Can i thin oil paints with olive oil?

Question

Can i thin oil paints with olive oil?

Answer 1

No. To use an oil, it must be able to  dry / harden like linseed oil. A commercial thinner or turpentine should be used. An oil that remains fluid, like olive oil, will keep your paint from drying.

Answer 2

probably.. but it will give the paint a weird smell. you should go to an art store. the sell oils and thinners just like you want. i have used linseed oil before. it works well.

Answer 3

Most oil used in oil paintng  tend to darken the paint over the years. You can experiment, but I prefer to stick to the well known oils, like linseed or poppy oil in my painting.

You need to add gum terps to the olive oil before using it. Even then it might take a very long time to dry.

Nick

Answer 4

No. There are only a few oils that can be used in oil painting, and olive oil isn't one of them. If you don't have linseed oil on hand, you probably don't have walnut or poppy oil on hand either. The three I mentioned are called "drying oils", and their property of hardening through oxidation is what enables them to be used in the painting process.

Best thing to do is buy the proper oil. If that's not an option at the moment, you can use the oil paint straight out of the tube, or thin slightly with a bit of turpentine.  

Answer 5

Yes, but your paints may not dry properly.

An excellent resource is THE ARTIST'S HANDBOOK of Materials and Techniques, by RALPH MAYER.

It's a must for all painters.

Answer 6

Olive oil won't stay well over time.