Ivorine is a wonderful surface, durable, smooth and with a translucency which gives the effect of light behind the support.  Oil paints seem to cling while allowing the light to glow through.

Preparation of the ivorine is a good wash with detergent – no need to worry about oily fingermarks showing up later as with watercolour. I try to choose the smoothest transparent oil paints, and as close to primary colours as possible.  I transfer my image with oil free carbon paper, and lift out all but the barest touch of an outline with a kneadable rubber, and then start off with light washes of clear colour, very loosely, one at a time.  After each wash I wipe off all but the stain of the colour, so that the surface still throws light through from the back of the ivorine. The support is the lightest light, although occasionally I have used a dot of Titanium White to catch sunlight through glass.

The rest is simply layers of colour – it can be irritating to have to wait up to three days for the area you are working on to dry before adding another colour, but if you add on too quickly the paint can shift, and can also become mud.  Then it’s time to start again, which I do – often - don’t ask why, I make some awful messes!  When I do I simply wash off the surface with Citroclean – bought at any supermarket, and used instead of turpentine.  Then a good scrub with a little Gumption on a sponge freshens up the surface and takes off any lingering stains – and off I go again.

I use synthetic watercolour brushes and the occasional acrylic brush.  My pattern is to use my best brushes for watercolour, when they get tired they become gouache brushes, then get a good scrub in soap and detergent, after which they become oil brushes which are cleaned in Citroclean after use each day, followed by a warm water wash and scrub on a block of soap. 

I use a range of other tools in my effort to get the cleanest, smoothest line, which includes sharpened toothpicks to wipe up to a line, and a scalpel to shave off dried on paint when I change my mind.  I also wrap an old cotton rag around a point and use it to stroke off a highlight. I try hard to keep my layers of colour as thin as possible, and blend edges with a soft dry brush.

Eleanor Torr