Recipe for a Glaze
When I searched Google for “recipes for glazes for oil painting”, many comments were about a method of imparting color to oil painting by adding a thin darker layer of nearly transparent color over a dried, lighter color already laid down on the canvas. However, I did find a couple of specific formulations.
The one I shall give you has 4 ingredients. 1) Stand oil is a specifically refined linseed oil, of honey-like consistency, non-yellowing and has a tendency to flow smoothly to an enamel effect – just what you’d want in a glaze. 2) Damar varnish is a solution of damar resin in turpentine. I believe it’s purpose is as a dryer, but I could find nothing in the literature that said that. 3) Turpentine is the main vehicle for mixing all this, and 4) Cobalt drier is another dryer.
This is a typical recipe and “gives good results for all-round purposes and is in wide use”.
Stand Oil 1 fluid ounce
Damar varnish [5-pound cut] 1 fluid ounce
Pure gum spirits of turpentine 5 fluid ounces
Cobalt drier 15 drops
[Mayer, Ralph. The Painter's Craft. An Introduction to Artist's Methods and Materials. Revised and updated by Steven Sheehan, Director of the Ralph Mayer Center, Yale University School of Art. New York: Penquin Group. 1948. 1991.]