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Barmy question of 2015!
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Posted
OK, it's only May - but I reckon this must be a strong contender for the most bonkers question of 2015.
So here goes. On 6th June my mother-in-law is 99, and for some time I've been planning to give her an oil painting as a birthday present. Typical of me, what has ensued has been plenty of procrastination, together with far too much planning, too many "studies" etc etc. Not an issue with watercolour, but I suddenly realised that I'd left myself woefully short of time for oils. So, of course, I did the sensible thing & switched to watercolour. Err, no of course I didn't! The way forward was obvious - I didn't need many colours, so my v limited stock of Griffin Alkyd oils looked good for base layers (it's a snowy mountain scene from here on Skye, so white, ultramarine & burnt sienna are the major players). Plus loads of Liquin, especially for the few tints using "proper oil paints". Really, loads - well, I didn't want the white to sink and varnishing was obviously a distant dream!
Further delays started to make me panic, so earlier this week I figured that, since chemical reactions are temperature dependent, I'd better warm the thing up to speed up its "drying". So, I propped it up in front of our living room fire (yes, summer is a long time coming here on Skye). Whilst distracted, I failed to notice that the slumbering grate had burst into fiery life. I was alerted by my wife's comment on the strange, and increasing, painty/oily smell, by which time the painting was properly roasting (very hot to the touch!). After cooling, it seemed to have suffered no discoloration or surface damage. Indeed, the drying process definitely seemed to have been accelerated! Well, I've just spent this afternoon doing further work on it, and everything seems to be fine (it's painted on stretched watercolour paper primed with acrylic gesso).
So, what next??
What would you do? I've only a week and a half left, so I'm tempted to continue - but I wouldn't want it to start peeling apart. Do you think this is likely? As I mentioned, Kathleen is 99 and I'm not at all worried about its archival characteristics once she's moved on to higher landscapes!
My alternative is to start again & say sorry, present deferred until our next visit in August (as a watercolour!).
Suggestions (whether sensible or not!) most welcome. Or maybe you'd just like to nominate me for a Complete Twit of the Year Award................
Posted
Well, I do like a bonkers question - but this is one of more extreme examples of its kind.... Silly boy.....
I don't think it's possible to give a definitive answer, especially not without seeing it. But it sounds as though what burned was the oil and any thinners you'd used, plus the Liquin..... You probably already know that. Lord alone knows what effect it will have, if any - artificially speeding up the drying, which you've done in a BIG way, is not a great idea because it can leave the paint underbound and prone to cracking. So - what do you do.... Well, what I'd do is give the painting an overall coat (THIN) of painting medium, and let that soak in for a day if possible. I would then proceed as you always intended to. I don't think it's likely to start peeling apart, if you could see no damage - it's probably helpful that it's on paper, on the whole.
If you've already added more paint, you won't be able to oil it out, which is basically what I'm suggesting - I should add your ordinary (ie, non-alkyd) oils, with a bit of medium - but go easy on the Liquin: it may have saved your bacon thus far - it's very tough - but I'm not keen on using it a lot in the upper layers. In general, the less medium the better.
Have the flowers, as per Syd's excellent suggestion, in reserve; plus a box of your splendid mother-in-law's favourite chocs. But it should be fine - the danger is that one day, it might crack; but it's highly unlikely to do that for years yet, and the strong likelihood is that it never will, if looked after and framed. I take it the paint is going on OK - not lifting anything beneath it? If so - don't worry. Oil paint is tough stuff.