How do you remove ink from an oil painting? November 27, 2009
Posted by Kuba in : Drawing & Illustration , trackback
Samia asked:
My little niece thought it would be nice to add her touches to a family portrait made of oil paint. Any suggestions on how to remove ink from a regular papermate pen with out ruining the portrait?
My little niece thought it would be nice to add her touches to a family portrait made of oil paint. Any suggestions on how to remove ink from a regular papermate pen with out ruining the portrait?
Comments»
Hmmm. . . I’d like to say that there might be some sort of magical cleaning chemical that would be able to get rid of the pen without damaging the oils beneath it, but sadly, I really can’t think of one offhand. Even citrus based cleaners are likely to effect the oils beneath the pen and change the tone of the paints.
My only and best advice would be to take a blade from an Xacto knife, available at just about any hobby store, or model building shop, and LIGHTLY scrape away at JUST the pen lines. Start on a small portion of one of the marks, say in an area that is not a high attention area of the painting, just to see if its working out for you. The paints may have been treated to stand the tests of time, and I can’t be sure what grade of canvas was used, so again, go easy.
This generally works on illustrations that I create, and doesn’t ruin the board or plate of the stock that I use when I do it.
Again, if you attempt to do this, use patience, use attention, and go easy, don’t just jump in and jab away at the canvas. You’ll ruin the painting straight away.
Now, if you try it on just a small bit of one of the lines, and THAT doesn’t work, I would attempt to get in contact with a local museum, specifically, the curator or any person on staff who restores art there, and see if they might loan you some expertise, or better yet, some of the chemicals they use to restore paintings in that museum.
Good luck! I’d hate to see you lose a family heirloom!
I think I would NOT use an exacto knife on your oil painting! Take it to a professional and find out if it is possible to fix it.
I might try, on one tiny little line, a q-tip with some alcohol on it. See what happens. BE CAREFULL!!!
Use plain rubbing alcohol or if you can get it, methyl alcohol (colourless anti-freeze). If it leaves a haze when dry, rub the area lightly with a drop (no more than a drop) of cooking oil.
PLEASE do not use solvents like turpentine, turpenoid, citrus thinner or any other household cleaner!!