Best support option to protect against high humidity?

[Marcus Lim]

Originally Posted by Mary Jane Ansell

Marcus, I shall do my best to get it thoroughly dry, actually thats a bit of a worry though as that may be very hard indeed - the family are coming back to the UK at Christmas to collect it!! :-/

Hi Mary, i meant to say the painting needs to be dried with the lowest moisture level as possible, when i suggested drying adequately. What we're concerned about is the explosion of mold bacteria that may sit with the painting dormantly in the temperate region and into Asia.

It's the same idea as having yourself in an air-conditioned environment and moving into the hot summer sun immediately - you'll find yourself drenched with moisture! That's what i want to say.

[Richard Bingham]

Just a couple more thoughts. MDF would be the worst possible choice for panel material in my opinion, because being compounded of wood flour, glue binders of indeterminate composition, and floor-sweepings, it is neither structural nor does it resist the absorption of ambient humidity even as well as solid wood.

Vacuum packing would be a solution if the painting were never to be exposed to a climate other than the one in which it was painted. The slower the change to different ambient conditions, the better - hence, a "slow boat to China" would be theoretically better than air freight!

Curiously, ambient humiditiy does not affect the "drying" of oil paints and the varnishes and solvents normally used with it. Oxidation is the process which "dries" paint, and while high humidity may affect the rate which solvents and volatiles "off-gas" in the process, oftimes, paint will actually "cure" better in the presence of some moisture than in a bone-dry climate such as in the Arizona desert.

Finally, one of the properties of paints which has enabled such coatings to preserve wood and other materials, is the fact that the vehicles employed are innately pretty good fungicides/bactericides. A relatively fresh painting will be unlikely to "grow" stuff . . . terpenes and other volatiles would prevent that. To this end, it would be advisable to apply a coating of an oil ground to the back of any painting support. The open backside of a canvas sized with hide glue would present an ideal medium for growing "things", however!

[Richard Monro]

ABS panels would be a good bet. These plastic panels are dimensionally stable and fairly impervious to moisture. Do a Forum search for ABS panels and you will find that a lot of noted portrait artists use them with great success.

[Paul Foxton]

Hi Mary,

I've been doing a bit of hunting around myself recently on options for supports, and came across this page about Dibond which may interest you:

http://www.welshartsarchive.org.uk/a...els-burton.htm

[Mary Jane Ansell]

Thank you all very much. I've researched the very helpful points raised further and have to say Paul, I'm really impressed with the Dibond you mention... I've just spoken to them and they were extremely helpful despite my very small requirements.

I was sold before they explained that The Tate and many other galleries use Dibond as a support for artwork or for any number of other uses.

I eagerly await my sample!

MaryJane.

[Paul Foxton]

Good news, decent service is hard to find. You're way ahead of me, I haven't even called them yet. Would be very interested to hear what you make of it.

[Margaret Port]

Hi Mary,
I also have problems with high humidity, mold, etc with my work. Mold loves fresh oil paint, it seems. Some years ago I painted quite a few oil on ply pieces. Sealed the support, dried the paint, even varnished the pieces. Finally had to discard them because the mold penetrated throughout.
I now paint only on stretched canvases and mostly don't have any problems.
The best recommendation you can make to your clients is that they hang the piece on an internal wall.
I have a beautiful watercolour under glass which some genius of a framer bonded to craftwood. I had no problems with it until we moved house and it was hung on a wall near a window. Every year I get a furry mold growth on it, as soon as the wet season starts, and I have major dramas having to take it out of the frame, sterilizing the glass, vacuuming the painting, drying it, etc etc..
I have recently found a varnish which is completely invisible, which is especially designed to retard mold growth on anything. I am about to experiment on my watercolour.
cheers Margaret