materials
hash...@bvu.edu
Does anyone use wood (plywood) for oil painting? I usually use canvas
or paper for oil, but i'm thinking to use different materials. Are there
any disadvantages of the use of wood for oil paint? I don't know
about materials very much, so please tell me any ideas, suggestions, etc.
about using wood or other materials for oil painting.
Rie Has...@BVU.edu
Charles Eicher
In my opinion, wood panels aren't very suitable for painting.. It is hard
to prepare a surface on wood, sometimes the whole painting will come loose
from the wood panel after a few years. This is especially a problem on
masonite. If you have to paint on wood, try a lightweight marine plywood. I
know someone who made "real gesso panels" on marine plywood, designed for
egg tempra painting.. I'm not sure how this process is done. These panels
were all smaller than 10 inches..
You might have success with canvas panels. You can buy prepared canvas
panels at most art stores, and come in sizes up to about 24 by 36 inches.
Be sure to get the type that has canvas wrapped around the edges, and not
just laninated on the top. The cheaper kind tends to warp when the edges
get wet with paint.
You might also try wrapping canvas around a piece of masonite, to make your
own panels, but I didn't have very good luck with this technique at larger
sizes. It depends on what sort of surface you like to draw on. Some people
like the softness of stretched canvas, some like the rigidity of a panel.
Personally, I like painting (even in oil) on stretched paper. Paper is a
lot easier to store, I already have a garage full of stretched canvases.
Here's what I'm doing this week, I'm starting a new series of works:
Go to the lumber yard and buy some 5/8 inch fiberboard (pressed wood) about
6 inches bigger than your paper (in both dimensions). Do not buy masonite,
you can't get a staple gun to penetrate masonite. Put a couple of coats of
gesso on the panel, watered down about 1/3, or use plain latex wall paint..
This seals the board, so when the paper gets gets wet, the glue in the
fiberboard won't stain the back of your paper. Now you're ready to staple
paper to the board with a staple gun. First, tape a little shim near the
end of your staple gun on the underside, so there is a tiny gap when you
put it down. A few layers of paper will be sufficient. This way, the
staples don't go in flush to the board, making it difficult to pull them
out with a pliers or screwdriver when you are finished painting. Start in
one corner of the short end of the paper, put in a staple about 1/2 inch in
from the edge. Now pull the opposite corner taught against the first staple
and put one in. Then another in the middle of that side. Now pull the
opposite side's corner (HARD, but not hard enough to tear the paper)
diagonally and down, and put in a staple. Keep working this way, putting in
staples while putting tension on the paper. When you're done, you should
have the paper pretty taught. Don't put in too many staples, this is just
to keep the paper taut, and from shifting under the taped edges. Now, take
some 2 or 3 inch masking tape, and tape down all the edges of the paper.
Push down the tape pretty hard. Now you're ready to paint in watercolor, or
gesso over the whole thing. If you gesso the paper, use a couple of coats
of watery diluted gesso (I dilute about 1/2, but it depends on your brand
of gesso). Put the gesso so it covers everything, all the way to the
outside edge of the tape and a bit more. This will keep everything sealed
down, and the tape won't come loose when the paper dries and puts tension
on the staples. The paper will expand and come loose from the board when it
is wet, but when it dries, it will get incredibly taut. Put on your second
coat of gesso with brushstrokes 90 degrees from the first one. Voila, you
are ready to paint.
When you're done with the painting, pull up the tape, pulling it down and
AWAY from the painting. If you pull down and INTO the painting, it might
pull the gesso up from the paper and rip the surface of the painting.
Well, that was quite a bit of work, even to describe. But the results are
worth it. Doing paper in this way, I can keep even 38x50 inch paper pretty
flat, even when I work in really wet watercolor or ink. Everyone looks at
my watercolors and asks "how do you keep your paper so flat??".. This is a
lot easier than the paper tape method some watercolorists use, its a lot
easier to take the tape off the paper and gives more professional looking
results. So I thought I'd pass this technique along to the group..
| Charles Eicher |
| -=- |
| cei...@inav.net |
Dan Odom
hash...@bvu.edu writes:
> Does anyone use wood (plywood) for oil painting? I usually use canvas
> or paper for oil, but i'm thinking to use different materials. Are there
> any disadvantages of the use of wood for oil paint? I don't know
> about materials very much, so please tell me any ideas, suggestions, etc.
> about using wood or other materials for oil painting.
I've used masonite for years. I like the smooth surface. I've also
used mahogany plywood, but it is very expensive.
Plywood is very stable as long as you prepare it properly. Do the
whole sizing and multiple coats of primer thing. If you use masonite
rather than plywood, be sure to provide a strong frame -- the edges
have a tendency to chip away after a few years.
--
Daniel Odom | product designer | PGP key available via finger
"Without going out of your door, you can know the ways of the world.
Without peeping through your window, you can see the way of heaven.
The farther you go, the less you know." -- Tao Te Ching chapter 47
Charles Eicher
In article <87yban9...@thelonious.spidome.net>, Dan Odom
<dan...@thelonious.spidome.net> wrote:
> Plywood is very stable as long as you prepare it properly. Do the
> whole sizing and multiple coats of primer thing. If you use masonite
> rather than plywood, be sure to provide a strong frame -- the edges
> have a tendency to chip away after a few years.
As I have repeatedly commented:
If you use masonite, chipped corners are the LEAST of your problems. I have
seen dozens of paintings where huge chunks of gesso have popped right off
the surface of the masonite, causing virtually the entire painting to slide
off the wood. Masonite has an oily substance impregnated into it, acrylic
gesso just doesn't bind to it very tightly. If you really have to use
masonite, sand it very roughly, take off the smooth surface, and put on a
coat of rabbitskin glue first, before priming with gesso. Even then, I
wouldn't place any bets that your painting will last for more than a few
years.
| Charles Eicher |
| -=- |
| cei...@inav.net |
RoyGBivart
Dear Charles:
Wood has been used for the surface of oil paintings for over 600 years...
successfully. What you have to be careful of is the preparing of the
wood, (using the proper coat). If you don't do this properly, the
painting will eventually lift off. You can find the proper way to do this
at your local library, get advise from your local art supplies store, or
call any major oil paint producer. At any of these place, you will also
get advise on the preparation of the complete piece of wood.
After you get this knowledge, please take a few pieces of wood and paint
on them so you get use to the different texture of the brush(es) on the
wood.
Good Luck,
Roy
Jacob Mattison
The advice I would add to what others have posted on using plywood as a
support is: gesso or size both the front and the back. I did a series
of paintings as a clueless undergraduate on plywood with only one side
gessoed and they warped. (Note: I was able to unwarp them by glueing
them to heavier pieces of wood and stacking them with weight on top as
they dried.)
Also, inspect the plywood carefully when you buy, as the surface can be
very inconsistent. (For a very consistent surface consider masonite,
which is what I use now.) (Note that the lumber yard is most likely to
call masonite "hardboard". You want the untempered variety.)
--
Jacob Mattison matt...@dolphin.upenn.edu
Department of Fine Arts University of Pennsylvania
perhaps some chocolate chip cookies and milk
Dan Odom
cei...@inav.net (Charles Eicher) writes:
That depends on both the masonite and the preparation. Tempered
masonite has an oily size that must be removed with acetone before the
panel can be used as a support. Untempered (aka 'standard') masonite
does not have any sizing -- it's just pressed wood. You must be more
careful when priming masonite than when priming canvas, but the
classic "glue size plus six coats of white lead" works just fine.
<dons asbestos underwear>
Masonite, in my experience, is more stable than canvas. I suspect
that the problems you've encountered are due to the use of tempered
masonite and lousy preparation. I have created hundreds of oil
paintings on masonite and I have had problems with only two of them.
Parts of the gesso flaked off. The reason was that I screwed
up the proportion of glue/chalk when I made the primer. As long as
you know what you are doing and you are careful, masonite is an
excellent surface. Like anything else, though, bad preparation can
lead to disaster.
It takes me two to three hours to brace and prime a masonite panel --
it is a very labor intensive process. You can't just slap some gesso
on it and go. Your mileage may vary, of course, but I have never had
any problems with warping, chipping, or anything else on panels that I
prepared as painting supports. My small, quickly prepared sketch
panels, however, fall apart in a matter of years. You must know what
you are doing, but if you do, masonite is an excellent surface.
<removes asbestos underwear>
Macy
I prefer Do-able Products 1/8" Standard Hardboard. It is smooth both sides
and a lighter shade of brown than the traditional Masonite with the fuzzy
side. With proper bracing with inexpensive 1x2 strips (about $0.80 for an 8
foot piece at Home Depot). you have a very strong support. I just finished
a 48x60" board. I'd recommend adding a cross of 1x2 on the back. This makes
it very rigid.
An inexpensinve ($40) belt sander is a great help in making the edges
perfectly flush. I have a Skill sander and am very happy with the results.
mmw
Charles Eicher wrote:
a complicated description of holding down watercolour paper.
Ever tried map pins to keep your paper taut on fibre board?
It is so easy.
Ever tried door skin for painting?
Marilyn
Jiri Borsky
Jacob Mattison wrote:
(Note that the lumber yard is most likely to
> call masonite "hardboard". You want the untempered variety.)
It is generally known as hardboard in the UK, and sold here untempered
(not oiled). I have checked on its credentials in the past: allegedly it
contains no added ingredients, no glue. Just wood fibres steamed, meshed
(like felt), and pressed together.
I also use extensively MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard). This contains
some sort of glue purported stable in indoor use. The advantage of MDF
(6mm thick, from timber merchants) is far greater rigidity than hb. Of
course, also the weight is greater.
I have had dissappointing experiences with hardboard pieces edged with
2x1 timber. Some panels buckled in time. I suspect variations in
humidity (this is England) and the fact only one face was primed/painted
as main reasons. Be warned.
With large works (somewhere over 4 foot, perhaps) the most practical
support remains canvas on proper stretchers, imho.
Jiri
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/borsky/
Charles Eicher
> Charles Eicher wrote:
>
> a complicated description of holding down watercolour paper.
Well, the description may be complicated, but I could have just said
"stapled and taped paper".. But I have a few tricks to make it work better.
> Ever tried map pins to keep your paper taut on fibre board?
> It is so easy.
Map pins won't stand up to the tension of a wet 38x50 sheet of paper, when
it starts drying. And the tape distributes the tension so the whole sheet
stays flat.
> Ever tried door skin for painting?
What is door skin?
| Charles Eicher |
| -=- |
| cei...@inav.net |