(Cont'd)
U.S. Patent 5,700,858. Patent pending worldwide.
Preheat the oven to 265°F/129°C. Place your painting on a cookie sheet slightly larger than your frame. You may choose to place some small spacers between the cookie sheet and the painting to allow heat to circulate. Leave the painting in the oven for at least 10 to 15 minutes, and allow longer time for thicker works.
Remove your painting from the oven and allow it to cool fully before handling or overpainting. Never use the broiler to dry, as it is very likely to burn the paint and/or substrate.
Cold Oven
The cold-start method brings the temperature up slowly.
Place the painting on a cookie sheet for easier handling. You might want to place spacers under it to allow heat to flow more freely to the back. Put the cookie sheet with the painting on it on the oven rack at about mid-height in the oven. Close the door and set the temperature to approximately 265°F/129°C.
Allow time for the oven to reach 265°F/129°C and leave the painting in for an additional period of at least 10 to 15 minutes (longer for thicker applications). Do not exceed 280°F/138°C.
Radiant Heat
Paint and dry at least three small paintings before attempting a large canvas using radiant heat. This familiarizes you with the visuals of drying and helps you gain an understanding of drying speed.
Radiant heaters are readily available in hardware stores and in many general and department stores. They are also available through the Internet and mail-order catalogs. Some radiant heaters have fans to help move the air. Fans might blow dust on to your painting and must be cleaned frequently.
Generally, the heaters have at least two settings. The lower one is generally about half the heat of the higher one. Experiment with the heater you choose. We have found several that work very well when placed between one and two feet away from the painted surface. Because radiant heat can overheat a painting, it is very important to attend to the heating process.
• Time has no bearing on your application. When you have completely blocked in your painting or large section, you can chose to dry this layer.
• With the radiant heater, make large slow passes over the area to be dried in either a vertical or horizontal motion. You’ll see the paint dry as you go.
• After the painting dries completely, you can continue to paint.
• Finish painting by using the heat gun to spot dry.
• For added confidence in the finished work, some artists use radiant heat as a final dry.
Drying with a Toaster Oven
For small paintings, a toaster oven is very efficient to use.
Place the painting in the oven and set the oven at 225ºF/107ºC. Heat for five to 15 minutes, canvas board and gesso board will dry evenly over the whole surface. If you are drying a stretched canvas, make sure the edges are dry. Because of the wooden frame, the edges may take longer to heat.
Always place the paintings on the wire rack to help heat circulation.
