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Chapter 7: Taking good care of your Oil Paintings
If you like oil painting then you must make yourself aware of all the various ways by which you can take good care of your oil painting. Here are some of the important points and suggestions that can help you understand how to take good care of your oil painting items as well as how to ensure that your oil paintings are in good state and are preserved for years to come.
In order to create a long lasting work of art it is important that the oil paints are mixed along with the linseed oil pigments to create hard-wearing works. The oil paint can be used to apply thinly, or quite thickly. The various kinds of application will actually help in determining the quality of the final oil painting. The oil paints are evenly applied to the canvases that are stretched over the basic wooden frame.
To ensure that the oil paintings created by you are long lasting and good for years to come, it is important that your paintings are properly framed. Although you may use glass frames to properly frame your work of art, the oil paintings are better when framed without the glasses.
The framing of the painting actually serves to twang the painting, and wrap the edges of the painting canvas. This explains why some of the modern artists of today choose to display their oil paintings without putting any frames, keeping intact the plainness of the final art work. While glass is actually used in order to protect the painting from any type of dust, it makes the oil painting work harder to appreciate by viewers and this can even at times lead to damaging the delicate surfaces of the art work.
It is also important to protect your oil paintings entirely from the damaging effects of the environmental factors. We are all aware of the damaging effects of the environment and have noted the before and after effects of the images of oil paintings, which have been cleaned, and you can see the damage that has been incurred upon by the smoke and air pollution. Try to avoid any kind of smoke near the oil paintings, and also try to restrict the use of the candles and incense sticks in the room where you have displayed the oil painting works.
Remember to regularly clean and dust your oil paintings works. You may use any form of soft and clean brush, like a nice paintbrush for example.
You may also keep the work of your art dust free with the use of a low power vacuum, with a hose and attached with a brush. If you have an oil painting that is extremely dirty, then you can use warm water along with a tiny amount of the mild detergent to make it clean. You may use a clean and soft cloth to blot the oil painting gently after washing. The regular dusting of the oil painting will put off the need for any further cleaning, and is a significant part of the caring for the painting artwork.