Hi. I have a roll of oil primed linen from a company that describe their production process like this – “For an ‘oil canvas’, zinc white is used as the primer, bound with linseed oil.”
Given the issues associated with the use of Zinc what are your recommendations – use this product or not?
Many thanks.
While there is a longish tradition among some suppliers of preprimed canvases for using zinc, with everything we currently know about the embrittlement of zinc oxide when used in oil paints, I would not recommend its use in a ground – especially if stretched. If you felt compelled to use it, then mount it to panel at the very least, or use it for casual studies.
That said, a high-end supplier like Claessens has a long history of making canvasses using zinc as an initial layer, followed by titanium white, and I do not know of a study that expressly looked at how their canvases have fared. Perhaps that particular layered structure lessens the concerns? Don’t know. But again, to err on the side of safety, I would personally hesitate to recommend any ground with zinc.
Yes precisely what Sarah said….also there have been several threads thus far about zinc and its related issues (accompanied by practical suggestions)….if you type in the word “zinc” in the search field many of these should come up. Let us know if you have any additional questions after reading through some of them.
