caring for your

new pet portrait

Watercolour paintings are delicate and can easily damage, buckle, discolour and crumple.

Below are my top tips for caring for your new painting, and if followed, you can be assured that your Pet Portrait will remain beautiful and preserved for years to come.

Watercolours are best off when you frame them under glass.

Watercolours get reconstituted when they come into contact with moisture. Colours may shift, run or break, thereby ruining the painting. A glass front will protect the painting from dust and moisture damage as well as from insects, mould and mildew.

(Tip* Ensure the glass is glazed. UV-coated Plexiglass or Denglass is best).

Archival framing assures the looks, life and quality for decades to come.

Archival framing involves using materials that do not affect the painting adversely in any manner.

The mat, the backing and the hinges used for attaching the painting to the mat are all 100% acid-free. The mat board should be made from cotton or linen rags, this is completely free of damaging acids and is considered to be of the highest quality.

Paintings in watercolour are particularly vulnerable to the effect of external factors like light and humidity.

Never hang your painting opposite a window or on a wall where it is exposed to full sunlight for most part of the day. This will cause colours to fade and the paper to become brittle.

Hang your Watercolour in the right environment.

Keep the watercolour away from heat, oils, odours and moisture in the kitchen. Also do not hang them near heaters or other heat-emitting appliances because it will damage the colour pigments permanently.