I dont really like panels in general, despite their conservatory prowess.

I like seeing the back of a well-stretched linen canvas, big or small.

Also a warped panel is hard to deal with…a canvas can be dealt with fairly easily..or simply re-stretch.

It is mostly an aesthetic thing for me tho

Ryan, I admire your work but have very different ideas regarding choice of supports. Canvas paintings develop “dimples,” especially when you move. Also, I never cared for the texture.

The original poster did not specify what he meant by “prime.” Did he use a sealer like Kilz? Baltimore is pretty darned humid, but I have not had a problem like that.

I am a definite advocate of using panels for oil paintings, rather than using stretched fabric. The advantages of a hard, stable, non-flexible surface for an oil painting are too numerous to list.

However (and I state this as a true enthusiast of using panels) , if there is anything that can go “wrong” with the drying of oil paint, it will be on a panel!

Don’t ask me why, …..That’s just been my experience. I’ve had paints that refused to dry quickly on panels. I’ve have had paintings that were totally dried, and varnished (and dried), that months later became sticky, and tacky for no apparent reason.

Oh…….But, I’ve NEVER had the color change on me! Not with oil paint! That’s the crowning glory of ACRYLICS!

Most of these drying nightmares, and aberrations have been with hardboard panels that I prepared myself, and I have had no problems with the RayMar Canvas, and Linen Panels that I use for most of my work.

Self-made panels just seem to have a mind of their own, and they tend to be very unpredictable in their behavior once oil paint has been applied to them. I’m not at all surprised that high humidity would contribute to weird aberrations with oil paint on panels. I live in Arizona, where the humidity is next to NONE, and I still experience drying abnormalities with oil paint on panels.

This is just my opinion, based upon what I’ve noticed with the few hardboard panels that I’ve used .

If you live close to the equator, never paint with oils on Masonite, despite how many times you’ve primed it.

I made one of the best pieces ever in class studio. It was still wet when I put it in my car to drive home. Did this a kazillion times with canvases.

By the time I took it out of my car, the colors had changed. By the time I road the elevator to my condo, the colors changed again.

The next day? Changed again! Since it was still wet, I just painted over it to the original color. No dice. The color kept changing. For a second, I thought I was psychotic.

After much research over weeks, including contacting artists who authored books on painting on board, the culprit eventually surfaced its ugly head. It was the formaldehyde in the masonite.

Yes, I admit I cried. And then chalked up to experience.

In the US, masonite i purchased extremely cheaply from various countries because it’s low quality, and full of chemicals, in 2018. You can prime, sand it, make love to it, the color will still change. A year later, maybe it will be dry, and will be flat and dull.

So, don’t use masonite in a humid climate! Heed my warning.:grouphug:

This shifting of colours you talk about. Is it the actual chroma colour that is changing or just the saturation? Im guessing the latter. But if its the former you may have seen many years ago barometers that had a circular piece of cloth cut out on them(1970’s). The cloth used to change colour depending on the climate. When it was rainy they used to turn blue. When it was warm and dry they used to be pink. The humidity may well be working its effect:cool: