ART TIP OF THE WEEK

PAINTING OVER OLD OIL PAINTINGS

Painting over old oil paintings or ones you have not touched for a while can lead to delaminating or at least a problem getting the paint to adhere. It may bead up especially if you are using a lot of medium.

An old trick I learned from a German painter seems to solve this, though it may lead to some tears…

First, clean your painting well using a lint free cloth, then go down to the kitchen and find a nice white onion. Cut the onion in half and rub it on the surface area you want to paint over, wipe your eyes and let the onion juices dry. Now take a cloth or brush and rub the surface down with some linseed or walnut oil (I prefer walnut as it does not yellow and reeks much less than rancid linseed oil), wipe off the excess oil and paint your little heart out.

This will work on paintings that have dried for a looong time but not on ones that have developed any cracks or chipping.