Using the camera obscura has changed and challenged my painting skills. Previously I used a looser more drawn quality of paint, with fast brush work and thin paint. But to obtain the deeper colors and glossier paint quality which I see in Vermeer I needed to slow my process and have complete control over the application. I have always used solvents and alkyd medium but in the last months I have been investigating the use of home refined linseed oil. Two websites have complete information about this process and I am following their recommendations. I purchased organic cold pressed flax seed oil, refined one quantity with sand and hot salt water and the other with vodka and psyllium husks. The smell in my studio is fabulous from this process, somewhere between cut grass and flowers. I have replaced the solvent with walnut oil, dipping the brushes in the oil and wiping them on rags. I have used a small quantity of the sun bleached linseed oil and it dries overnight with a slight gloss, it makes the colors appear richer and creates glazes easily. I haven't gone further with it, but I hope to start a new painting with it soon.

The two websites are:

www.tadspurgeon.com

www.calcitesunoil.com

View of the oil bleaching in the sun in my studio.