The age-old advice to wait at least six months before varnishing oil paintings is a good practice but one that many artists resist. And it is understandable why because when a painting is completed, it often needs to be delivered immediately for exhibit or into the customer’s hands.
Canvas coated and waiting to be painted
No I have not heard of anyone doing it. So the answer is not good. The reason I asked because I still have a lots of big canvas waiting to be painted and they are all few years old. Lesson learned is do not over brought art supply’s if I can not use them fast enough. Thanks Freesail Kim
January 9, 2013 at 6:13 pm #1178906
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No I have not heard of anyone doing it. So the answer is not good. The reason I asked because I still have a lots of big canvas waiting to be painted and they are all few years old. Lesson learned is do not over brought art supply’s if I can not use them fast enough. Thanks Freesail Kim
I would use the canvas, apply at least two coats of fresh gesso to the front, and if the spots on the back bother you…. why not use a little bleach mixed with water on them to lessen or remove them? Good luck.
Solvent = Leaner Oil = Fatter Drawing is the basis of art. A bad painter cannot draw. But one who draws well can always paint. (Arshile Gorky)
January 9, 2013 at 6:27 pm #1178902
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I don’t know if sealing the back of the canvas with gesso is a good idea or not.
Certainly old paintings that have been sealed on the back have not faired well, but these were not sealed with acrylic gesso rather than sized with hide glue and then painted with oil.
The only thing I know would be problematic is that it would interfere with any restoration where the painting is removed from the canvas and re-lined.
I would ask your question about gessoing the back at http://www.AMIEN.org and see what they have to say.
(If you do, could you please post the answers here. Also, you should call acrylic gesso “acrylic dispersion medium” or they will no doubt correct you.) I agree with Freesail that the yellow spots are likely to be oil that has penetrated the gesso and will eventually rot the canvas. More layers of ‘good quality’ acrylic gesso should have been applied to the front.
If the yellow spots are actually oil paint, then the oil from it will still eventually rot the canvas anyway. I have found that wetting the back will tighten the canvas temporarily, but it will return to it’s original tension when dry.
If the painting is on stretchers, then wedges can be driven into the inside of the corners to tighten it. If it is stretched onto a non-expandable frame, then I think the only alternative is to re-stretch the canvas, (unless of course the acrylic gesso on the back idea is found to be a sound).
Ron
www.RonaldFrancis.com
January 9, 2013 at 7:36 pm #1178898
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Thanks Freesail and Ron. Ron:
The only thing I know would be problematic is that it would interfere with any restoration where the painting is removed from the canvas and re-lined.
This reason should be good enough for me not to do it again. My children may want to restore this acrylic painting about their father after we are gone.
Can acrylic painting be restored? I will google this.
I would ask your question about gessoing the back at [url]www.AMIEN.org[/url] and see what they have to say.
May be I should not ask this weir question to this organization. Now that I understand it is crazy thinking. Thanks Freesail & Ron, you always offer good advice. kim
January 10, 2013 at 2:41 am #1178903
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Not crazy at all.
Artists throughout the centuries have been using various techniques to protect the back of the canvas.
It seems the best technique is to line the back with cardboard which creates a buffer of air that stops expansion and contraction to an extent. (in a similar fashion to framing watercolours with brown paper on the back.)
But …
My children may want to restore this acrylic painting about their father after we are gone.
I didn’t realise that it was an acrylic painting.
You can forget all that stuff about oil rotting the canvas as acrylic there is nothing in acrylic paint that will rot the canvas.
Yes, I believe that acrylic paintings can be relined to another support in the same way as oil paintings can, but others here may know more about that.
Also, you don’t have to worry about acrylic cracking nearly so much as you do with oil. Acrylic will stay flexible for much longer.
I presumed that it was oil because this is in the oil section part of WC.
Your Life is a Canvas Waiting to be Painted
Art is much like life. The artist begins with a blank canvas. As he looks at the clean sheet of paper he gets to decide what to create. The only thing limiting him is his imagination and skill level. As he paints, if he decides that he doesn’t like something he’s drawn he can either go back and erase it and redraw it or he can throw it away and start over again with a new sheet of paper. But ultimately the artist gets to decide what gets painted on the canvas.
Once the artist has finished his masterpiece he then gets to share it with the world around him. Some will critique it, while others will admire it. The artwork will have different meanings and interpretations to those who see it, but the purpose of it is to inspire and pull out those parts of us that make the world a better place.
I can’t imagine a world without art. Imagine those terrible brake ups without music to get you through or Rocky without the Eye of the Tiger music. Imagine a home with no paintings on the walls. No art would mean no movies or television. Forget line dancing at the wedding. Without art the world would be bleak and monotonous. Art makes the world a better place.
And what’s beautiful about art is it’s unique to the creator. It’s also a reminder to us that the ultimate Creator created all of us as a piece of art as well, and He has given us this life as a blank canvas in which we all have the power to create masterpieces to make the world a better place.
I was reminded of this uniqueness and beauty on a trip to Dallas this past weekend. A friend and I were out to breakfast waiting to be seated when I started feeling this pull to this gentleman that was seating people. I wasn’t sure if God had a word for him or not, so I began to silently pray in the spirit. As I began to pray I saw this guy painting on a blank canvas. We sat down to eat and the image kept coming to me. It wouldn’t leave me alone. So, I excused myself from the table and told my friend I’d be right back.
I walked up to the guy. “Are you an artist?”
“Are you a painter?” I asked.
He looked at me strange. “Yes, how do you know that?”
I pulled him to the side.
“God showed me that you were a painter. I saw you painting on a canvas and He told me to tell you that He is painting the canvas of your life.”
“How long have you been painting? I asked.
“Four years. I started painting cartoon characters for troubled kids.”
As we talked God began to show me more of his “canvas” of life.
“Before you paint begin to pray and ask God what He wants you to paint. He will give you specific things to paint for people. I see you painting prophetic works of art. You are going to paint paintings for people that have gone through some very difficult things in life. people that have fallen into hopelessness and despair. You are going to paint a canvas detailing a new future and beginning for them – the future that God had designed for them. And they will display this art in their homes to represent a new season of hope and destiny. Celebrities and people of great influence will seek you out for your paintings.”
He was beaming from ear to ear. “This is wild.”
“I am so excited for you!” I said as I hugged him.
“Write all this down so that when opposition comes against you, you will know what your future holds. Trust me. This is a word from God. I don’t know if you are spiritual or believe in God or not, but He wants you to know that He sees you and He has a great plan for your life.”
“I’m a bit of a back slider,” he said.
“Well, you know you don’t have to stay that way, right?”
“We can pray right now for you to come back to Christ. Do you want to do that?”
And right there in the front of the store with customers and workers walking past us and watching us we bowed our heads and Errington recommitted his life to Christ. There is nothing more exciting then seeing someone’s spirit come to life when they realize that God Himself truly does see them and has a blank canvas that He is waiting for them to paint.
Maybe you’ve felt like you’ve messed up your life. Maybe you feel hopeless and in despair. Well, I am here to tell you that the beauty of each morning is that it is a blank canvas. You get to decide what you want to paint on your canvas today. Paint it with hope, life, encouragement and your uniqueness.
Your canvas was meant to be painted by you. You were never meant to be a carbon copy of someone else. There’s a unique piece of art that is meant to be created by you. Maybe you’ve made some mistakes and you don’t like what’s been painted on your canvas. If so, apologize, make amends, forgive – do whatever you need to do to make that situation right.
If your painting is bland, put some color on it. Laughter, dancing like no one is watching, playing at the park with your kids, leaving a love note on the pillow of your loved one when they wake up, taking a night walk in the moonlight, paying for a stranger’s coffee, visiting the elderly in a nursing home – these all add color to your paintings and make beautiful works of art to be displayed on your canvas.
Just remember, every day you get a new canvas. What do you want on your painting? It’s your life. Your art. You’re the artist. Paint something beautiful.
The Big Sleep Before Varnishing
So, artists often tout the recommendation to wait until the painting is “touch dry.” For some, this may be a sufficient amount of time. This recommendation, however, assumes that all paintings are created under the same conditions. Of course, we know this is never the case since one painter paints on absorbent substrates, another on non-absorbent surfaces, another will use lead white, others will use slower-drying titanium white, many artists paint with impastos, and others with thin applications of paint.
A few manufacturers claim that their varnish can be applied much earlier, such as when the painting is “touch dry,” so many artists grab this idea and run with it thinking the moment the paint surface feels dry, they have a green light to varnish. However, even these manufacturers are a little more cautious by recommending testing the surface of the painting for sufficiently dry, such as with a “fingernail test.”
Somehow many artists believe there is something special inherent in these varnishes. One blogger writes [1]:
Gamvar allows the painting to continue to breathe so the paint underneath can still continue to dry. It doesn’t stop the drying process.
All varnishes are permeable, so oxygen will diffuse into and through them, allowing the polymerization of oil paint underneath. All varnishes slow oxygen ingress into the paint film, delaying drying.
Waiting at least six months is still the best practice for many painters. Instead, an artist may use (with due caution) the test described below as a method to determine when the painting is ready to be varnished if she cannot wait the prescribed six months.
The “fingernail test” may be what some manufacturers had in mind for the test method for “Dry Hard Time” described in ASTM D1640 [2]:
With the end of the thumb resting on the test film and the forefinger supporting the test panel, exert a maximum downward pressure (without twisting) of the thumb on the film. Lightly polish the contacted area with a soft cloth. The film is considered dry-hard when the polishing operation removes any mark left by the thumb. Remove any coating from the thumb immediately. The use of a glove, finger cots, or the presence of freshly applied cosmetic products/hand creams may interfere with the test results.
Variations of this test may be used but will also give different results. A problem with using a hard and sharp object such as a fingernail (in contrast to a flat thumb) is that it can give false results depending on the pressure exerted on the paint film.
Whereas the test described above may work in your case, always remember that some interpretation of the results is involved, often leading to different conclusions. The safest and best practice is to wait the prescribed amount of time—at least six months. But if you cannot do so, use the test method ASTM D1640, and good luck.
