After drying for about 6 months, I applied a matte finish on this, and now finally got it framed after several delays. The nice part in oil painting is that it’s not a hurried pursuit.
Here’s a closer shot from when the painting was finished + progress: https://art.plantmonster.net/pieces/123.html
Pretty much. It depends on a lot of factors, like how thick it’s gone on, which colours and what specific oils or additives are in the paint, what surface it’s on, how that surface was prepared etc, what the temperature and humidity of the room it’s stored in is. It’s not unheard of for artworks to be delivered to major exhibitions with paint that’s still wet round the edges, especially if it’s been a little “blobbed on”.
For the varnishing, it might be surface/touch dry a lot sooner, but the paint is still wet underneath - so “6 months before varnishing” is the general rule most people follow. There are some synthetic quick-drying varnishes which (in theory) if applied gently and carefully, will still allow the paint to “breathe” and let you apply it sooner, allowing the painting to continue drying out after varnishing.
Excellent post. It’s exactly this. My art teacher taught me that if you apply varnish too early, the wet layers beneath the surface may crack with time.