Light and Temperature Vs. Oil Paintings
The beauty of oil paintings may be indelibly imprinted on your mind but its aesthetic appearance may not last long without proper care. Cleaning oil paintings can give you extreme cases of migraine if you aren’t aware of the proper procedures of cleaning oil paintings.
The beauty of oil paintings may be indelibly imprinted on your mind but its aesthetic appearance may not last long without proper care. Cleaning oil paintings can give you extreme cases of migraine if you aren’t aware of the proper procedures of cleaning oil paintings.
There are a lot of factors that can affect oil paintings but for now we’ll be concentrating on two major causes or sources of damage of oil paintings only. These two sources are light and temperature levels. Only a few people are aware that something as simple as light and temperature levels in rooms containing oil painting may be the reason behind damaged oil paintings.
Because of ill-suited light and temperature levels, there may be certain spots in your oil paintings that would darken, to the point that the drawing is barely visible anymore.
To prevent future or further damage towards your precious oil paintings, do follow the tips we’ll be discussing in the following paragraphs regarding the correct light and temperature levels.
Light, Light Go Away.
As mentioned, light levels can easily affect your oil paintings. According to experts, the ideal light level in rooms containing oil paintings should be about 200lux – give or take a lux or two, I suppose – and before you even think of asking, I’ll answer it right now: Yes, it’s possible to measure the light level without having to become a rocket scientist.
All you should do is utilize the light meter of a 35mm camera and voila, measure away! Now, just in case that there’s no other better lighted room to transfer the oil paintings, simply try your best to keep direct sunlight from touching their surface. And if you’re even considering using ordinary fluorescent bulbs to highlight your oil paintings – do not, I beg you, go ahead with it! Remember, our theme is “light, light go away!” and not “light, come near!”. If you really want a spotlight to illuminate your oil paintings, do make sure that it’s at least ten feet away from them to minimize any damage.
Rain, Rain Go Away
Again, like I’ve told you in the earlier paragraphs, temperature levels can also drastically affect your oil paintings. Humidity, above all things else, can cause damage to your oil paintings. If you truly care about preserving your oil paintings for posterity’s sake, do consider purchasing temperature and humidity sensors.
If your oil paintings are kept at home, it would be impractical to monitor temperature and humidity levels strictly so it’s okay not to keep a precise watch just as long the fluctuations in temperature and humidity levels are not to the extreme.
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