How do I save my painting?
Stephen Morgana
painting, on my own. I really did not know what I was doing. I had no
idea how to mix the pigment with the linseed oil, turpentine, or
medium. But I did manage to make one painting that I am rather fond
of. I dont remember if I used acrylic or oil for it, but it was painted
on one of those pre-made canvas on cardboard boards. For dumb reasons,
I've kept it in a closet in a stack of other paintings that I did at
that time. Now, I've been going through that stuff and have
rediscovered my favorite painting, but I have found that the paint on
it is turning into powder and is comming off of the painting in
places. Is there any way I can save this painting? Would putting a
coat of varnish on it stop its further destruction?
Since then I've learned to do watercolor painting and I do everything I
can to ensure my paintings will live long lives. Also, I am going to
take a oil painting course this fall where I hope they will teach me
the proper mechanics of oil painting and what to do to make things last.
--
Stephen
http://homepages.go.com/~scm2000
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tugi
> About 10 years ago I experimented with oil painting, and then acrylic
> painting, on my own. (...)
>I dont remember if I used acrylic or oil for it, but it was painted
>on one of those pre-made canvas on cardboard boards. (...)
>...For dumb reasons,
> I've kept it in a closet in a stack of other paintings that I did at
> that time. (...)
>I have found that the paint on
>it is turning into powder and is comming off of the painting in
>places. (...)
> Is there any way I can save this painting? Would putting a
> coat of varnish on it stop its further destruction?
>
> Since then I've learned to do watercolor painting and I do everything I
> can to ensure my paintings will live long lives. Also, I am going to
> take a oil painting course this fall where I hope they will teach me
> the proper mechanics of oil painting and what to do to make things last.
Pre-made canvassed boards usually come with acrylic or oil-acrylic
grounds. A serious producer should have the description of the layers
used on the back of the board. The use of oils is usually limited just to
provide enough flexibility to the ground (to cope with differences in
humidity and temperature). Yet, if the painted surface is not oily and
can not "bread" in same extent as its ground than the paint can
crack and crumble.
If you painted with water-soluble acrylic paints on too oily foundation,
what can be assumed according to the fact that the paint is not stable,
than it is likely that you can not do much to save the painting permanently.
On the other hand, and it is more likely, if the surface was not to oily
and the paint is not cracking but turning into powder because of the
poor quality of the paint's binder (this can be because of too watered
colour without the acrylic medium) you can probably preserve the
painting for at least few decades by applying a warnish.
Water-soluble paints can be fixed quite well with acrilic or even pastel
or charcoal fixatives (students often use a cheap hairspray when they
are not concerned with slight shifts in colour) if the ground is
sufficiently
stable. But note, if the paint layer is tick and, moreover, infected with
some fungi which enjoy eating the binder of your paintings in your closet,
then even several layers of varnish and fungicides would probably not
be enough to save the painting.
If you are really very keen to save it, do the analysis of the paint binder
and ground in any museum. It will probably cost you some money.
You can even engage some of their professionals to save the painting.
It will cost you significantly more but today's restoration technology
can do wanders.
At the end, few suggestions if you would like to save some effort to
restorators of the future: avoid storing watercolours and acrylic
paintings together with oils and, at least once in a year for several
hours, expose your oil paintings to sunshine.(but do not do it
with watercolours and drawings - they should be stored in dry and
dark places such as maps or drawers).
--
Tugi
tu...@centris.ains.net.au
TheOko Art Studio
http://members.rotfl.com/TheOko/
Charles Eicher
>
>...at least once in a year for several
>hours, expose your oil paintings to sunshine.(but do not do it
>with watercolours and drawings - they should be stored in dry and
>dark places such as maps or drawers).
>
>--
>Tugi
>tu...@centris.ains.net.au
I've heard people say things like this, that you should "air" a painting and not
store it in total darkness, give it exposure to light periodically like you
describe. But I never understood the reason why you're supposed to do this.
As I understood it, the polymerization process in the oils is supposed to stop
after a few years, the chemical reaction is pretty much over and set hard. Does
it really change much merely from storage in darkness?
Aster Iske
>Is there any way I can save this painting? Would putting a
>coat of varnish on it stop its further destruction?
My quick take on this is twofold:
If you have the money to do so, take it to a professional
for an opinion and have it professionally restored, if
the professional suggests that it's possible.
If you just want to try it on your own, I'd spray the
surface with an aerosol of clear acrylic -- regardless
of what you originally used for paint. I'd give it
several coats, allowing ample time between coats for
drying. See how the surface looks at that point. If
you want to add further assurances, then give it a
final brush coat of clear acrylic varnish to build a
thicker, more durable film.
NOW, the reason for suggesting this. Acrylic can be
and is used to transfer images oftentimes. Because
inks and such stick to the acrylic it's possible to
lift an image and move it to another substrate. It's
the 'glue' aspect of acrylic that makes it useful
for this purpose and the 'sealing' ability of the
acrylic is the bonus. Now think of your 'restored'
painting as having this clear acrylic 'glazing' to
which your powdery image is glued and I'm hoping
you get my point here...
Erik A. Mattila
prevent dryrot. I read quite a bit about this when I was interested in
boat-building, and it seems that the various fungi that attack cellulose and other
plant fibres operate in a pretty tight range of relative moisture content which
needs to be constant for a few days in order for the spores to blossom.
Subsequently, framed canvases are not 'sealed' in the back, like a matted
work-on-paper, so the canvas can breathe. (I've never understood why this doesn't
threaten the paper -- but the back seal functions as a dust barrier to prevent any
speck getting between the art and the glass). It could be that cotton duck is more
susceptible to airborne fungi.
I read once, in a 'rules of permanent painting' book, that linseed oil is in a
state of drying for 200 years, during which time pigment particles suspended in it
tend to group. So the Rembrandt's we see are more 'transparent' now than when
originally painted. (This was about a 1925 edition from the British Royal Academy,
so chemical knowledge might have been revised since then).
My guess is also that the plainting that Stephen is referring to is not oil or
acrylic. What he is describing seems to be the failure of the binder, and not the
pigment or carrier. It sounds like goauche to me. I think the varnishing solution
he is considering is probably the best. I would use Liquin thinned with turp,
applied gently, about three coats. The alkyd resin is pretty tough, and it would
probably outlast the canvas board. It would also be possible to retouch the
degraded areas with oils, once the alkyd is applied, if Steve is into restoration.
Erik
tugi
> >...at least once in a year for several
> >hours, expose your oil paintings to sunshine.(but do not do it
> >with watercolours and drawings - they should be stored in dry and
> >dark places such as maps or drawers).
Charles Eicher <cei...@inav.net> wrote
> I've heard people say things like this, that you should "air" a painting
and not
> store it in total darkness, give it exposure to light periodically like
you
> describe. But I never understood the reason why you're supposed to do
this.
> As I understood it, the polymerization process in the oils is supposed to
stop
> after a few years, the chemical reaction is pretty much over and set hard.
Does
> it really change much merely from storage in darkness?
I am not an expert and I am sure that there will be people who
could say about it much more than I can.
As I can remember the lectures of Metka Kraiger Hozo -- the
lady to whom I have to thank for mainly all my knowledge of
painting technology -- some microorganisms just love eating oil
paintings because of the protein diversity provided by the
materials. That is, some fungi attack the ground which is, in
this case, the board, linen and especially the binder. It is
truth that, instead of the traditional natural glues (leather or
bone) which are particularly vulnerable, we in our time mainly
work on plastic grounds which are to the certain extent
protected against fungi. On the other hand, this technology is
still too young to be sure about possible consequences (these
monsters can mutate and start eating even some "GM"
grounds and also, as we can hear about it, there are some
plastic eating bacteria arround already.).
Moreover, as you say, it takes years for an oil
painting to dry and pigments to stabilise in the paint layers,
which makes the surface equally vulnerable. I had one of my
paintings partially eaten and, believe me, it does not look
nice.
The good think is that, as I was told, sunlight is killing these
parasites. It appears that for oil paintings the possible
photosensitivity of the pigments is a less of a risk than fungi .
It does not sound strange since the beauty and clarity of the
sun bleached oil medium is based on its exposition to the
sun. Is sun the catalyst for some kind of chemical reaction?
I do not know.
I am sure that someone with the background in Chemistry
could tell us more about it.
For my painting it was already too late and, I suppose, even
Luis Pasteur would be disgusted by it.
I did not care much, anyway.
And yes, if you do not care whether your paintings will last for
thousands of years (and it is difficult to imagine since a number
of our contemporaries, as we could see from some of the
threads in this newsgroup, are keen perceiving artworks as
disposable packaging rather than something that should be
preserved for future) it is good to know that possibility that
fungi will eat your paintings is relatively small (unless you keep
them in humid environment) and that art restoration technology
is constantly advancing. That is, if Impressionists would have
been concerned more about the technology of their oil paintings
a number of contemporary painting restorers would likely be
without a job.
Certainly, we can still choose whether to be concerned or not
for the future of our works.