Friday, November 13, 2015

Lightfastness or just being silly......

An accidental study in light fastness.


Using and loving the Twinkling H2O's I remember a fellow student asking our teacher whether or not the twinks were light fast. She couldn't give an answer to that because she had not been testing it.
I didn't test it in purpose either, when my painting were done I sat it in a south faced window, meaning lots of strong light and sun. My painting has been sitting there for a year and a half, back of painting facing the window. You might remember this painting from April 2014.


The canvas, on which this is painted, I made myself. It's a hard book cover, gessoed and sanded. New thin layer of gesso and a very thin cotton fabric on top. When dry I carefully sanded the fabric to get rid of any fibers peeking up, and then I did my painting. Now, a year and a half later, this is how it looks.


The blue background color and most of the greens have faded. The owl looks good, except for the beek, which has lost the color. But, have a look at the eyes, the darkest colors used, still looks the same.
Now, I can't tell if the gesso or the fabric or both have influenced the Twinks. The fabric may have had a coating, so it's hard to be sure. Lots of heating up and cooling down has happened over time, that might matter as well. One should perhaps try it using good quality paper and then see over time. Another thing is that most people would NOT hang their art in direct sunshine, whether it's front or back.
Below is a photo of the two together for a better comparison. 

Please do not understand this as the final conclusion to light fastness of the Twinks, 

 but it did happen with this painting.


 I would love to hear it if any of you have your own experiences or thoughts on this topic, please leave a comment so that we all can get the information. Thank you.

Linking to Paint Party Friday  

Happy PPF everyone! 

8 comments:

  1. It is so incredible what the sun does to paints. You never know if you do not try :) Thank you for sharing. Happy PPF :)

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  2. I have never really looked to see if things have fade, but I will do now! Love the owl, by the way. Happy PPF, hugs, Valerie

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  3. It's strange but I prefer the faded version although it is worrying that a colour you choose to put down can change so much.

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  4. I don't mind the change! I think the fabric was a big factor because I have had many a curtain completely destroyed by straight sun! It would be interesting to see if the paper one fades too! It might though since sun is so powerful. Food for thought here! Love your owl both ways!

    Hugs Giggles

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  5. An interesting, though unintentional, experiment. The original owl looks like springtime while the faded one looks like autumn. Both beautiful!

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  6. Good to know about how light fast these paints are. We often just assume our pieces will last a long time, but I guess not all those supplies as as light fast as we would like. I do think the faded piece still looks inetersting-with almost a little more of textural feel.

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  7. First the painting is excellent. That is such a drastic change.

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