduce.
FastMatte enables artists to paint honestly — thickly, boldly, without hesitation — while taking their painting further and at a pace that supports the flow of the painting process.
Underpainting
An important quality of the FastMatte colors is that they make an excellent base layer for a painting. Traditionally, earth colors have been widely used in underpainting in oils because they dry fast, due to their iron content, and matte, due to the absorbency of the pigments. These are the two characteristics that we incorporated into a wider color range in our FastMatte colors, making them ideal for underpainting techniques. Painters now have a broader, more intense color range for underpainting and indirect painting techniques.
As a company we have always felt that “like materials” are best used within the structure of a painting. The whole history of oil painting tells us that the simpler the construction of the painting, the better it is for its permanence. Therefore, the use of an oil-based color for underpainting is preferred over using a color of a totally different binder, such as acrylics. The line of FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors has a binder made from oil, so traditional oil paint films applied on top will form a chemical bond. The matte surface quality of these colors creates a receptive surface for subsequent layers of regular artists’ grade oil colors, ensuring that a strong physical bond is made.
To thin FastMatte colors for underpainting, we recommend a 50/50 mixture of Galkyd and Gamsol. This mixture, used in moderation, thins colors without slowing dry-times or significantly increasing gloss.
Plein Air
Painting in the field presents the opportunity and challenge of capturing the beauty and emotion stirred by fleeting light and changing weather. With FastMatte colors, plein air painters can work at the pace needed to capture these moments, with a diversity of mark-making beyond traditional oils.
FastMatte colors have a unique texture that offers painters the potential for dry, “broken” mark-making, sooner in the painting session and allows them to capture the various textures of the landscape while on location.
An additional benefit of the fast drying rate to plein air painters is the ease of transporting freshly-painted work.
FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors also have a flashpoint high enough to make them permissible for air travel.
