Customer question about the Arches Oil Paper:
“With water based paints including water mixable oil and traditional water colour, will the paper buckle in the same way as 140lb watercolour paper buckles?”
I did some quick tests to answer the question.
The paints are clockwise from the top: Oil, Watercolour & Water-mixable Oil.
1. The oil is used with solvent and works beautifully on the paper.
2. The water beads up on the paper and the paper does not buckle much at all. The watercolour does not flow unless there is loads of water, it sort of beads up, too- notice the edges.
3. The water-mixable oil acts similarly to the watercolour.
So the quick samples show that the paper likes solvents best 🙂
9 thoughts on “Arches Oil Paper updates”
So it paints well with oil. But what about framing?
Does it have to be under glass? If so, won’t the oil paint leach into a mount?
Hi Don.
Most people will use it for sketches in oil, not finished work.
But if you do a finished painting on paper it should probably be framed behind glass for protection. Many people think oil on canvas should be behind glass as well. The mounts they use are usually wood filets, sometimes covered with linen. Although the oil will not leach into a paper mount if the paint is dry. An oil painting is dry 6 months to 2 years after painting when it can be safely varnished.
Many thanks Julie. By coincidence I’ve seen two oils on paper (different professional artists) in an exhibition today. Both were under glass, one in a conventional heavy oil-type frame without fillets, the other in a watercolour type frame with a mount. Re varnishing, I wonder how many artists have the patience to wait two years. And I wonder how Turner managed with those paintings he completed at the RA on ‘varnishing day’?
Hi Don
I always seem to notice things around that I am thinking about, so I know how that goes 🙂
If you paint thinly 6 months is enough, but some artists don’t varnish at all, I think, they sell before it is dry enough to varnish.
It seems more important to varnish acrylics than oils anyway, as they are more sticky and museums say it is harder to clean off the dust that gets embedded in the surface.
From the RA “The RA Non-Members Varnishing Day – the term Varnishing Day comes from the historic tradition of artists like Turner and Constable coming in the day before the Summer Exhibition opened to varnish and enhance their paintings so that they stood out from the crowd of art in this tightly hung show.”
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Hi Julie, I have a quick question about the paper.. I’ve recently started using it for finished work. It’s great stuff, but I find it works best/ or is nicer to work on after a first coat is applied as the paper is quite absorbant/thirsty to begin with so not great for detail to begin with.
My question is – could you use a coat (or two) of oil primer/canvas sealer on the paper first in order to give the paper a smoother feel? ..until they get on with that Hot Press version 🙂
Hi Jon
I don’t see why you couldn’t use a coat of sealer or primer. My only concern would be that it be flexible so that the flexibility of the paper didn’t crack the oil paint any more than you have to. I think the best practice would be to use the paper only for oil painting in a very thin layer. Staining and super thin would crack less. To prevent cracking thicker oil painting should be done on a rigid surface like a wood panel or canvas mounted on a board.
Thanks for the reply Julie! I was thinking to try out a layer of clear canvas sealer (spectrum), as it should keep the flexibility, but hopefully provide a layer that is not so absorbant? I would work with thin layers of oil after, as you say.
Sounds good Jon. Let me know how it works for you?
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