Free canvas drying timer for oil and acrylic painting. Acrylic: 20–60 min between layers. Oil: 24–72 hours. Prevents muddy colour mixing and lifted layers.
Surface dry: 20–30 minutes for thin layers, 1–2 hours for thick impasto. Fully dry for re-coating: 1 hour for thin glazes, up to 24 hours for thick texture layers. In humid or cold conditions, double all times. Applying wet-on-wet before the lower layer is dry causes colour lifting and muddy mixing.
The "fat over lean" rule governs oil painting layer timing. Lean (thin, solvent-heavy) underlayers: 24–48 hours. Fat (thick, oil-heavy) layers: 72 hours to 2 weeks. Painting fat over lean before proper drying causes the upper layer to dry faster than the lower, leading to cracking as the canvas ages.
Touch test: gently touch an inconspicuous edge of the painted area. If the paint transfers to your fingertip, it is not ready. If it feels firm with no transfer, it is surface dry. For oil paint, the surface dry stage may still have uncured paint underneath — always apply fat over lean regardless of the surface feel.
Yes significantly. Acrylics dry by water evaporation — warm, dry conditions accelerate drying; cold, humid conditions slow it dramatically. At 65°F/60% humidity: normal times. At 50°F/80% humidity: 2–3× longer. In winter studios, acrylics may take 2–4 hours to properly surface dry.
Yes, on the cool or low-heat setting from 12+ inches away. Hot air from close range can cause the surface film to skin over before underlying layers dry, trapping water and causing cracking or bubbling. Gentle warm airflow is fine and commonly used in studio settings.