Archival painting on brass and copper, Primer?

A. A UV curable primer may work for your application. Current, UV primers have very good adhesion to many different metals, and they should be receptive to your paints. They would be clear and flexible. Aging stability should not be an issue, as long as they are not going to be in direct sunlight for years. You may have a problem to find a way to coat and cure a very large sheet, but I hope this was helpful.

A. I have been successfully painting on copper panels for the past year. I get the copper panels from roofing contractor who cut it to size. I sand the surface with fine sandpaper in circular motions. I wash the surface with alcohol and use Alkyd paints thinned with Liquin and turpentine [on eBay or Amazon] . I paint many very thin layers which lets the copper base peak through. These paintings have a brilliance and depth, a luminous quality. I began with oils but they took too long to dry and the surface attracts any air borne particles and spoils the surface. You need to keep the painting in a covered container while it dries, also the brushes to protect from those above mentioned particles. Windsor and Newton which makes Alkyd paint says it will dry in 48 hours but I have been painting a second layer in 24 hours. I do not yet know what the long term effects of this technique is.

I understand that copper does not swell or shrink very much so the paints probably won't crack. A museum in Phoenix recently had a show of nothing but copper painting and published a catalog, which gives the history. After painting in oils on copper I decided that the old masters would have embraced our new products and began experimenting with them.

A. I have been doing copper paintings for about a year. I have just begun using Krylon Triple Thick Glaze before I paint with oil. Afterwards, I use a temporary oil paint varnish. I let my customers know to apply the Krylon in about a year after they have purchased the painting. So far, it is working well. The only thing I am worried about is the steel nails I have been using. I heard they will corrode the copper. (I use copper flashing). So, I have switched to copper nails.

Don't know about painting on copper, BUT, for acquiring copper to paint on, I work in a machine shop that does a lot of copper parts. There is always leftover material that goes in the barrel for the scrap metal company. Sometimes I think how much people have to pay for this, some is great for print plates,and it gets sold for scrap. Find machine shops and ask them about their copper scrap, maybe pay them a little more than the scrap company does. Who knows, they might just give it to you. Some of the drop is pretty good size, check them out. I think I'll use some of ours and try oil on copper after studying this a bit more, I have a large plate 3/16 thick left from a job with a 15 inch disk milled out of it that I was going to use in a sculpture, but I think now that it will have paint on it. Thank you so much for all your information on this subject.

A. Copper not unlike all metals still erodes in an oxidation process an requires etching previous to priming for a strong bond. The explanation is too long for this blog but you will find information about painting on copper the way the Old Dutch Masters did it at askmaurice.org/copper.html

A. Hi, Amanda. Poor adhesion is a serious issue on brass. I think you need a Self-etching primer [on eBay or Amazon] to get adhesion. That should not be a problem unless you are trying to let the brass transluce through your paint.

Regards,

A. Hi, Amanda. I'm not an artist, just a metal finishing person, but I think sanding and cleaning with acetone [on eBay or Amazon] before priming is very important. Rust-Oleum has "matching" oil-based enamels to go with this oil-based primer, and I think that's the safest approach. Paint does not stick well to brass, so I wouldn't get creative on a major first project, and you need to be concerned that the brass doesn't flex.

I suggest looking at the very interesting askmaurice.org/copper.html which was recommended by Maurice G, even though it is for copper rather than brass.

Regards,

A. I'm also interested in painting on copper. I have a couple of copper punch works that were then painted for detail. On the back of these pieces the artist wrote that they used a varnish and then painted with oil enamel paints. I can't tell, and they don't say, if a finishing varnish was used. I don't think so because the design is outlined with punch holes and it seems that the holes might be blocked here and there if they had. Also, I notice faint brush marks of the varnish and then the oil enamel paint is very solid and shiny.

Thanks for the ideas, I hope my input helps-

Hello! Yes I am the same Amanda Clark from above questions! We have been interviewed a lot so I happened to remember where it all began so I looked this site back up!
It has been 6 years since I asked the above questions and I just wanted to say thanks to the guys that responded! I took your info and expanded my research and called a national industrial paint store and they set me up with a cleaner, industrial self etching primer and a automotive metal lacquer and learned how to thin it an spray it!
Together my husband and I have been painting (I paint with acrylic house paint) and grinding (my husband does all the metal prep and grinding and clear coat) on metal ever since making very large fine art and have been very successful. We have been told by professors that our type of work is not being done anywhere else! Check us out on facebook or Internet at clarkartstudio.com (you really have to see it in person to get the whole effect!)
We live in Naples Fl where we have a gallery and doing well!

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Stunning work Amanda!

Regards,

Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
June 2015