Oil painting on already painted surface
Alex
an old oil painting, and paint over it, without first having to scrape
the old layers of paint.
I have tried doing that, and found out that the paint applied on top
of the dried oil paint tends to be very dull and dead. Am I doing
something wrong?
Related to that, I'm not sure how to go about painting a new layer on
top of an already painted one? I'm mostly enquiring here about the
technique used by artists like Van Gogh, who managed to paint 'fat on
fat' without any visible signs of smudging. And, as far as I know, Van
Gogh did it all in one sitting.
When I try to do the same, I only manage to ruin the already painted
layer.
Any insights/suggestions will be very much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
Alex
Craig Luce
lower dried level? If you want to simply ADD to the dried paint, I
suggest a brief coat (or spray) of retouch varnish, then paint it
fresh--- but you will have to be opaque.
Otherwise, sand the previous dried painting thoroughly (to add enough
tooth) and re-gesso OR oil paint it white for the next layer to show
brighter. If there are impastoed brush marks, you must sand these or
they'll drive you nuts.
IOW, what are you trying to DO (besides save some money)?
Unless this is a large linen canvas ($$$), my suggestion is to start anew.
C>
yes, vanGogh was primarily a pleinair alla prima painter--- (all in one
sitting). One CAN cover in this manner, but thicker or more-opaque
paint is essential.
Zoe Beit
Crai...@Medical-Illustration.com says...
>IOW, what are you trying to DO (besides save some money)?
That's the first question that popped in my mind too.
If this is not a very old canvas - one that hasn't
begun to deteriorate from effects of the previous
painting - then you might consider turning it over
and painting on the back after priming it with the
same primer (gesso etc) that was used on the front.
I use acrylic gesso exclusively, so I have
recycled old canvases this way - simply restretching
and gessoing the back side before re-painting.
NOTE: I do this for paintings that I have no intention
of selling. Those I've done this way are ones that
were used to decorate my own living quarters, or used
for self-portraits, etc.
ejudy
> In article <3C36711D...@Medical-Illustration.com>,
> Crai...@Medical-Illustration.com says...
>
> >IOW, what are you trying to DO (besides save some money)?
>
> That's the first question that popped in my mind too.
>
> If this is not a very old canvas - one that hasn't
> begun to deteriorate from effects of the previous
> painting - then you might consider turning it over
> and painting on the back after priming it with the
> same primer (gesso etc) that was used on the front.
> I use acrylic gesso exclusively, so I have
> recycled old canvases this way - simply restretching
> and gessoing the back side before re-painting.
>
Are there any solvents which you could get the
oil to come off without wrecking the canvas?
I think this sounds like a faulty endeavor.
Perhaps use a wood sander but then you could inhale
all those kindly massively toxic paint dustings.
Maybe it comes down to either using the original
underpainting as an intentional part of the
overpainting or start with a reasonable surface.
Or lets just all go draw our fine drawings on newsprint
why don't we? Then leave them in our sunniest window.
But you know i don't think if
theres some will involved that something
new could not be found. Just make it
really interesting or its a waste of time.
Like after putting the drawing in the window for a year
then you could photograph it and the photo may
be a masterpiece of new art. An ode to perminance
or something.
So what kind of overpaintings are you considering?
I could imagine tearing the old paintings into strips
and weaving them into a great long fabric. Maybe wrap
the trees in a park for the winter......
or maybe use the fabric to resurface a couch....
ick.
ejudy
Alex
> Alex, you need to be more specific--- aren't you trying to eliminate the
> lower dried level? If you want to simply ADD to the dried paint, I
> suggest a brief coat (or spray) of retouch varnish, then paint it
> fresh--- but you will have to be opaque.
> Otherwise, sand the previous dried painting thoroughly (to add enough
> tooth) and re-gesso OR oil paint it white for the next layer to show
> brighter. If there are impastoed brush marks, you must sand these or
> they'll drive you nuts.
>
> IOW, what are you trying to DO (besides save some money)?
> Unless this is a large linen canvas ($$$), my suggestion is to start anew.
> C>
> yes, vanGogh was primarily a pleinair alla prima painter--- (all in one
> sitting). One CAN cover in this manner, but thicker or more-opaque
> paint is essential.
Craig, thank you for elucidating this for me. Unfortunately, I got a
bad piece of advice -- someone suggested that applying oil paint on
top of already dried old oil pianting will make your colors come
alive. The effect I got was the exact opposite, so I was wandering was
I doing something wrong?
But I will definitely disregard that advice from now on, and remove
the old pain.
As for Van Gogh, what kind of paints was he using? I couldn't get
nearly the same effect as he did, although I was using the Van Gogh
oil paints.
Thanks again for your help.
Sincerely,
Alex
Zoe Beit
says...
>As for Van Gogh, what kind of paints was he using? I couldn't get
>nearly the same effect as he did, although I was using the Van Gogh
>oil paints.
Har d har har! Thanks for the belly laugh!
Maybe you should try Magic White as sold
under the Bill Alexander or Bob Ross label...