How to Avoid and Fix a Yellowing Painting

Mona Lisa and Prado's Mona Lisa, to read more about the Prado, click here.  

Will Using Mediums cause my Paintings to Yellow? 

YEP! Well, maybe.

Well, not all of them. Galkyds, liquins, and alkyds most likely don't yellow, though since no painting using them has reached a 100 years old it is hard to be sure. Any painting that used excessive oil will yellow.

Some oils will cause more yellowing than others--looking at you cold pressed linseed oil.  I have read that safflower oil is the least yellowing and gives paint a nice buttery texture. In fact, Winsor and Newton uses safflower oil as their oil paint binder. One reason I use walnut is because of its low yellowing tendency.

Can I avoid my Paintings Yellowing? 

YEP! Use as little medium as possible, though this doesn't mean that you should be afraid to use a medium. As a general rule you should always have a higher pigment to medium ratio. Older paintings tend to have a yellower hue due to the use of oil as well as the yellowing of the final varnish. The Mona Lisa is a great example. Specifically she is yellow due to several layers of varnish becoming yellow and dirty, but I wouldn't put using too much oil past the old man either. I mean...the Last Supper, need I say more?

Be economical with your medium and you shouldn't have any problems.

Can Yellowing be Fixed? 

YEP! If you keep your paintings in a room with no windows or stored away in a closet, they will sometimes yellow. If they do, just put your painting in the sun for a little while. Over time it may begin to yellow again, but each time you put your painting in the sun the oil will bleach more and more, and it will yellow less and less.

If, however, you keep your painting in a well-lit room and, again, use mediums sparingly, you shouldn't have any yellowing problem.

Note: Don't actually put your painting outside, just on a wall close to a window where it can get some light.

To read more about yellowing paint film, read Yellowing and Bleaching of Paint Films, by the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation.

For more on the Mona Lisa and other paintings that not do not look the way the artist intended, read 7 Famous Artworks that are Actually Supposed to Look Completely Different, by the Huffington Post.

For more about painting check out my main Tips and Techniques page.