How to document the history and process of a painting
Oil paints can take a while to dry and I would sometimes find it difficult to rely on my memory to recall when I painted the last layer and what medium I used (as improper layering of mediums and timing can cause future cracking) and how many hours I invested in an artwork (interested people would ask how long a piece took me to paint but I would be unsure whether it took 20 hours or twice that because when I get into flow state I lose track of time.)
Whilst every original painting is different there are certain procedures I wanted to systemise for efficiency and consistency. Less than a year ago I drafted a document with a check list of sorts. I printed out several copies and kept this form in my studio to fill in each day I painted so that by the time I finished a piece I would have clear documentation of the materials used, dates and times painted, and made sure that I had adequate photographic and video documentation etc.
I have just varnished my first painting that I have documented using this system. Here are the results so far!
TOP LEFT: The form I created to document the painting process of ‘Mint Drop’ (Top right)
There are some adjustments I will make to the Forms formatting (I would like more space in the section regarding Layers and the pigments, medium, date, time spent). If I had a laptop I would prefer to enter this information in the studio directly rather than making scribbles as time went on and type up a final draft on my iMac desktop later. Although there is something rather nice about the hand written scribbles as they feel like a Captains Log of the journey of this painting.
Some things I do love about this documentation:
I have all the information centralised on one sheet of paper
It was clear as day when the last layer was painted and therefore when it was safe to move onto the next layer or varnishing. On some of the other forms I also note what section I worked on last so that I can safely work on another part of the piece whilst the other dries.
How many hours I had spent on this particular painting over the weeks / months it took in total to paint it is clear. Note this is just painting time and does not include researching the stimuli, developing concept, photographing, marketing etc of the work.
After a painting is sold I always forget the dimensions of the piece and can no longer whip out my measuring tape to measure it - with this Document I have all the information there
I can check that I have completed all the tasks that I can do to help the art work succeed
Once I type up this information and save it on my computer it will be efficient to have a well written version of the ‘Inspiration / Story behind the work’ that I can copy and paste when sharing the work to Media, social media etc.
If you would like to use a variation of this form to document your own painting process feel free to copy and paste the below and make adjustments to your liking:
TITLE:
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: (Scribble or written description to identify piece)
MEDIUM SUMMARY: (e.g. Oil on canvas)
SUPPORT: (e.g. Belgian Acrylic Primed Linen 435GSM…)
LAYERS - DATE + PIGMENTS + MEDIUMS + DURATION: (e.g. Layer 1, 24/10/20, Lead white PW1 + Burnt Sienna PB7, 3 hours)
VARNISH TYPE + DATE: (Gamvar 2/9/21)
HANGING SYSTEM / PROTECTIVE BACKING: (e.g. D rings, Protective backing - yes, Coroplast)
DIMENSIONS: LENGTH: __ WIDTH:__ HEIGHT__
SIGNED Y/N + LOCATIONS:
YEAR COMPLETED:
TOTAL TIME TO PAINT: (Add duration times from Layer section)
PLACE OF CREATION: (plein air locaiton/s, studio, etc)
INSPIRATION / STORY BEHIND THE WORK:
DOCUMENTATION**
[ ] WORK IN PROGRESS PHOTOGRAPHS
[ ] WORK PROGRESS VIDEOS
[ ] IMAGES OF ARTIST WITH WORK
[ ] VIDEO OF ARTIST TALKING ABOUT WORK
[ ] CLOSE UP PHOTOGRAPH OF ARTIST SIGNATURE
[ ] PHOTOGRAPH OF SIDES OF ARTWORK E.G. CANVAS EDGES
[ ] PHOTOGRAPH OF BACK OF ARTWORK (TO SHOW HANGING SYSTEM AND / OR PROTECTIVE BACKING)
[ ] PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPH / SCAN OF THE WORK (For use for potential high quality prints, marketing etc)
[ ] IMAGE OF WORK STYLED IN AN INTERIOR (I style the work at home or create a display using Artplacer)
[ ] OTHER: ____
Other information that may be of benefit to have localized in the one document as an overall history of the artwork may be:
Framing details
A space to note the name and contact details of the Buyer
Exhibition history, awards, press etc (Although you may prefer to put this under the ‘Story behind the work’ section)
*Backing boards for paintings on stretched canvas provide a preventative conservation measure to protect against canvas punctures from behind, dirt and debris falling between the lower stretcher and canvas etc.
**This is a checklist of photographs and video to assist marketing the work (e.g. work in progress photographs for newsletters and social media), and giving plenty of information to buyers (e.g. see pictured that the artwork is signed, ready to hang). It also helps document the history of the work for storytelling purposes.
