Look at the film of the paint. Is it highly glossy? If so, it is likely an oil painting, as acrylic paint tends to dry more matte.
Canvas painting done with acrylics
I rolled a couple of mine not long ago as a test. They were done about a year or 1.5 before I rolled them. One painted very thick on one and one more normally. I just rolled them by hand, and not around anything and let them stay rolled for about a month. Both of them done on cheapy canvas already made, either hobby lobby or walmart canvases and done with student grade paint. They both sounded like they cracked in places, but I could only visually see a couple of small cracks on the thickly painted one. Those were prity minor and didn’t seem to go all the way thru exept in one small spot. I feel like the cheap canvases suffered much more than the painting itself did. I left them sitting rolled up (hot and lots of changes of humidity hear durring the test) laying on a desk. They both started to take on the shape that they were rolled in, almost creasing the canvas. I didn’t re-stretch them, so I’m not sure if more cracking would come from that or if they would smooth out perfectly with it. But again I suspect that it’s more the bad canvas that is the culprit, tho I couldn’t say why. I have an oil that I have done too, tho it was only painted about 6 months before the test. And it was done on good thick canvas with rsg home made priming. It rolled perfectly and is super flexible with no hint of damage. But that may change as it ages as oil’s take so long to harden it’s not a fair test. The difference the canvas made is huge tho, no creasing and felt much much stronger and less prone to damage. I wont be using the pre primed cheapy stuff for any serious work for sure. If I was rolling/mailing I would roll my painting around something, paint face out to keep it from creasing. I would roll it as loose as practicle, and as soon after dry as possible (not so soon that it might stick). I would also explain to the person getting it that leaving it rolled is going to be bad, and that they need to stretch it soon after getting it. And would ship it in the fastest way that’s resonable so it dosn’t sit in a hot warehouse somewhere for weeks, and in a hard container so that it dosn’t get smooshed. If I was choosing what to paint it with it would be oils for me, but my guess is that either would probably be likely to survive the experience without to much problems as long as everything went smoothly. p.s. Only my humble tests and opinions based on very small evidence. In no way an expert.
C&C always welcome. Thank you for shareing your ideas! http://bmc1010.imgur.com/
August 11, 2015 at 10:49 am #1231810
Default
Make sure that when you roll it that the paint side is on the outside, so it doesn’t get compressed. Cover it with freezer paper or wax paper.
Lady Mars Orange Marmalade Stapleford
Moderator: OIls, Pastels, Plein Air
Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. -Oscar Wilde
August 11, 2015 at 7:07 pm #1231802
Default
Thanks everyone. If I were a multimillionaire, I could buy an Air Float System Strong Box. I think the cheapest and safest way to get it to her would be to drive to her home as Mike L suggested.
“Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term Art, I should call it the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.”
—Edgar Allan Poe
August 11, 2015 at 11:12 pm #1231811
Default
For very large canvases that I generated a while back, I used commercial mailing tubes. I wrapped the canvas on the outside of a rather large diameter tube (6 inch or so) with either freezer paper or parchment paper between layers. I then slid this assembly into an even larger diameter tube (8 inch or so) for shipping. These made it in the cargo bay of aircraft to SE Asia in perfect shape.
Introduction: How to Tell the Difference Between an Oil and an Acrylic Painting
While oil paint and acrylic paint behave very differently when wet, sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference between an acrylic and an oil painting once the paint has dried. These step-by-step instructions will help you identify if your painting was made with oil or acrylic paint.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to be an appraiser, and you should definitely get your painting professionally appraised if it’s important.
For more information on the differences between oil and acrylic paintings, check out my blog post on it at Bayou City Urban Haul. If you like these paintings, you can buy them at my Etsy shop. Thanks!
Add Tip Ask Question Comment Download
Step 1: Step 1: Examine the Canvas
The first thing to do to determine if your painting is an oil or an acrylic painting is to examine the canvas. Is it raw (meaning is the paint directly on the fabric of the canvas), or does it have a layer of white paint (known as gesso) as a base? Oil paintings must be primed, while acrylic paintings may be primed but also may be raw.
Add Tip Ask Question Comment Download
Step 2: Step 2: Examine the Color
When examining the color of the paint, look at two things: its clarity and the edges. Acrylic paint tends to be more vibrant in color due to its fast dry time, while oil may be more murky. If the edges of the shapes on your painting are crisp and sharp, it is likely an acrylic painting. Oil paint’s long drying time and tendency to blend give it softer edges. (This painting has crisp, clear edges and is obviously acrylic.)
Add Tip Ask Question Comment Download
Articles
While some research has been devoted to studies of the paint layer, it is the canvas that provides crucial mechanical support to it. This topic is of utmost interest to painting conservators and is particularly of concern to contemporary canvases because these are still ‘treatable’, while older canvases are usually lined, or so degraded that any stabilization treatment would only have a limited effect. It is fundamental to stress that the degradation of canvas affects greatly the stability of the paint layer. Recent collaboration between UB and UCL [M. Oriola, A. Možir, P. Garside, G. Campo, A. Nualart-Torroja, I. Civil, M. Odlyha, M. Cassar, M. Strlic, Anal. Meth., 2014, 6, 86-96] has shown that acidity of canvases made of natural materials is generally of concern as it can lead to loss of mechanical properties and deterioration of canvases based on natural materials in less than 100 years (in line with our knowledge of cellulosic materials), which then requires costly conservation interventions, inevitably affecting the paint layer as well. The stability of synthetic canvases is even less known than that of canvases of natural origin and in need of research. This problem dramatically concerns also jute, which becomes quite acidic in a faster way than linen, and paintings done on this type of canvas become more brittle. Some paintings done on jute, already identified, are available at MNAC (Barcelona), and at the Art Collection of the Faculty of Fine Arts (UB). There are many important paintings on jute such as Picasso’s Guernica at Reina Sofia in Madrid (linen and jute), or paintings by Van Gogh, Gauguin, and the German expressionists (Kirchner, Müler) affected by this problem, so there is a significant potential for impact of this research.
The goal within NANORESTART was to develop materials for the mechanical strengthening of canvases of modern/contemporary paintings, which was addressed by WP3.
Another challenge related to the stabilization of modern/contemporary artifacts involves the consolidation of painted layers and plastic surfaces. Due to aging, original additives such as surfactants and plasticizers can migrate from the bulk to the surface of these artifacts and form exudates. These additives can then be lost as a result of aging or even surface cleaning interventions, since most acrylic paintings are unvarnished [B. Ormsby, T. Learner, Reviews in Conservation, 2009, 10, 29-41]. The loss of plasticizers can result in brittleness of the painted layer, requiring stabilization to avoid cracks. However, the presence of plasticizer exudates on the surface of artifacts favors dirt pick up. Therefore, the need of removing these compounds and replacing them with new plasticizers (only when deemed necessary) is still debated and must be carefully evaluated case by case.
Cracking of acrylics (including also acrylic/styrene and acrylic/vinyl acetate) can also be due to the use of unsuitable painting techniques or exposure to cold temperatures. Alkyd colours are very sensitive to UV, water and heat, and often exhibit brittleness. In addition, modern oil paint films are beginning to pose similar challenges due to inherent water and solvent sensitivity. Some of the chemical and physical causes of water sensitivity have been already investigated, however solutions for conservation treatment remain elusive. Even in these cases, the addition of plasticizers to stabilize brittle painted layers must be carefully evaluated to avoid drawbacks as explained above.
The consolidation of painted layers and plastic surfaces was addressed as a secondary task (“seed task”), described in WP3.
