Comments on: Question: What Do You Paint On?

By: Painterguy

Painterguy — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 14:17:42 +0000

I’ve used scrap matboard for oils and acrylics for years; if you prime the front, then wait for it to dry and settle down, then prime the back, it will usually reverse the warping. The idea is to have the same “skin” of gesso exerting tension evenly across both surfaces. Of course, the more coats you put on each side, the flatter the matboard will stay. Eventually I mount the finished pieces to gatorboard or birch plywood, but double-sided priming usually keeps them plenty flat enough to work with in the meantime.

By: ERAsistible

ERAsistible — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:11:30 +0000

Why don’t you try spraying your surfaces with a clear matt sealer?

I had to do a fix on a project that I bungled. The back had dried glue that I couldn’t remove so I sprayed cardstock with a couple light coats of matt sealer and painted the entire area one color with acrylic paints. I had just a touch of waviness that settled down when it was dry. I then cut it out and pasted it to the inside of my box.

If cardstock can hold up, surely a heavier material will.

By: Dani

Dani — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 16:32:01 +0000

Jeri A: Gesso and other water-based paint will always warp your mat board in this way. It’s hard to say how to fix it besides just switching materials – maybe illustration board? The extra thick 300# illustration board would be especially good, but probably hard to find. If you must use mat board, perhaps you can try stapling the board onto a wood panel before you gesso it. Then, cut the mat board off the panel when you are finished.

By: Jeri A

Jeri A — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:05:37 +0000

I have read everything in this thread and while I have received some good information, again I am going to ask about “buckling” ~ I created a project by taking mat board and thickly painting it with gesso – after the gesso set up a bit I rubber stamped into it leaving some nice texture, also laid pieces of book page onto it and then removed it leaving bits & pieces. I let this dry and then created some nature scenes on “toe” tags and adhered them to the dried board. There is a definite buckling and with the 3D tags on the mat board it is now more than likely going to be impossible to rectify this. I want to teach this in a four hour class and have to find a way to eliminate the gesso buckling the mat board. I see all the above suggestions but still need something more. Help!

By: Kirk W

Kirk W — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 03:03:48 +0000

I’ve always loved stonehenge myself…. especially for charcoal. I’ve drawn, painted, erased many times over on 1 sheet and the stuff holds up. I typically just thumbtack it to the wall and have at it.

By: David F.

David F. — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 02:12:44 +0000

I’m boring when it comes to this stuff. I don’t do anything exciting. When I draw, I will most likely use regular drawing paper or printer paper. Moleskine sketchbook is what I use more when I want to do good pen and ink, but (if I have it) Illustration or bristol board works well.
I paint on watercolor paper. I just keep the page attached in the pad, and tear it out when I want/ need to frame it.

By: Dani

Dani — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 11:55:24 +0000

Thanks for all the great comments, everyone. Kristin, I don’t stretch my paper before painting, and I’ve never tried gum tape or staples before. These are all great suggestions – I’m going to be doing a lot of experimenting!

By: angie

angie — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 03:26:57 +0000

I’ve been taping paper to foam board ever since I took a pastels class back when I was in college. Dani is correct that it makes a sturdy lightweight board good for drawing and painintg on plus it’s easy to cut to any size. I take the foam pieces that I don’t use for drawing boards and use them as light bouncer in photography.

By: Gina

Gina — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:14:48 +0000

I paint with gouache on hot press arches blocks. Although I always cut the sheet off the block, trim to size, tape to a board, then paint (hording the scraps of various sizes in a folder for later). I would be a little nervous painting right on the block (for no good reason really, I know it’s the more proper way!).

In the past I played with lots of weird things like scanning/printing then tea-staining but I know how ridiculously non-archival this is and don’t even think about trying it anymore. I also like doing detailed drawings on super-smooth bristol, or everyone’s favorite – moleskine sketchbooks.

By: Jared Bishop

Jared Bishop — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:54:43 +0000

I love to sketch on paper from the copier at work. As far as painting; I paint like a rich man carelessly wasting layers upon layers of Adobe’s and Corel’s finest canvases and paint. It’s very archival but can suffer from the “I forgot to back every thing up and my computer crashed and I lost everything, again” I’ll print things out on an Epson 2200 and draw or paint on it some more. You can feed some very think paper, canvas, boards though it.