John Myers Fine Art

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Picture Care

 

As with any original oil painting it is important to understand some basics for caring for your art work. The process used to do the oil/burned pictures you see here, involves a fair amount of blending into the grain of the wood.  Some is colored heavily while other areas only have a slight layer of oil color added. 

Oil takes a considerable time to cure.  Standard paintings take months before they are ready to be handled.  Even then, artists are careful and tend to never touch their work once the final strokes are complete.  Processes to recondition or restore oil paintings exist but must be done very carefully in the hands of an experienced individual.

Here are some guidelines for caring for yours:

1. Never run your fingers across the drawing.  This is especially important during the first few months.  Since the pictures on this site have a considerable amount of detail (Often not seen in the pictures on the site), its possible to smear fine colored lines or diminish the sharpness of the image. It takes hours and sometimes days to add color to these pictures. Its done with a combination of razor sharp oil pencils and various brushes. It doesn't take much to ruin a picture by being careless.  On many occasions I have witnessed curious people running their fingers across the burned lines to see if there really burned.  The oil on their finger combined with their body heat makes a perfect blending tool. 

Many of these drawings feature a style which makes them very three dimensional.   This adds to the curiosity which leads to feeling the drawing with their fingers. If you really have to, be very careful, treating it like a sliver of glass in the tip of your finger.

2.) The frames on these are also hand made to fit the plank of wood.  Grain differences, wood color and the appearance of the picture are meant to be one. Those who have the unfinished frames can take a piece of 180-400 grit sand paper to take out smudges or finger prints on the frame. If you do this make certain that you protect the drawing by not arbitrarily placing your fingers in the wrong place while sanding. Be careful!

3.) The frames are bonded by professional wood glue which is resistant to water. The pictures are placed within the frame using hardwood spacers in four places.   These spacers help to center the picture while adding reinforcement to the frame sides. We offer a guarantee in which we will repair the frame for nothing for the life of the picture.  Although not advisable..If your picture is located in a wet area it may be wise to periodically check it.  As with any wood, excessive moisture will cause expansion and possibly lead to failure in the glue joints.

If you have further questions please contact us.

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