Awhile ago I posted on a little sheet of copper I had prepared for painting on. Here’s what’s on it now. Oil on copper, 5 × 7”. It’s not done yet—I need to correct a couple of elipses and clarify some of the details. But so far I like it.
The copper takes oil paint like nothing else I’ve worked on. Normally, any surface is either absorbent or slick. Either way, the initial application of oil paint can be a bit of struggle. Not copper. The paint flows right off the brush, with no streakiness, chattering, staining, or other problems. Also, you can incorporate the tone of the copper itself into the painting. I need to find a source for bigger sheets of thin copper to paint on.
did you prime the copper?
I want to try this. If I remember correctly, you didn’t have to do any preparation beyond an abrasion of the surface, right? I imagine you just got the panels at Lowes/HomeDepot/SomethingLikeThat?
Historically, oil on copper was primed with white lead, but I didn’t do that (you can see the unpainted copper in the photo). All I did was sand the surface to give it a bit of tooth, then clean with denatured alcohol to get rid of any grease. Since the copper is pretty thin (I’d guess 20 gauge) I glued it to 1/4 inch hardboard. It’s just a piece of copper, intended for patching copper gutters, from Home Depot. I’m looking into sources for larger copper plates; so far, kind of expensive.
Ben Shamback (http://www.benjaminshamback.com/) does a lot of painting on copper, aluminum and steel. I believe there’s an article on his work in the November issue of American Artist.
I’m a student studying silversmithing, but my first love is painting…I’ve been trying to incorporate painting into metalwork and I only now thought to just paint directly onto the metal — even though it was the obvious choice. (I’ve set canvas into metal frames, worked with transfer enamell and coating paintings on card in clear resin…and never thought to paint onto copper.)
Anyway, I was just wondering (while I’m waiting for my test pieces to dry) has anyone tried oil on precious metals — like silver? I’m too scared to try given the cost of the sheet metal! Also, how durable is the piece? Is the oil likely to chip or flake off after it has dried? Naturally when making pieces to wear they need to withstand at least a few knocks…
Zapp,
Oil on copper is a traditional medium that goes back centuries. It is very stable and works great. Oil on aluminum is more modern, but appears to be fine. I have not heard of oil on silver, probably because of the expense and because tarnishing could potentially cause problems. That doesn’t mean you can’t try it.