Your Arts N' Crafts

Rickie (63.176.159.132) -

I recently painted a picture using oil base paint. When I brought it home and hung it, my daughter decided to test the paint to see if it was dry and left a smear across the bottom corner.

How long SHOULD you allow for a painting to dry?

Comment #1 Valerie from Kildare,Ireland (Contact Member) -

When I started painting I used oil's, a lovely medium but takes ages to dry.Most artists say between 3 to 6 months to be totally dry but I found about 4 weeks depending how thick you use the paint.After changing to acrylics it made life so much easier and enjoyable.

Comment #2 Jeremiah Shine (67.190.109.232) -

There are additives that will speed or slow dry-times. I have been using cobalt drier added to my linseed oil. It decreases dry time dramatically. Japan drier does as well, but will leave the paint more brittle, lending it to application on hard surfaces(boards) as opposed to canvasses that flex with humidity and movement.

Comment #3 Jason from UK (Contact Member) -

Hi there, we usually leave Oil based paintings at least 6 weeks to dry fully but you can use fast drying oil paints to solve this problem. I think Windsor and Newton do a good range.

• canvas prints

Comment #4 Yvette (196.25.215.54) -

I used linseed oil while doing oil painting, and it has been 4 days now and the first lean layer is not dry yet. Am I doing something wrong?

Comment #5 Nelson (116.30.158.89) -

Hi, Usually it takes around 2-7 days, depending on the thickness of the oil.

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