How Long Should You Wait Between Oil Painting Layers?

Painters who recently started oil painting often come with us with a common question about oil paintings – how long between layers should it take before moving on to the next layer?

Well, there’s no specific time limit for this. You must wait up until the paint layer dries out completely. The exact time for a layer to completely dry depends on the type of paint layers. For example, the drying process of the umber layer takes time, a day or two. On the other hand, thin layers require lesser time considering a range of factors like the color spectrum or paint film.

So, keep reading as we answer the question How Long Should You Wait Between Oil Painting Layers?

Why Do I Have to Wait for a Paint Layer to Dry?

Let’s just put it this way; oil paint takes time to dry. It is a painting medium where the composition is formed using many layers of assorted colors. Let’s say you’re starting with a background color area.

Once you’ve painted the background with any oil-based paint, the newly painted surface will require some time to dry out and be prepared for another layer. The interaction between a new layer and the previous layer is crucial; hence oil-based paint must dry properly.

How Long May It Take a Painting to be Fully Touch Dry?

A thin layer of paint won’t take much time since most of the thin paints are done with earth colors. In these cases, the layer should be touch-dry within a day or two. However, for a thicker layer with distinct color pigments, it might as well take two weeks maximum.

If a painting has all the layers with earth tones, the overall painting should be fully dry and cured within two months. However, more complex and multiple layers mean it will take from six months to even two years!

Now that’s a long time, and if the artist wants to show the photo for an exhibition, they’ll have to varnish it and give it a glossy finish too. So, if the paint dries in two years, it won’t be economically feasible for them.

That is why, nowadays, there are modern synthetic varnishes and colors to boost the oxidization speed of the first layer.

What If I Don’t Know Oil Painting: How Long between Layers?

People use different oils –like linseed oil– in their paintings. The finished work looks fantastic, but if you don’t let the paint dry or put on one layer after another at the same time- the result can be catastrophic. Unless the layer is fully cured, you can’t paint over it.

But if you’ve done the deed, the worst-case scenario would be that the oil would fail to fully harden, resulting in a weak bond between the different layers. If you’re painting with thicker paint, then it would get even worse. The mixed layers would look desynchronized, and the whole artwork would fail to please the audience.

What Are the Different Layers in an Oil Paint?

There are a total of seven different layers you can see in an oil-based painting. They’re listed below according to their sequence:

1. Imprimatura
2. First umber layer
3. Second umber layer
4. Grayscale layer
5. First color layer
6. Second color layer
7. Detailing layer

Different layers take different times to paint dry, and the time depends on many different factors. For example, the ideal temperature for a thicker layer is when there is high humidity.

All the layers except for Imprimatura and the first Umber layer can go on transparent, which means light can pass through them and then get back again, creating a lustrous color. You’ll require to dry the artwork properly before going for the next coat.

Color Pigments and Their Impact on Drying Time

The amount of time required for oil to dry differs across the color pigments. It’s no surprise that the composition of some paint pigments is thicker than the others, thereby resulting in a longer drying time.

However, if you’re an expert and can apply the paint consistently without over-saturating the overall surface, then the drying time could be reduced down to 24 hours. It means you get to paint on the next layer if you have a certain degree of consistency.

Different earth-tone shades like red, brown, or orange naturally dry faster than the others. Also, selecting brands that use lead/cobalt on the formulation will help you decrease the oil paint drying time. If you’re in a rush, don’t use oil-based paints with white, black, or yellow shades.

How to Check If the Paint Is Fully Dry

There’s actually a very simple method to check if the paint is dry fully or not. First things first, you touch it gently and feel if it’s touch dry or not. But to check if the paint is dry all the way, you’ll need the help of a razor blade and use it to scrape a bit of the surface of the paint.

To do so, first, you’ll have to hold the blade flat against the painting and very gently scrape the blade across the paint surface. Move the blade towards you to not make a mess of color- and do it very meticulously to make sure the paint is alright.

Now it’s natural that some paint will come off, and you have to observe the paint’s state carefully.

If it comes off as dust or powder, you can be sure that the paint is fully dry, and you can go for the next layer. But if the paint comes off as a string or roll, this means the surface is still wet and needs more time to dry.

The ‘Three Rules’ About Oil Paint

Now that you know about the time required for oil paint to dry, you should know the three golden rules about oil paint artworks:

Rule One – Fat Over Lean

In one line- fat over lean means picking a flexible layer over a non-flexible one. You can do that by adding more medium to the different layers, thereby making them more flexible than their predecessor and, in turn, stopping the paint from cracking.

Rule Two – Thick Over Thin

If you’re painting with heavy color, it’s recommended to apply thick layers over thin ones. The reason is quite simple- thin layers dry quicker while the thicker ones take time. For example, in the impressionist’s artwork, you’ll see the impasto style where they add thick layers over thin ones.

Rule Three – Slow Drying Over Fast Drying

The main problem with oil-based artwork is that the paint often cracks if not done properly. That is why you should be careful about using colors with fast drying times.

The simple procedure here is to use fast-drying colors as under layers and slow drying layers on top of it. That way, the slow drying colors won’t cause cracks in the painting, even if they have slow drying times.

Final Words

Oil paintings are one of the most complicated forms of artwork, and it requires challenging work and patience. It’s natural to feel frustrated if the oil paint is not drying fast, but you’ll have to wait for a perfect end result!