Today I've been listening to my latest CD, Beethoven's 5th, 6th and 9th symphonies conducted by Herbert Von Karajan, simply wonderful. I had the idea of making a film of Beethoven's life, the sole soundtrack of which would be the 67 minute long 9th symphony here.
My next purchase will be cold pressed linseed oil. An artist on a website called "Real Color Wheel" shows how he washes it and that his five year tests indicate it to be as lightfast as poppy oil, although the alkali refined stuff seems to be the worst for yellowing. This makes some sort of sense. So my current oil lightfastness list in descending order is: beeswax, cold pressed linseed, poppy, walnut, linseed stand oil, liquin, alkali refined linseed. Safflower and sunflower oil are reputedly like poppy.
He also states that amber is yellowing and dismisses it like that. I like amber so this requires some thought. On the plus side, Dali recommends amber in his 1947 book and the Blockx company make it and they have a good reputation. Amber stones don't seem to have darkened in 20 million years, some are white, so perhaps any darkening is an atmospheric reaction alone. On the negative side, Leonardo recommended amber varnish and his paintings are rather brown compared to Raphael's... but perhaps only the varnish is amber and the cracking might let air attack the paint layers. Amber is brittle so should probably never be used on anything that might bend, or get rolled up like the Mona Lisa was when it was stolen. Perhaps beeswax will be an adequate substitute, although amber's fluorescence in ultraviolet light and the refractive index are desirable properties and it's simply nice to paint with.
