Gamblin FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors are formulated to give oil painters a fast-drying oil color with excellent working properties and permanence.  The balanced color palette allow for great color mixing potential in a variety of oil painting techniques and styles.  When used for underpainting, the matte surface allows for maximum adhesion with subsequent layers.

FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors are formulated to

• Give painters a fast-drying palette of colors.
• Give painters an artist-grade alkyd oil color with strong pigmentation and balanced color palette.
• Create a matte surface.  When used as an under-painting layer, this ensures the adhesion performance of subsequent paint layers.

Dry Time

FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors will dry within 18 – 24 hours, in thinly painted layers.  This drying rate allows painters to work throughout a painting session, while creating a dry surface for the painting session the following day.

Compatibility & Permanence

Alkyd resin is the polymerized oil of the 20th century. Alkyd resin has a great compatibility with the linseed oil binder of traditional oil colors. FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors are completely compatible with all artists’ grade oil colors. FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors are also compatible with Gamblin’s alkyd-based, Galkyd painting mediums. Consider using a 50/50 mixture of Galkyd and Gamsol OMS to maintain the drying rate and the matte surface of the FastMatte colors.

Unlike acrylic colors, which we are not comfortable using as underpainting material for oil colors, Gamblin FastMatte colors make an excellent base layer for an oil painting. The matte surface quality of these colors creates a receptive surface for subsequent layers of regular artists’ grade oil colors, ensuring that both physical and chemical bonds are made.

Color Palette, General Oil Painting Techniques

The balanced color palette was chosen for its mixing capabilities in a variety of oil painting techniques and styles. The surface quality of dry paintings will be quite matte. For a gloss surface, apply a thin coat of Gamvar Picture Varnish.

FastMatte Alkyd Oil Colors have a low to moderate oil content, so they are appropriate for under-painting when painting “fat over lean.” All colors (with the exception of white) are transparent to semi-transparent in nature, as this quality will create the tonal range important to under-painting techniques.

The fast drying rate of the colors makes them well suited for plein air painters, especially while traveling and transporting freshly painted work.

For illustrators working against deadlines, FastMatte colors offer them a fast-drying solution, and the matte surface makes their work easy to photograph.

Special thanks to Gamblin Artists Colors Company for color swatches and information text.