kneaded bread or gummi erasers

I read that fresh doughy bread is good for cleaning
the surface of oil painted canvases.....but I would likely be taken to task for using such unscientific materials!

alright, I confess, I also used hairspray as
fixative for charcoal and conte drawings when
I was a student.

Has it damaged the paintings at all ( if you still have them around) ?

The bread just removes dust and dirt from the
varnished surface......no damage.

The charcoal drawings are still intact.

The reason that you don't want to use hairspray as opposed to fixative is 1. the spray might not be as even, resulting in droplets
and
2. Hairspray is acidic, whereas fixitave is not. Hence, your fixed drawing will yellow and decompose with hairspray over time, that time depending on the acid content of the hairspray.

It takes me about 2 hours (ingredients, rising, kneading, rising) to make bread dough. Even at my hourly wage of $10/hr, it would be much more efficient for me to work for two hours and then buy a kneaded eraser than it would be for me to make bread to be sacrificed.

You can use all kinds of non-traditional art materials. If you don't care about the permanence of your artwork, you can use anything you want - paper bags, trash, etc.

I save money on oil paints by buying from RGH artists oil paints (online) which comes in jars and then tubing it myself. Also, sometimes you can find great deals on art supplies on e-bay.

The bread dough I am talking about is from freshly
baked doughy bread.

The hairspray was used on art school exercises.....

for printmaking the inventive use of non-traditional
materials such as leaves etc. makes for some
terrific results....

stale bread works just as well - and an ink rubber is great for drawing back into charcoal (light into dark) and lasts a lot longer than those stupid kneadable rubbers that get filthy and don't work as well. i don't like them at all.

baby oil is great for cleaning hands after oil painting and a lot kinder than turps or white spirit and cheap cheap cooking oil cleans the brushes well - just wash thoroughly with soap and water afterwards to remove it all.

I know Robert Rauschenberg used a lot of non
traditional materials......I wonder how his work
is surviving....

someone who used to work in the next studio space to mine used to use cheap cooking oil instead of linseed in his paintings - it'll be interesting to see the archival quality (not) of that!

I started out - well, not quite true, but within the time of my first painting classes, used some of our enamel (the old fashioned oil enamel) housepaint....

ah, well, I gave that painting away..

I wonder if Rauschenberg's stuffed goat in
his combine "Monogram" 1955-56 was
of archival quality!!!!!!

Well, sheesh, at least it wasn't derivative, she says.









Further comment -
Everything is derivative in some way, small or large. 'tis the mix that counts, in my view.

viv, I thought I was the only one who worshipped ink rubbers . I have one with erasing fluid in it, works great.

Also, using pieces of tape where you want your highlights before you put down charcoal will make them incredibly bright when you pull the tape off.

I've never thought of using tape with charcoal - I'll definitely use it in future, I like the idea. I've used it with paint in the same way,

I don't think ink rubbers with erasing fluid are available here? I'll keep my eyes open in case - it sounds great.

I have upgraded materials on occasion....like
using watered down white glue for papier mache
instead of flour and water.

Your post answers my question about the acidic effects of hairspray but what I was wondering is if you have any suggestions as to help slow or combat the decomposition of a drawing that was done years and years ago (maybe 25 years ago?). Obviously, the colors have faded a bit but my real concern is that the paper is thinning and wearing and decomposing and although I have not sprayed the picture with anything recently I do remember that it was sprayed with hairspray at the time that it was completed (and a few times in the days after that, I think). Although my parents did not do the best job of protecting it all these years it is, nonetheless, still intact and I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible so I'm wondering if you have any ideas on how I can slow any further damage. Obviously, I can't undo or restore what has been lost but I'm hoping to maintain what quality there is left so any information would be appreciated. Thank you, Shannon

Welcome to a2k, Shannon. This is an old thread that is fun for me to see again. We still have some artists here that I hope will see your question. It might take a day or two.

Welcome to a2k, Shannon. This is an old thread that is fun for me to see again. We still have some artists here that I hope will see your question. It might take a day or two. I'm not an expert re best methods to stave off the effects of time on work that is decomposing but I'll be back if no one else answers.