What is a realistic expectation for the ‘service life’ of a painting? How long can one expect a painting to last when using best practices and reasonably archival materials? We don’t have any definite answers, but we’ll try to put things into perspective for you. The oldest surviving body of
Animal glues have a long tradition in the preparation of oil painting supports – as sizes and as an ingredient in traditional gesso grounds. Some of their characteristics have yet to be matched by modern adhesives, namely the tightening and stiffening of the canvas as well as their oil blocking
For some time, our recommendation for artists using oils over acrylic has been to work over harder, matte acrylic surfaces and avoid working on softer gels and gloss products. Our intention was to optimize the level of adhesion that would be achieved on a toothier surface as well as avoid
Learn the keys of how adding Retarder into Acrylic Paint increases the amount of painting time, improving blending , shading, and paint applications.
I think we all know the feeling. You pause for a moment looking back towards a house or an apartment, a surround of land or the last vestige of a city’s skyline. It is always a very particular place, a very precise moment. You take things in, a slow deep
Glare and reflections are the typical challenge when photographing paintings with a glossy finish. We can do our best by photographing in indirect sunlight, which provides the best lighting, and eliminate shadows and “hot spots” as best we can, and still find that the light distorted the representation of our
Please Note: What follows is an update to long-term testing that we first wrote about in 2018. The original articles provide important background and context for understanding the current results, and can be found here: Zinc Oxide – Reviewing the Research, Zinc Oxide – Warnings Cautions and Best Practices, and
Please Note: What follows is an update to long-term testing that we first wrote about two and a half years ago. The original article provides important background and context for understanding the current results, and can be found here: On the Yellowing of Oils Yellowing after 5 years It’s the
Imagine if you will, the scene: the artist in their studio, clothing covered in paint, standing above, next to or on top of canvas laid upon the floor, fully animated and wild broad gestures halted by short deliberate movements; using their whole body to fill the enormity of the painting
This is a common question that we field here in the Materials & Applications Specialists department. The answers are varied and depend a lot on the specific application, performance requirements, and placement or location of the artwork or object. But, before any discussion can begin, we need to define what
