I answered your question in the article, since it is topical to its content.

[I posted this message as a comment under “Painting on Wood Panels,” before realizing that it should be a discussion here; my apologies.] I bought a full sheet of MDO G2S, which is now cut into pieces no larger than 24×24″, but I’m at a loss how to proceed. What do I need to do to use these panels (a) for oil painting directly on the board, or…

Read more

Hi Stephen,

I know what you’re trying to do in exploring oils and in my experience, letting it dry is the best approach to “isolate” as you say. On a dry piece you can apply VERY thin glazes to alter a color. You can add an object without ruining what ‘s already there. If you don’t like, just wipe it away. To be more drastic you can sand…

Read more

Thanks George. I am open-mindedly exploring everything. I have no real process, but I am trying to discover and improve as I go along and develop one.

So far, learning to paint has meant exploring different effects, and if I find something that I think looks good, in watercolor I can use the lac varnish to fix it in place so I can try…

Read more

The purpose of Lac Water Varnish is not so much to serve as an isolation layer as to act as a fixative. Watercolor is easily lifted when brushing over with more color or water. This makes glazing difficult and building up color depth nearly impossible. With Lac Water Varnish, you can fix the paint on paper and do multiple passes of paint.…

Read more

I’m new to the world of painting, and I am learning by doing – so this might be an obvious question/answer to the initiated.

I have been mostly painting with oil, but have been stepping into watercolors also. One thing that I have been utilizing is using the NP lac water varnish as an isolation layer over a watercolor so I could not only…

Read more

Stephen, I’ve seen provenance sheets glued to the protective backing so it can be read by just flipping the ptng around. Also, most artists I know will sign & write some brief info on the stretcher bar or back of solid substrate with a marker, this may or may not be visible depending on protective backing used. Also, if you flip some older…

Read more

Dear Stephen, D rings are the universal requirement for hanging framed paintings. All shows including museums require D rings.

On my larger pieces that have considerable weight I use a French Cleat. These are harder to come by and I had them custom made by Charles Hannesly shop.

I have no recommendation for non framed works.

Sincerely,

Clark Louis Gussin

We do not recommend applying any coating to the reverse side of stretched canvas paintings. Instead, the best practice is to use a backing board. There is an article about installing backboards on canvas paintings.

Could you guys recommend best practices for wiring/hanging my paintings? I have mostly oil paintings on canvas, 1.5″x1.5″ stretcher supports, up to 36″x48″ that need hanging. I’m not doing frames, and thus far the ones I’ve weighed are between 0-10lbs. I’m seeing d-rings and coated wire on YT. Any thoughts?

Thank you all in advance,

-Stephen

Thank you, Jan, those are excellent suggestions. Do you have an associated suggestion for how and where to attach these to the back? Will they be screwed to the wood stretchers? In sealed plastic? Is there some standardized way to attach this certificate/photo/metadata so that it is durable and also a best practice?

-Stephen

Stephen, after you’ve taken steps to protect yr work, don’t forget to attach a “Certificate of Authenticity” to the back. This is appreciated by collectors and will aid “Provenance”. There are examples around the net, but it should at least include Title, Year, Medium, Dimensions, your name and signature. Nice additions could be a small…

Read more

Thank you sir. I’m looking forward to that!

A follow up question – is there any advantage to putting some layers of ground (in this case, acrylic “gesso”) on the back of the canvas to help its stability and general durability? If so, I could start applying the same treatments front and back as a matter of procedure now before I go any further.

Stephen,
I am working on an article that provides detailed information on best practices for documenting artwork. I plan to have the article ready tomorrow.

If you are discussing backing boards for canvas paintings, we recommend a dual system: a plastic exterior (e.g., Coroplast) and matboard on the inside, facing the rear of the canvas. It can…

Read more

I started painting July 2025. I have kept detailed notes and a catalogue on my paintings in a journal, but I wanted to know best practices for what notations I should be writing on the backs of my finished pieces? I have completed 53 mostly oil (all painted on canvas – didn’t know any better) and now watercolor paintings (on various papers) so…

Read more

Thank you, George!

You can add gold pearlescent pigment to your medium and apply it, but pearlescent pigments do not imitate gold if that is what you are seeking. At best, it does provide a golttery gold-like surface.

I am looking for something to glaze an intricate wood applique with gold. I am painting the applique with white & want the gold in the recesses. Would the Gold Pearlescent pigment work for this? What medium would be the best? My original plan was to use glazing medium found in paint department/stores. The glazes I have seen aren’t very metallic…

Read more

James, thanks for posting this. The Titanium Zinc would definitely be a deal breaker for me. I saw a lovely painting in a museum wherein the artist used a titanium zinc white, all the light passages are cracking even tho it’s a fairly recent work. So sad.

Thank you for confirming this suspicion!

You can see from their reply that Artifx, a French canvas company, uses zinc in its oil grounds. They state “titnaium zinc.” Artefex is a company in California that makes ACM panels, and their grounds, whether on ACM or canvas-mounted ACM, consist of Rublev Colours Lead Alkyd Ground.

Ah yes, I see. I misunderstood

I specifically asked George and Tatiana about the popular oil-primed linen made by ArtFix in France. Anton’s company, Artefex, uses zinc-free oil priming, but I had (and still have) questions about this other product.

Weren’t they talking about Artefex, not Artfix?

Referencing the question I asked in August’s Cohorts meeting about pre-primed linen by ArtFix, I attached the response I got from its manufacturer. However, I don’t really understand what it means. I certainly don’t like seeing the word “zinc” in the reply.