Painting Best Practices | Stephen | Activity https://paintingbestpractices.com/members/stephen-gillian/activity/ Activity feed for Stephen. Sun, 12 Apr 2026 16:49:17 -0700 https://buddypress.org/?v=2.20.0 en-US 30 hourly 2 a13d5ea477a9a2ea12766898575b1da2 Stephen joined the group Oil Paint https://paintingbestpractices.com/activity/p/17117/ Sun, 15 Mar 2026 07:44:19 -0700 0 3a80041d624b8d3bdb582fa41620bce5 Stephen updated their profile https://paintingbestpractices.com/activity/p/16975/ Tue, 10 Feb 2026 01:23:47 -0800 0 032658b9fe0411827f8d463d4d4f82d8 Stephen replied to the discussion help with isolation layers in oil in the forum Cohorts https://paintingbestpractices.com/groups/chohorts/forum/topic/help-with-isolation-layers-in-oil/#post-27477 Mon, 02 Feb 2026 21:59:52 -0800 Reply to help with isolation layers in oil

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…

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]]> 56157494db26171b2741f09dff44627b Stephen started the discussion help with isolation layers in oil in the forum Cohorts https://paintingbestpractices.com/groups/chohorts/forum/topic/help-with-isolation-layers-in-oil/ Mon, 02 Feb 2026 20:36:47 -0800 help with isolation layers in oil

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…

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]]> 1560515c9796c13e8fd5c36a3bd640d6 Stephen started the discussion Best practices for hanging/wiring paintings? in the forum Cohorts https://paintingbestpractices.com/groups/chohorts/forum/topic/best-practices-for-hanging-wiring-paintings/ Mon, 19 Jan 2026 17:04:32 -0800 Best practices for hanging/wiring 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

]]> 3de056d243750b84dfd62507d4a7412c Stephen replied to the discussion Best practices for notations on finished work? in the forum Cohorts https://paintingbestpractices.com/groups/chohorts/forum/topic/best-practices-for-notations-on-finished-work/#post-27356 Mon, 19 Jan 2026 16:55:42 -0800 Reply to Best practices for notations on finished work?

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

]]> 6fba9073cc5a872f9a8e8b6b6973c026 Stephen replied to the discussion Best practices for notations on finished work? in the forum Cohorts https://paintingbestpractices.com/groups/chohorts/forum/topic/best-practices-for-notations-on-finished-work/#post-27348 Fri, 16 Jan 2026 17:51:35 -0800 Reply to Best practices for notations on finished work?

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.

]]> c603c713e9a271256324146753d69d83 Stephen started the discussion Best practices for notations on finished work? in the forum Cohorts https://paintingbestpractices.com/groups/chohorts/forum/topic/best-practices-for-notations-on-finished-work/ Thu, 15 Jan 2026 20:44:51 -0800 Best practices for notations on finished work?

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…

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]]> 65f6898a1cd004cb8c60077ce9999b68 Stephen joined the group Cohorts https://paintingbestpractices.com/activity/p/16930/ Thu, 15 Jan 2026 20:35:52 -0800 0