Virtues of wet sanding

William Whitaker · 07-31-2004, 12:34 AM

If you are painting in oils on a traditional smooth panel, sanding is a great way to prepare the surface for glazing.

I discovered the virtues of using sandpaper in painting by watching maintenance men refinish my studio cabinets when I was teaching at university many years ago. I employ this technique when I

William Whitaker · 07-31-2004, 12:35 AM

This is a 9x12

William Whitaker · 07-31-2004, 12:36 AM

I

William Whitaker · 07-31-2004, 12:37 AM

I lowered the camera and took this shot to show that I

William Whitaker · 07-31-2004, 12:38 AM

After I finished, I wiped off the surface with a wet SCOTT SHOP TOWEL. (Scott

Michael Georges · 07-31-2004, 10:13 AM

Hello Bill: Great topic!

When you first suggested to me that I do that on my elf girl painting, I thought - "Sand it! He's crazy!"

But I did it anyway and it really worked well to smooth it out and get rid of unwanted paint ridges.

It also accomplished another thing - it gets you away from saying to yourself "that part is perfect" and loving any one part of the work too much. Because of the sanding, there were parts of that painting that I painted into and over two and three times - each time they got better.