Winsor & Newton has two different products to safely thicken oil paint for heavy brushwork or for painting with a palette knife: Liquin Impasto and Liquin Oleopasto.

A few years ago Liquin Oleopasto was discontinued and Winsor & Newton brought out the Liquin Impasto to replace it. But many artists told them the replacement was too different and so the Oleopasto was brought back. They now work side-by-side to achieve different results.

What they have in common:
They are both quick-drying, translucent, gel oil mediums made with an alkyd base, used as mediums in alkyd painting as well as in oil painting impasto techniques. Used as an extender for oil and alkyd paint they give a translucent effect. This means they also make nice glazes. They also provide bulk for the paint. They dry to a crack-resistant, flexible, tough and virtually non-yellowing film that can be varnished in the normal way.

The differences:
Winsor & Newton Liquin Impasto is stiff, it retains crisp textures and brush strokes without any visible levelling. It also allows more blending time as it doesn’t dry quite as fast as the Oleopasto. It dries to a uniform semi-gloss/satin sheen.

Winsor & Newton Liquin Oleopasto has a soft gel consistency so there is some levelling of brush and knife marks, it retains the marks, just not crisply. It dries more quickly than the Impasto so the paint feels thicker quickly. (Those artists who complained about it being replaced said things like the Oleopasto had more “brush drag”, and that was important to them.) The quicker drying allows rapid overpainting. It dries to a uniform semi-matt finish.

Liquin Impasto and Oleopasto