drying oil paintings?

[Chingwa]

Was curious what everyone's system for drying their oil paintings is... where do you store them until they are dry to the touch? I currently half mine sitting below my drafting table lying flat on the horizontal cross brace. IT works ok but I do have to be conscious about bumping them, and I see only have room for one more painting.

I've heard of drying racks but can't seem to find a good picture of one online and my local art store doesn't offer anything like this. I suppose I could just make my own but am curious how the pros here do it.

Incidentally I'm living in a spacious NYC apartment which means I have a little extra closet space and thats it! :D
(a wishing I had a garage right about now...)

[jrr]

i usually try to let it stand so that it's not facing up, i'm not sure this does anything but who knows, if air hits it at both sides it should dry faster right? i kinda know the colors i use very well so i know how long it would take them to dry. earth tones are usually quick dryers, the brighter the colors the longer it usually takes them to dry so i try to paint them alittle thinner or less if i need the paint to dry at a shorter time, so i dont' have to be so careful with it, in my small living quaters.

[MadSamoan]

A common way is to make a drying rack with vertical slots for you to put paintings in. You want to store the painting vertically to prevent dust from getting onto your painting while the paint oxidizes. If dust gets imbedded in the paint film, it won't come out easily.

The racks cost a few hundred dollars, so many people just make them themselves.

If you want to speed up the drying process some options are: put the painting in the sun, use a quick drying medium (japan, cobalt, alkyd, etc..), leave it in an area with airflow or use a blow drier or heat gun on the painting.

[Chingwa]

Jrr: It sure seems like it would dry faster if ithe canvas had airflow on both sides. Do you just lean it against the wall? I'ma little wary of doing this though, I kinda want the paintings put out of the way so nothing accidentally bumps them.

MadSamoan: I've seen horizontal racks before and was thinking of making my own, should be pretty simple with a bit of hobby grade wood to make stackable slots. If the shelves are oriented vertical though how do they hold the paintings up without the chance of the paint smudging?

[MadSamoan]

if the rack is vertical, you let the painting lean forward enough so that only the top lip of the painting makes contact with a rack partition and will prevent dust from getting onto the wet paint.

The rack I have in mind is something like this, but made of wood and not necessarily two stories.

http://www.dick-blick.com/items/512/05/51205-OB3ww.jpg

[jrr]

now that i've been thinking about it some more, i highly doubt it would make that big a difference how you store it, but where you store it, the dampness of your surroundings or the dryiness. i would not however recommend leaving your painting out in the sun. this would destry the colors and fade them. alittle trick i learned is if your primed canvas gets yellow, take it outside to the sun to have it whitened so you can paint on it white.