how to open old paint tubes in three easy steps.

My friend Laura gave me two vintage cookie tins filled with really old paints (some date back more than a decade), and I finally cracked them open the other day.

There is nothing like the smell of linseed oil and resin to awaken some colorful gellatic mystery within you. Its a dangerous but attractive smell, kind of like openning the freezer doors in the grocery aisle and breathing deep of the wafting freon, or fresh dark coffee beans after they're ground...something deep and dangerous with potential energy, a sleeping giant if you will.

Whats great about really old oil paints is:
1.They are oil based, therefore they last for decades depending on how well they're kept, which means that they come with some sort of heritage or story attached to them...which means nothing unless you are as sentimental as I am.

2.Depending on their age, some consist of dangerous stuff: like lead, cadmium and cobalt. You rarely find a modern tube of oil paint (unless you have deep financial pockets) capitulating these sorts of wonderful toxic minerals. Oil colors containing REAL cobalt and cadmium are rich, vibrant and smooth. They sparkle and sheen, possibly even whispering quite affirmations of your artistic prowess as you brush them on the canvas.

--And of course the downside is that they can kill you, so you might want to wear gloves.

"Just how is it possible to open these beautiful canisters of cosmic toxins after years of abandonment?" you might ask. There are three simple solutions:

A. Try using your teeth and regret it later. I know this never works yet for some reason I try it every time....must be some ancient paleolithic instinct in me...................effen evolution.


B. Cut it. Works great unless you dont want to use the whole tube right away, which leaves you with the third option of....



C. My favorite: burning it. Not too long, when the initial tuft of smoke evaporates, grab an old clothe and twist off the cap. "Earthy" colors, any color with a brown base to it like umber or siennas, will be harder to open because their internal drying agents adhere quicker and tackier than any other colors.


Lastly, using old throw away paints gives you the ability to paint liberally. Oil paints are expensive, and if you are operating on a budget, having spare paints means you can guiltlessly experiment with thick, swafting applications, or use them as colored washes or "stains" over an ordinary white canvas.



===========by the way, if you really are budget and want to preserve your paints, you can always stick them in the freezer, even while they are on the palette. Or...


Good luck. May you do good work with your "new" old treasures.