Artwork Aftercare

caring for your artwork

Direct sunlight

When thinking about location where to hang your oil painting, try not to exposure it to constant direct sunlight, because it will surely fade out some of the colours after time. Yet the painting looks better in darker areas in a room with proper artificial lightening.

Extreme heat and open fires

Even if it might be tempting to hang a painting over a fireplace it wouldn’t be good for the painting, also keep your painting away from hot radiators! Remember to never expose the oil painting to extreme heat, extreme cold or extreme amount of water. Damages occur due to poor environmental conditions and materials in a painting respond by contracting and expanding. The paint will crack and wood may spit because the structure becomes stressed.

Handling with the artwork

Think about the stretched canvas when you must lean the painting somewhere. The surface is very delicate and can not be leaned against any pointed objects. That will leave a buckle to the canvas and it’s very hard to stretch out again properly, if even possible at all. Instead think about leaning the painting to the stretcher bars (wood) to prevent any damage.

Canvas and wood damage

If you care for the oil painting it will probably never happen. But if something bad would happen anyway, like a crack, hole in the stretched canvas or warps and splits in the wood. Don’t try to repair the damage your self, bring the painting to a professional conservator to fix the damage properly. It probably won’t cost a lot and it’s sure worth it.

Cleaning

Oil paintings don’t need a lot of attention once framed and hanging on the wall. It takes time before paintings collect any dust at all. But it’s not good for a painting to be dusty because a thick layer can dry out the paint and that results in cracking or peeling. Also don’t forget to dust the frame regularly; well it just doesn’t look good with a dusty frame around a beautiful painting. Never spray anything like an ordinary cleaning agent to the surface of the canvas, dust with soft dry cloth. Varnish the surface of the painting if it looks a bit dry. It creates a protective surface which will both enhance and keep the surface safe from possible cracking.

Transport and storage

If you are moving or if you must transport your oil painting for another reason, you have to transport the painting with proper way of packing. Try to create a flat cardboard box and wrap around two layers of bubble wrap or Styrofoam around the painting before packing it to the box you created, this way you will prevent any possible damages. Make sure to measure the painting with the bubblewrap already around it to prevent creating the box too small.

Even though it`s more expensive, you can pack your artwork the way I do. First wrap around a plastic conservation grade protection layer to protect the artwork against any scratches or alike. Add one thick cardboard or hardboard layer to each side of the artwork, then wrap many layers of bubble wrap around the artwork and cardboards. After that has been done, pack it with thick waterproof covering. This way of packing takes less time then creating a cardboard box, but it`s very effective and it really helps to prevent any damage. Read more and see images of how I pack my pet portraits and portrait paintings in the art packaging section.

Don’t forget to unpack the painting as soon as possible to avoid moisture build-up through time, because that also might damage your painting.