Simple Steps How To Preserve Your Oil Paintings

By Tessarin Sandberg

All of us want our homes and offices to be as appealing and personalized as possible, where we are able to feel a sense of belonging to them. This is what you can do: a personalized oil painting of yourself, you and your loved ones, or that of your favorite scenery!

After you have nailed the painting up on the wall, don't just sit behind and admire for the beauty will be short lived if you do not look after it appropriately. And if you are troubling over how to maintain your piece of canvas painting such that it will be in the best condition, fret not.

Here are some useful tips:

1. Frame the painting up! This is to ensure that your precious painting is protected from external damage like knocks. If you are unsure, you can bring it to a local framer and even choose the design which you desire! However, do not use a glass to frame your artwork as it will damage the delicate surface of the oil painting.

2. Always handle your paintings by carrying the sides of the wooden stretches or frames. Direct contact with the canvas itself is not advisable.

3. Never place your portrait painting in humid areas and that of high and low temperatures. Extreme temperatures will result in the expansion and contraction of the canvas, hence damaging the state of the oil painting.

4. Avoid placing your painting in extreme light of darkness. Extensive exposure to light causes the painting to fade away while being kept in darkness for too long will deepen the colour of the painting as well.

5. Refrain from placing your paintings on any sharp objects no matter how small they are. This is to prevent your beautiful oil painting from any form of dent or a scar.

6. Apply a layer of varnish to the painted surface of your oil painting to serve as an extra layer of protection from the environment.

7. Periodic dusting of the paintings is recommended to get rid of the trapped dust particles. Use a dry and soft brush, or micro cloth to sweep the dust off. A low power vacuum is a feasible option as well.

8. Do not worry in the event of major accidents or damage to your paintings. You could always visit a professional painting conservator and he will repair the damage back to as close as the original state. This can be costly, but nothing beats more than preserving your treasured memories.

In fact, caring for your prize paintings does require an additional effort. However, these steps are simple and realistic, anyone could achieve it! I'm sure that all of us would like to preserve our precious memories for as long as all we can and present this pride of ours to future generations.

Search for your favorite photograph and turn it into a timeless piece of artwork today! - 32160

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Artist Chuck Rosenthal Speaks

By Penny Logan

When asked what he, as an artist, wanted to communicate to the viewer in his paintings, artist Chuck Rosenthal gave a superb, nearly poetic answer. He said:

"I like to show the paint to the viewer with brushwork in some areas of the painting, but like all artists and particularly the most successful ones, I want the viewer to be able to participate in the work. I want the viewer to feel that if it's a landscape, it's a place where he wants to be. If the artwork is a still life, it should have some ineffable familiarity to the viewer, and create a feeling that 'this is right, I know this.'

He further explained, "That is the universal impingement of a really good piece of artwork. I want the viewer to be able to escape for a moment into my painted world that has, in the viewer's eyes, a rightness, a balance of placement and light values that is in agreement with the viewer's own internal universe."

For an example, take a look at Rosenthal's "Houses on the Marshland, a 16x20 oil painting (it's on his website www.chuckrosenthalfineart.com). The houses are in the background, but the eye of the viewer is drawn into the painting by the fabulously bright sunlight that colors the grasses and wetlands in the foreground, making them various shades of yellow and orange, with some contrasting dark blue shadows.

There was probably only one place in time when that location existed - when the light was exactly as it is in the painting, and the artist was there and captured it. The actual location isn't important. Now the location is in the artist's mind and the viewer's mind. Perhaps it makes the viewer long to be in that location to enjoy the colors and creations of nature, but in any case the artist has added his own creation to it, and the place will always be as the artist painted it.

Have a look at the still life "Grapes and Nectarine" (also on the artist's website). Although this painting has been sold and now graces someone's living or dining room, or perhaps the den, it gives you a taste of what the artist meant when he was talking about "ineffable familiarity to the viewer" and to create a feeling of "this is right, I know this."

The textures in the painting appear so real that you think you could reach out and touch them - but they are just paint - just paint applied by an expert. The grapes look so cool and smooth against the thick, rough cloth on which they rest.

You are invited to look at these paintings anew, keeping in mind what the artist wrote about his intention in painting these subjects. Contribute to the paintings yourself. Enjoy. - 32160

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