American Artist

Using Windex on Acetate Film

Q: I use an acetate film to protect my watercolors when I present them to clients and when I store them. Often, I use Windex to clean off fingerprints on the acetate. Do the chemicals in the Windex pose any problems to the pigments on the paper?

Extreme Studio Temperatures

Q: I currently keep all of my finished oil and pastel paintings in my Manhattan studio. In the winter, the studio gets very hot because I can't control the heat. Can the extreme temperature hurt my paintings?

Reusing Thinner

Q: Is it possible to reuse thinner or turpentine?

Using Oils on Paper

Q: When I paint on paper with oil paints, it is all right to prime it with acrylic medium?

Stapling Canvas

Q: I've heard that placing staples at an angle rather than parallel to the weave gives greater strength to a stretched canvas. Is this true?

Painting on Raw Linen

Q: I like the color of raw linen and the effect I get when painting directly on it with oil colors, but I have been told that this practice is problematic. Do I have to use primer and give up my favorite way to paint?

Drying Time for Watercolors

Q: I recently painted a watercolor that contained a larger, dark-brownish area where I combined Van Dyke brown, burnt umber, and green earth. In that spot, the paint took nearly two weeks to dry. What do you think occurred?

Using a Grisaille

Q: What is a grisaille technique, and how can it help me?

Framing Acrylic Paintings on Paper

Q: I work primarily in watermedia and occasionally complete paintings done entirely with acrylic washes on paper or illustration board. How should I frame these works, and how does this method compare to handling oil paintings over paper?

Stretcher Keys

Q: What are those strips of plastic on the back of my prestretched canvases?