Painting an Old Civil War flag

Question: 

Dear Mr. Gideon:

Perhaps you can help me.  I am trying to paint a flag like an old Civil War flag.  I tried painting a piece of scrap fabric just to see how it would come out, but the oil paint is still tacky after sitting around for a week.  How can I make it dry faster?  How did they do it back then?  Also, how did they paint the eagle.

Thanks,


Tom

Answer: 

Dear Tom:


Except in some unusual situations, "Civil War" flags were not painted with oil paints.  In fact, when one considers that a Union Infantry Color or a Regimental could be produced in a day, it seems illogical that oil paints would be used.  As you have discovered, oil paint takes a long time to cure.  According to Fonda Thomsen of Textile Preservation  Associates, Sharpsburg Maryland, the paint of choice was resin paint.  This type of paint sets up quickly and does not take weeks to cure.  However, resin paint is hard to find.  You may want to consider a fine artist or fabric acrylic paint.

With respect to painting the eagle in the Arms of the United States (I assume you are painting a regimental), painters used a stencil of the outline of the arms, then used a basecoat of a neutral gray paint.  A detail artist then did the rest.  Today flag artists that specialize in this sort of thing, such as Stephen Hill and Katherine Feuhrer Gideon, have their "tricks of the trade," but their approaches are similar.

Regards,


Richard R. Gideon