How To Care For Your Original Oil Painting

Caring for your painting is pretty easy. It has a varnish on it that will help protect it from dust, dirt, sun damage and elements. However, do try to avoid direct exposure to sunlight.

1. Dust your painting as needed with a soft dry cloth. Never use cleaners, furniture polish or any other chemicals on your painting.
   
2. Your painting will take 6 months to 1 year to dry. There are debates that it could take longer, but this is the standard amount of time, so let your painting breathe. Do not cover in plastic.
   
3. If you will be moving or need to store your painting, Loosely cover the painting with release paper. Glassine or wax paper is okay if you are not in a warm, humid climate. Wrap with bubble wrap and store in a box marked fragile. Do not pile heavy objects on top.
   
4. Avoid direct sunlight that can cause cracking and fading.
5. If your original painting is damaged by smoke, fire or water, it could be restored. See a professional art restoration company for an evaluation.
   
6. Protect your painting from water. If it should come in contact with water. Dry immediately with a soft dry cloth.
   

Written by Tina A Stoffel

Drying Phases and Autumn's Golden Glow

Did you know it takes approximately 6 months to 1 year for an oil painting to dry? Some professionals claim it may take several years. Most oil paintings will take a week or two to dry to the touch, but caution must be taken because the layers below the surface layer will still be drying. Oil paints dry due to the oxidation that occurs when pigments bind to air.

Factors that effect the drying time are:

1. Humidity

2. Pigments

3. Technique

4. Medium

Techniques such as impasto, heavy bodied paint will take longer as well as the type of medium used. For artists, there are different types of mediums such as alkyd mediums and cobalt driers available to accelerate the drying time. Some I ran across a tip from, if my memory serves me correct, William F. Martin had made a suggestion on the topic to simply place some books next to your painting on a flat surface then simply stack a piece of foam core on top which will trap most of the dust while still letting the air circulate. For me, I just used another canvas on top as you can see in the photo. 

This happens to be my most recent painting, titled Autumn's Golden Glow, just finished a few days ago. You can watch this painting coming to life by clicking on the link below. 

Autumn's Golden Glow coming to life

Here is the final painting which will be oiled out as needed and varnished when dry, as it is very important to wait until an oil painting dry before varnishing to avoid cracking and peeling. 

This painting was inspired by the gorgeous glowing Fall colors which never seem to last long enough. This beauty has now been captured on canvas to enjoy all year. When this 24x30 painting is dry, it will be available for purchase. Meanwhile, prints are available on my Fine Art America page:

 tina-adamsstoffel.fineartamerica.com

or at Pixels.com

 Pixels.com

By Tina A Stoffel Arts