Arches Oil Paper, 9”x 6.5”
After the wig experiment I got even braver and cut my hair very short for the first time since I was about 12. I was going for something spiky, between Laurie Anderson and a pixie cut but this is what my curly hair wants to do.
I painted the oil sketch above from a photo as a test for using shellac as an archival primer/sealer/ground on paper. I used the Zorn palette (black, white, cadmium red and yellow ochre).
I got bored after painting my head so everything below my chin is pretty rough.
Getting Started with Shellac
Although it comes in a colorless formula, I bought amber shellac so that it could seal the paper and tone it at the same time (and it’s easier to see what you’ve covered). Since it’s transparent you can do a drawing with pencil or charcoal on the paper and then shellac over it and still see your drawing. (See below)
Fun fact: Shellac is made from a substance secreted by female (she?) Lac beetles to make their tunnel-like tubes on tree branches. It is harvested by scraping it off those trees in India.
Shellac dries super quickly (in under 15 minutes) by evaporating out the denatured alcohol, which is the liquid the shellac is dissolved. It barely smells at all but it’s still good to have ventilation.
It’s best to make it fresh from flakes, but since I can’t buy denatured alcohol in California to dissolve it in, Zinsser canned shellac is my only option. You buy it at the hardware store, not the art store.
Application: It should be stirred first (not shaken). Then you can apply it with a cheap hardware store bristle brush (or a nicer one if you can get denatured alcohol or don’t mind using ammonia to clean it). Supposedly you can also let the brush dry without cleaning it and when you put it back in the can it will soften and be ready to use.
You can also apply it with a rag, a squeegee or anything except a sponge brush according to the hardware store guy. For this first experiment I just spread it with a flat paint stirrer stick and it worked fine and made a nice variegated background.
I really like the interesting painting surface that shellac provides—not too slippery like acrylic sealant but not so dry/absorbent like gesso or Arches Oil Paper without sealant.
A Few Tips and Mistakes to Avoid
For more shellac tips, watch artist Aimee Erickson’s video demo on using shellac to prime pages in a sketchbook for oil painting.
Shellac is thin and as it turns out, quite splashy. After I applied the shellac to my paper, I put the lid on the can, and, as I usually do with my gesso bucket, I tapped the lid with my rubber mallet to seal it. That sent golden shellac from the rim of the can splattering all over my table, the wall, a framed (in glass fortunately) painting on the wall and everything on the table. Now I carefully wipe the rim before tapping it with the mallet.
I did the drawing for this painting directly on the shellacked paper. Even though I had pretty good luck with the drawing, I still needed to do some erasing and redrawing. That roughed up the surface unpleasantly in some spots. Shellacking over a drawing may be a better solution.
I tried shellacking 140 pound cold pressed watercolor paper instead of Arches Oil Paper for another painting. Even though it does seal the paper, I found the painting surface quite unpleasant, and won’t do that again.
Jana Bouc, Artist 
2 replies on “Shellac Under Oil Painting on Paper (and Summer Haircut Selfie)”
I’m interested in trying shellac as a base for oil painting on paper and cardboard. I have tried a few different “primers”, a home made gesso mixed from pva glue, acrylic paint and chalk which was too slippery to paint on. I tried just acrylic paint, again it can be too slippery, or just non adhesive where when I put a brush stroke down it shows the acrylic base underneath almost like I’m brushing to paint off! I have used normal store bought acrylic gesso which does work the best but is very expensive here, hence why I’m looking for cheaper alternatives. I even tried using gel medium which I hated!
I’m wondering how you found the actually painting process over the shellac base? Did it adhere to the surface well or slip around like painting on glass? My problems might also be with the smoothness of the cardboard, it’s hard to find the perfect painting surface while trying to save money while practicing but also not hindering the learning process by battling with the surface and paints.
Also why did you hate the cold pressed paper? Was it the shellac or the paper itself you didn’t like?
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Such good questions! I have had all of those same experiences with various substrates including acrylic mediums and primers, gesso, etc. I’ve also tried oil painting directly on Arches Oil Paper (way too dry, sucks the oil right out of the paint). I started gessoing the Arches oil paper which worked ok but seemed kinda silly.
The surface the shellac creates on Arches Oil paper felt pretty great, not too slippery nor too absorbent. I usually start with a dry brush approach of getting in the drawing and the darks with raw or burnt umber, kind of scrubbing it on. Then I just start painting with paint pretty much straight from the tube or with a tiny bit of medium if it needs it. It adheres nicely, doesn’t feel like painting on glass and doesn’t wipe away as you paint like some acrylic primers do.
Unfortunately, shellac is not inexpensive although it goes a long way. A one-quart can was over $20 and it’s very thin so you barely use any. Although I think my can may last me for years (I don’t paint large anymore) I did read recently that it has a limited shelf life. I think the ideal is to buy shellac flakes and the denatured alcohol (that the hardware store told me can’t be sold in California except to furniture refinishing professionals with a license). Then you can whip up a batch as needed and I’m guessing that is more economical.
I thought the watercolor paper (not Arches, it was a sample I had of Waterford cold pressed) would work the same coated with shellac as the Arches Oil Paper but it was substantially different. It’s hard to explain but it felt like I was fighting the pretty significant grain of the paper (which is rougher than the Oil Paper) so maybe it was the amount of texture.
It felt like I was fighting the surface the whole time and required a greater amount of paint to cover it. And even after the shellac was completely covered in paint it has continued to be unpleasant. I found that using soft brushes loaded with paint seems to work better than my usual brushes. Interestingly I never liked their paper for watercolor either.
So I’m thinking your smooth cardboard or paper should respond well to painting over a shellac substrate. Let me know if you try it and how it goes and if you have any further insights on using it.
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