New painting/old canvas
Mike Stengl
sometimes it works for me and other times it's problematic. Are there
tried and true methods for this?
Dr. Slick
> Painting over a previous painting (or attempt more likely) using oils,
> sometimes it works for me and other times it's problematic. Are there
> tried and true methods for this?
All of us do this some time or another!
I use Liquin mixed with white (or whatever background tint you
want), two coats at least, for coverage.
Voila! New canvas!
Slick
Hans Down
eatn...@humboldt1.com says...
>
>Painting over a previous painting (or attempt more likely) using oils,
>sometimes it works for me and other times it's problematic. Are there
>tried and true methods for this?
I assume from the way the above reads that you are
in effect recycling an old canvas. One of the hardest
things for me in doing this is getting rid of the
former impasto passages. I have found out just how
well bonded oil paint over acrylic gesso is to deal
with in this respect. All the sanding in the world
doesn't seem to work. But that is probably the key
to successful reuse - a thorough sanding down of the
old surface with sandpaper of the coarsest kind.
I would also sand down a painting originally done
in acrylic before re-painting with oils. And
if you really want to paint with water-based over
an old oil painting - read on -
I've discussed in this forum some recent experiments
I've done to create a 'white' ground over old
thoroughly dried oil paint. I emphasis this as
'experimental' even though commercially it's the
accepted norm these days. The product I use is
KILZ - also sold by other paint manufacturers with
their own brand labels. KILZ is manufactured as
a stain blocker and sealer for use in commercial
painting applications, but I've found it works
really well for providing a new ground for my recycled
works. I would never sell these to anyone for fear
that the 'experiment' might fail, but it's certainly
given new life to that old canvas for me. And the
beauty of it is you can overcoat WITH EITHER OIL
OR ACRYLIC PAINT!
I first learned about KILZ when I needed to lighten
the interior of the house I had bought that was
paneled in all dark oak plywood-type paneling that
had both oil stain and solvent-based varnish finish.
I was advised to first prime all my walls with the
KILZ before applying a water-based paint, and that
was over five years ago and everything is still
looking great and the walls can be wiped down
with wet sponge with no problems in my kitchen area.
Chris
"Mike Stengl" <eatn...@humboldt1.com> wrote in message
news:45dd5dd.03050...@posting.google.com...
> Painting over a previous painting (or attempt more likely) using oils,
> sometimes it works for me and other times it's problematic. Are there
> tried and true methods for this?
It's not a good idea if you want to create a painting that will be archival.
A typical oil painting goes from lean to fat; if you put another on top
you'll have a transition from fat to lean in the middle of the paint layers.
Jax put up some interesting ideas re. KILZ.; personally I just find it
cheaper and easier to take the old canvas off the stretchers, toss that, and
stretch a new canvas.
OTOH, if you are interested in keeping the old painting so that parts of it
show through the new, you can spray the parts you want to paint over with
retouch varnish. There's also a technique called oiling in (out?) which I
think is useful for softening up the top coat, but I am not familiar with
it.
Chris
Chris
Dr. Slick
> "Mike Stengl" <eatn...@humboldt1.com> wrote in message
> news:45dd5dd.03050...@posting.google.com...
> > Painting over a previous painting (or attempt more likely) using oils,
> > sometimes it works for me and other times it's problematic. Are there
> > tried and true methods for this?
>
> It's not a good idea if you want to create a painting that will be archival.
> A typical oil painting goes from lean to fat; if you put another on top
> you'll have a transition from fat to lean in the middle of the paint layers.
Yeah, but besides archival, there is historical/storytelling
quality too. It think it's really cool when big time paintings are
X-rayed, and another painting is found underneath! Like a dog that
was painted over, or something like that. It's kind of like more
historical information as to how the painting came to be, the thinking
process of the artist.
Or, if it's a completely different painting, it tells the story of
the financial situation of the artist, or his/her frugality! This
makes for an interesting story, even if the archival properties have
suffered!
> Jax put up some interesting ideas re. KILZ.; personally I just find it
> cheaper and easier to take the old canvas off the stretchers, toss that, and
> stretch a new canvas.
I might do this next time, as the white oil paint rarely fully
covers the old painting, especially if it has a lot of black. Also,
the paint gets thick and you can't see/feel the texture of the canvas
anymore.
Dr. Slick
Hans Down
says...
>Jax put up some interesting ideas re. KILZ.; personally I just find it
>cheaper and easier to take the old canvas off the stretchers, toss that, and
>stretch a new canvas.
My canvas reuse is confined to 'non-serious' works
where I feel I can save time and effort by simply
sanding down to create a better bond, coating with
an intermediate ground (Kilz sometimes) and going
from there without all the other steps required
for priming raw canvas - to say nothing of having
to stretch it.
I'm going to post another thread here that is
something I hadn't touched on lately. Look for
'A board for all seasons...'