# Practical Advice on Watercolor Lightfastness



## glowwaterflow (Feb 23, 2021)

I'm seeking some practical advice on lightfastness issues. From what I've seen of manufactor's education/documentation, the fading tends to dull the painting and it's difficult for me to imagine how it will affect the painting without living the experience. I have been painting for several years and I don't see dullness. At this point, I'm comfortable moving forward with my current materials and process. I'm wondering what others have experienced. 

If using a pigment with "fair" or less than ideal lightfastness rating, what is your experience on the fading of the painting? My sense is that using even mild or fair conditions that the pigment might last a few years but certainly not a human lifetime or generations. My idea of fair would be less than "excellent" pigment and perhaps a "plastic" framing instead of glass. I'm not able to control environmental factors like sunlight except to let others know. 

Obviously many factors are involved. Ideally an artists would make wise decisions to use the best quality pigments, and framing. Ideally the owner would not exposure the painting to direct sunlight. 

However there are trade offs with price and quality. Also, I'm still learning and perhaps one day I can justify spending the money. I've gifted some watercolor painting and just curious about the lightfastness. The other consideration I have is that I spend many hours on my painting process and it's a shame that the painting may dull. I also always use acid free paper, which is widely available these days.


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## 3Eggs (Aug 15, 2021)

glowwaterflow said:


> I'm seeking some practical advice on lightfastness issues. From what I've seen of manufactor's education/documentation, the fading tends to dull the painting and it's difficult for me to imagine how it will affect the painting without living the experience. I have been painting for several years and I don't see dullness. At this point, I'm comfortable moving forward with my current materials and process. I'm wondering what others have experienced.
> 
> If using a pigment with "fair" or less than ideal lightfastness rating, what is your experience on the fading of the painting? My sense is that using even mild or fair conditions that the pigment might last a few years but certainly not a human lifetime or generations. My idea of fair would be less than "excellent" pigment and perhaps a "plastic" framing instead of glass. I'm not able to control environmental factors like sunlight except to let others know.
> 
> ...


How do you protect your finished work?


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## 3Eggs (Aug 15, 2021)

3Eggs said:


> How do you protect your finished work?


From the question about, I should have asked if you used any type of protective coating?


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## Mullanphy (Apr 25, 2020)

Something to keep in mind is that lightfast ratings are for the pigment, not the quantity of pigment nor any protective chemicals in the binder. More pigment will not prevent a painting from fading. Here is a helpful site that provides information on almost all known pigments and includes lightfast ratings. The Color of Art: Site map - Pigments and Paints

Using the charts on that site, an artist can find suitable substitutes for the pigments that don't stand up to the sun well.

Watercolor paintingss are frequently protected by a layer of glass over the matte, and UV glass does a good job of protecting the painting without distorting the colors. I stay away from liquid protectants (sprays or brush-ons) because they tend to change the colors in watercolor paintings due to wetting/dispersion of the pigments.

Best way to slow the fade is to keep the painting out of direct sunlight and illuminated with lighting that has low UV output. All artificial light sources emit UV, but some are better than others. LED lights have a low UV output, but do not display under florescent lights.


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