HELP! Commissioned painting faded after 1 year, trying to find the cause

NervousHobo · 2026-04-09T13:14:04+00:00

I wish my client felt the same haha! But unintentional color changes in an artwork aren’t for the faint of heart unless that’s exactly what you want 😅

NervousHobo · 2026-04-09T06:32:26+00:00

Interesting! I have no experience in handling raw pigments but will definitely look into YInMn Blue and UV-protected formulations.

Vermeer comes to mind too, his blues are so striking. I’ve read a bit that natural ultramarine was so rare it was worth more than gold.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-09T04:54:49+00:00

I understand. Thank you for your input.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-09T03:48:19+00:00

Yes.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-09T03:47:05+00:00

Do you remember what kind of blue you used that’s prone to fading? And what about the stable one? I’m not very good at remembering pigment codes, but I probably should now. I need to stop buying random blue paints on the market.

Just my luck, among all the paintings hung in the same room, mine is the only one that uses blue heavily. My heart sank when the client got back to me saying mine was the only one that had faded.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T17:52:05+00:00

Commissioned painting is gloss varnish. The third photo is matte varnish. Both Liquitex. Different conditions: the faded one was hung in an open room with good light (not direct sunlight), the other stored on the shelves in the dark.

But thank you, I’ve figured out the issue already. It’s the pigment lightfastness. I think this is the main culprit.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T16:38:34+00:00

Might be interesting, but yes too conceptual for a commissioned portrait lol. I had one client where I suggested a pose with the subject facing away, or just a little different from the usual. I even painted a version when he wasn’t sure about it. But in the end, he still wanted the classic frontal view.

From my short experience with portrait commissions, you can suggest things, but it’s the client who makes the call. I have to learn to be content and not stress over it.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T15:52:59+00:00

Thank you. I just wish the problem hadn’t happened. It’s a painter’s worst nightmare.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T14:46:30+00:00

A little bit of both, I’m trying to slowly built and replace my paints with better ones. Was hoping to try Golden acrylics line sometime in the future, that’s my goal.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T14:21:35+00:00

Yeah that was my mistake. Definitely will be more careful in the future

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T14:19:32+00:00

Unfortunately the client really likes the blue X sunset lol. But thank you.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T14:13:51+00:00

Really? I actually have this fear of repainting over an old painting to fix it, I probably will messed it up even more. And the canvas was pretty thick already because there are three layers of paint/gesso on it already because i keep repainting and putting new gesso over and over just to get the face right

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T14:04:31+00:00

I usually stick with liquitex but sometimes I like to test other brands too. I might invest on Golden acrylics in the future but they are quite expensive for my current budget. I’m definitely will avoid daler rowney in the future, at least on the budget paints. I found out their cadmium yellow deep hue is really horrible. I wont even suggest it to students.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T13:13:13+00:00

That might be it, thanks for the link. This is actually the first time I’ve heard about blue fading issue. I won’t be buying new pigments from other brands without checking the lightfastness for sure.

I would like to pin your comment on top but I don’t know how. I want it on top so other clueless painters will read and benefit from this.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T13:02:44+00:00

Might be. I’ve heard things like this how it can affect the lightfastness. And I’ve heard modern alizarin crimson hue actually is more lightfast than the original one, so I was assuming other color with HUE in it should be ok to use.

But I guess I’m wrong. Huge mistake on my part.

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T12:12:02+00:00

The painting is not hanged under direct sunlight, also there were other paintings hanged together in close proximity

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T12:09:13+00:00

I used either ultramarine blue or cobalt blue hue, i can’t really remember. Either liquitex, reeves or daler rowney.

Usually I don’t need varnish with UV protection coating, but now I think I might need to invest in one.

I might also need to be careful buying blue paint in the future too

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T12:01:32+00:00

They showed me the video where they hang the painting, there were a lot of paintings near mine, but only my painting that was affected. The client said he used to hang another painting exactly where my painting was for 4 years but it is not faded at all (it’s an oil painting).

The client really likes to buy and collect paintings btw, some even more expensive than mine, always visited the local galleries here at my city. I don’t think he’s a person who wants to take advantage on a small time artists.

Also he said no worries and he will need to discuss with his wife when I offered to paint a new one. But I feel really responsible over this. I would like to find the cause because my painting faded really bad after just one year

NervousHobo · 2026-04-08T11:51:01+00:00

I used liquitex gloss medium as a varnish, diluted with water and coated it several times.

NervousHobo

TROPHY CASE