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Painting on location in cold weather I have often used acrylics because they dry slower than normal, but still much faster than oils. Many years ago in Alaska it was just above freezing and the rain had finally stopped. I hurried outside to paint for a half hour or so with acrylics. Because of the low temperature and high humidity, the paint stayed wet. It was like painting with oils. Once back inside the paint seemed to dry normally.

I have heard of an artist who built a special room that could be brought down to near freezing temperatures so he could paint skies better with acrylics. In the May 2013 issue of The Artist's Magazine is an article about an artist who tested a new acrylic paint outdoors in "temperatures just below freezing".

Is this a sound practice? As a result of the research I did to answer the question below about cracking oil paintings I wonder. If it is so cold and humid that acrylics won't dry, could you safely bring the painting inside, let it warm up and dry as normal? And what if your tubes of acrylics happen to freeze? Can they still be used or is it better to throw them away? Skip to the end for my final answer.

"Acrylic house paints should not be used when the temperature is below about 5 oC (about 40 oF) or when the temperature is expected to fall below this level for 4 to 8 hours after the paint was applied. The reason is that strong, coherent films cannot form at low temperatures, and even if the film later becomes warm, it will never recover. Acrylic artist paints are similar. To be on the safe side, they should be used only at temperatures above 10 oC (about 50 oF), and the painting should be kept above this temperature for several days after it has dried. [8] Acrylics painted and dried under cold conditions may look OK, but the films will be less durable and more vulnerable to cracking. Oils, on the other hand can be used at freezing temperatures or below." From the Golden website...http://www.goldenpaints.com/justpaint/jp12article1.php

When temperatures start to fall, put away the acrylics and bring your oils. Fifty degrees is the cut off. Okay, but...

From Tips to Reduce Waste: "Store products to maximize shelf life.
Avoid extremes of temperature, especially freeze-thaw cycles." http://www.goldenpaints.com/healthsafety/environ/wastedisposal.php

Which seems to suggest that while freeze/thaw is to be avoided it does not make acrylics automatically unusable. Here's what one artist had to say...

"Not good to freeze acrylics. Some can withstand more freezing and thawing than others. Add some retarder to acrylics if they MUST freeze. It works as an antifreeze. 3-5 cycles of freezing and thawing is about as much as acrylics can stand without suffering quality damage. Most turn to cottage cheese and get stringy. Store in moderate temperatures in order to preserve quality." http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=237171

Here another artist uses freezing temperatures as part of her creative process...http://mickeybond.blogspot.com/2013/02/try-this-at-home-2-frozen-acrylics.html

"Acrylic dispersion products that meet ASTM D 5098 are designed to withstand at least 5 freeze-thaw cycles. Normally, you shouldn't have to worry about shipments at any time of the year. But acrylic dispersion grounds are not subject to a standard (yet; ASTM D01.57 has one in the hopper) so Golden was right to replace the primer." http://www.amien.org/forums/showthread.php?1932-frozen-acrylic-paints

The Amien's "Staff" reports this about painting with acrylics in cold temps: "We can say that we have painted many acrylic dispersion paintings in temperatures between 0 and 4 degrees C and have never noticed a problem with the curing paint films. Our caveat is that we brought the paintings into a heated space before they started to dry -- perhaps thereby bypassing the problem."

Here is the best most complete answer I could find about freezing acrylics from an AMIEN Moderator and Technical Services Supervisor for Golden Artist Colors:

"In terms of storing wet product, all our paints and mediums are tested for freeze/thaw stability and must be able to survive 5 cycles of being completely frozen solid then thawed out without any loss of performance or quality. That gives a lot of wiggle room to cover the occasional time when they might get frozen during shipment or storage. We have never tested what the upper limit is for the number of cycles they can survive before there is a noticeable change in properties, and obviously we don't encourage storing products in freezing conditions, but given the conditions you describe you should be fine. If you ever did notice anything, of course, let us know and we will make sure to get it replaced.

As for the other issues, our acrylics have a minimum film-forming temperature of 49 F, which means that they need to dry at that temperature or above to form a good, durable film with maximum flexibility. This does not mean one can not apply the acrylics in a lower temperature, such as painting outdoors in the winter, but they would still need to be brought indoors in order to cure properly. If you try to dry acrylics under very low temperatures, the paint could fail to fully coalesce, causing a weakened or even, at the extreme, a granular and crumbly film to develop.

Separate from either of these is the effect of cold temperatures on the storage and transportation of acrylic paintings. Acrylics are thermoplastic, which means they will get increasingly rigid in lower temperatures and softer, more flexible in warmer ones. Especially as you approach 40 F and below, the painting becomes more susceptible to cracking and fracture if it is suddenly subjected to an increase in tension, such as restretching a canvas, or if it undergoes a sudden blow, like dropping it on a corner. However, paintings will rarely if ever undergo spontaneous damage from simply being stored in the cold or carefully moved around. However, before packing or doing any sort of major handling of the pieces, you should definitely make sure they are brought into a warmer environment and fully reach ambient temperature." http://www.amien.org/forums/showthread.php?2416-Cold-acrylics&highlight=frozen
 

Hi,

I found your website doing a search on cracking oil paintings. I've been painting about 4 years. So far so good. Can you please give me some insight about this? I paint using many many layers, and truthfully without regard to how much or how little oil goes into each layer. Some layers alot, some not. If an oil painting hasn't shown signs of cracking say, in 6 months to a full year, would it be safe enough to say that very little if any will still occur in years to come? I've heard that finer, thinner cracks will due to environmental conditions ..heat, humidity etc, but any "fat" cracks occur in the first year due to this layering process (fat over lean or vice versa).  P.J.

An interesting question.

My thoughts....

If durability is your main concern, you might want to switch to alkyds or even better acrylics. Paint on a rigid surface. But all these films are doomed to fail. Better choices: encaustic, pastels, watercolor, fresco or egg tempera. The ultimate might be painted and fired ceramics or cave painting.

If you are happy with oils, then use professional grade materials and follow the rules for the best chance of long lasting work.

No cracks in the first year is a good sign, but no guarantee of the painting's future.

Yours,

Bob
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Oil paintings crack for three reasons:

1. Lean over fat
2. Movement in the ground from moisture
3. Flexing of the canvas

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Ron Sanders has a good explanation of how to correctly layer paint...

http://www.sanders-studios.com/instruction/tutorials/writings/sanders/fatoverlean/avoidcracks.html

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From Golden's website...

"Conservators we talk with suggest to not use rabbit skin glue because it has a lot of movement due to constant swelling and contraction due to moisture in the atmosphere."

"Supposedly alkyds are a superior resin to linseed and walnut oils because they are designed to remain more flexible over time than linseed oil, and this should improve the aging characteristics.

...We don't think anyone will debate an aged oil paint film is going to crack if flexed, so why give it the opportunity?"

http://www.goldenpaints.com/justpaint/jp12article1.php

http://www.goldenpaints.com/technicaldata/faq/xix_priming.php

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From Gamlin's website...

Standing the test of time...

http://www.gamblincolors.com/faq/techniques.html

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From the Smithsonian website...

"Acrylic paintings are expected to develop cracks much less often than oil paintings because they are more flexible and can withstand much greater forces without breaking.   However, cracks do form in acrylic paintings...

When they are exposed to sub-zero temperatures, acrylics become increasingly brittle and they will crack."

http://www.si.edu/mci/english/learn_more/taking_care/acrylic_paintings.html

"From the moment a painting is made, it begins to age.  Depending upon the quality, combination and nature of the materials which have gone into its construction as well as its environment, a painting may age well or not.  A new painting in good condition will begin to deteriorate as a result of time alone.  Its materials go through a drying process which sets up internal stresses in the structure.  This may continue for a period of years, decades, or centuries.  As the paint films dry they shrink and the films rupture or pull apart in cracks."

http://www.si.edu/mci/english/learn_more/taking_care/painting_change.html

______________________________________________

From Wikipedia...

"Tempera, also known as egg tempera, is a permanent, fast-drying painting medium consisting of colored pigment mixed with a water-soluble binder medium (usually a glutinous material such as egg yolk or some other size). Tempera also refers to the paintings done in this medium. Tempera paintings are very long lasting, and examples from the first centuries AD still exist. Egg tempera was a primary method of painting until after 1500 when it was superseded by the invention of oil painting."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painting#Tempera

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World's oldest wall painting...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/10/11/us-syria-painting-idUSOWE14539320071011

They don't seem to know what binder was used.