The Artist's Support
A listing of supports for painting
which are available to the serious artist with information
related to the application of Flemish technique as it relates to supports
and grounds.
All the products listed here can
be purchased through
Daniel Smith Artists' Materials: 1-800-426-6740
or
The Jerry's Catalog: 1-800-U-ARTIST.
Call for a Catalog.
Product descriptions are from these catalogs, 1998-99.
AVAILABLE SUPPORTS
WOOD: The traditional support of the Flemish painters was made
from solid wood planks which, while strong, had a tendency to warp and
crack along the grain over time. An array of more modern processed wood
supports have overcome this problem but add to the outgassing of acids
that can deteriorate the paint film necessitating a solid coating of alkali
gesso to 1/16" thickness or more.
Hardboard (Masonite) Panels
Ampersand Art Supply
makers of "The World's Finest Wood
Panels for Artists."
Ampersand Prepared Wood Panels are prepared on 1/8" tempered hardboard.
Masonite is made when wood is broken down into its basic fibers. These
wood fibers are then permanently bound together under extreme heat and
pressure, using the natural lignin to reconstitute and bind the fibers
in their new form. The result is an extremely hard, grainless panel of
uniform thickness and density, offering a dimensional stability not found
in natural wood products. You can either purchase the panels flat (uncradled)
or cradled. Cradled panels have a 3/4" brace which is glued flush
with the panel's edges. The brace is made of birch plywood and provides
extra support, allowing you to display a finished work without framing.
Many artists prefer the cradled panel since it provides a contemporary
look to their work. Others prefer to have panels larger than 18" x
24" framed with a cradle to provide a solid support for the panel.
Ampersand makes a variety of Masonite hardboard
products that are preprimed for painting, including
Ampersand Gessobord for oils: This perfectly hand-crafted gessobord
has a thick acrylic polymer gesso ground which has been sanded to an exceptional
finish. No prep is necessary. Gessobord remains firm under the pressure
of a brush, allowing intricate detail or thick impasto build-ups. The fine
finish has enough of a tooth to give you a nice drag on your brush, but
is smooth enough to accomplish your intricate work. pH neutral and acid
free. Comes in standard sizes from 8" x 10" to 24" x 36"
Ampersand Traditional Hardbord: If you prefer to make your own grounds and unique textures,
this superior quality hardboard gives you the right substrate to begin.
Made in the U.S., this hardboard (Masonite) resists warping and moisture
penetration. Contains no oil and accepts all types of gesso grounds. Comes
in standard sizes from 11" x 14" to 24" x 36"
Windberg Art Panels
also offer a pre-primed surface on a Masonite panel. Made with the finest
untempered 1/4" Masonite, triple primed on both sides with a combination
of acrylic gesso & marble dust and then hand sanded to a finely toothed
surface. This all media surface is excellent for oils. Available in white,
light gray and sand color they are a true alternative to other painting
supports. Created by Dalhart Windberg, a master of smooth surface painting
techniques.
Plywood Panels
Savior-Faire Artist Panels: Archival quality painting panels made with a flawlessly
smooth birch face and a mahogany backing that make them remarkably stable
and moisture resistant. Each panel features 100% U.S. sugar pine cradles
that adds stability and makes a perfect tacking edge for canvas or watercolor
paper. Available in two profiles. Thin which have a 7/8" profile which
fits most frames or thick which have a 1-3/8" profile which adds depth
for non-framing presentation. Now also offered in narrow 5/8" widths
as well. To use just seal with an oil or acrylic sizing and either prime
for desired medium or stretch with canvas or paper. Created by John Annesley
these are museum quality art supports. Created for professionals, they
are for any artist seeking permanency in their artwork. Comes in standard
sizes from 3" x 5" to 30" x 40"
Innerglow Painting Panels: These structurally strong, ultra smooth panels are virtually
indestructible and are safe for permanent works of art intended to last
forever. The panel is constructed of three layers of wood laid perpendicular
to each other to provide rigidity while remaining lightweight. This core
is then faced on both sides with a layer of mahogany which is then sanded
perfectly smooth. Then the mahogany surface is layered with acid-free kraft
paper which is pre-saturated with a 28% fenolic thermosetting resin. Then
the entire 7 layer composite is heat set at 200-230 degrees F at a pressure
of 250-300 pounds per square inch, creating a 1/2" thick monolithic
panel. This panel is then sealed with an acid-free acrylic primer which
is applied to all of the exposed surface area, thus creating the only panel
good enough to be called innerglow. Sold in standard sizes from 5"
x 7" to 30" x 36". Custom sizes available upon request.
Best Choice of Panels
#1 a well aged wood panel
#2 plywood made of layers equal in thickness
#3 masonite hardboard cradled on the back
All should be gesso primed to at least 1/16" or more. They can be
protected from dry rot by an application of 1% sodium flouride.
RESIN a modern synthetic ground.
Solid Ground Artists Panels are cast as solid pieces of archival polymer
resin. The support and ground are one, resulting in a rigid, archival panel
of exceptional durability. The surface of each panel is individually finished
and requires no additional preparation for painting. The silky-smooth surface
bonds powerfully to oils, alkyds, acrylics, and egg tempera. The panels
are waterproof and highly warp-resistant. Non-absorbent, they will not
soak up painting medium and allow longer open time with acrylics. They
cannot split, swell, rot or be damaged by mold or insects. Easy to frame,
they also save preparation time. They compare in price to primed linen
canvases or gessoed panels and are sold in 1/4" thick panels of sizes
5"x7" to 18"x24"
CLOTH has been used for centuries as a painting surface as
well as wood. Sometimes the cloth was stretched over the wood panel, but
normally cloth is stretched over a rigid wood frame, commonly known as
stretcher bars. Stretcher bars are available in light, medium and heavy
weights ranging in width from 1/2" to 2". Cross braces can be
used on large frames to prevent bowing as the cloth is stretched tight.
Stretchers are manufactured by such companies as Fredericks, Best, Dead-Straight,
and Omega and are available in 1" increments from 8" to 36"
and 2" increments or more thereafter up to 88" in length. To
reduce the effects of acid outgassing from the wooden stretcher bars it
may be advisable to coat the stretchers with acrylic gesso or polyeurethane
and allow to dry before stretching the canvas.
If the canvas becomes loose on the stretcher frame,
wooden or plastic keys in the corners can be hammered into place to spread
the stretchers and tighten the cloth. Best offers a unique metal key than
is very stable and rust proof and is easily adjustable.
To prevent mold, especially on cotton, canvas
can be treated with a 0.3% to 0.5% solution of zinc chloride or a 0.2%
solution of magnesium silicoflouride. Some manufacturers add anti-mold
treatments to their preprimed canvas.
Some sources recommend treating canvas with a
4% solution of formaldehyde to act as a fungicide and inhibit the growth
of bacteria. As a tanner it is said to protect cloth from deterioration.
Spray or brush the front and back with a 4% solution after the size has
been applied and preferably before the priming coat is laid on. Formalin,
a 40% solution sold in drugstores, can be diluted with 9 parts water to
give the 4% solution. However, in discussions with a conservator, she did
not recommend the use of formaldehyde because it becomes brittle.
The best protection for the back of canvases may
be to loosely tack a piece of archival board to the back of the stretchers.
This allows air circulation and escape of humidity while protecting the
cloth from deterioration. Older canvases have been found to decay least
where they are covered in back by the stretchers.
Cotton Canvas
is best used in the 12 oz. to 15 oz. weights for professional painting
and can be purchased unprimed, or primed with one or two coats of acrylic
or oil primers. It is also available prestretched in many standard sizes.
This is the common support in use today and can be easily purchased in
any art supply store, craft store, or through art supply catalogs. Canvas
boards (canvas on cardboard) should not be used for finished works as the
cardboard is prone to mold and rot.
Linen Canvas
is available in a variety of weights as well, all of which are suitable
for professional work due to the strength and length of linen fibers. Most
linen, regardless of the manufacturer of the cloth, comes from Belgium
with a secondary source being in Russia. Finished cloth is sold by manufacturers
from France, Ireland, Belgium, Russia, Italy, and the U.S. Two of the best
are produced by V.A. Claessens of Belgium, and Savoir Faire Artfix linen
made by the Narozni family in a small town in France. Linen is offered
primed in 1 to 4 coats of acrylic, alkyd, or oil primers.
"The flimsiness and openness of weave of
some of the cloth used at present, and in the recent past, are the direct
causes of many failures such as cracking and flaking of the paint and ground,
because of the inability of such canvas to withstand mild, mechanical shocks
and wear. The most desireable weave is a close, square one in which the
threads of the warp and filling are identical or equal."
Other Cloth such as Jute or synthetic Rayon
Polyester are also available as painting surfaces, though they do not
share the popularity of the more traditional surfaces listed above. Ralph
Mayer warns that "Jute, burlap, and similar coarse vegetal fibers
are entirely unsuitable for permanent painting; they become extremely weak
and brittle on short aging and are never used by conscientious painters."
AVAILABLE GROUNDS
| SIZING and PRIMER |
SIZING: a layering between the support and primer to protect it
from oxidation.
Glue Sizing:
The traditional animal skin glue used for sizing is made of rabbit skin
or hides. It has been used by artists for centuries and is purchased in
a powdered form. When soaked in water and heated in a double boiler it
becomes a viscous gelatin that, when applied to canvas, protects the cloth
from the acidic effects of the linseed oil found in oil paints and oil
grounds. However, an excessively heavy layer of glue will prevent the primer
from adhering to the support and can lead to separation of the painting
from its ground under wet (humid) conditions. The major problem with size
in a painting, however, is in dry conditions. If there is a lot of size
on the canvas, so that it is able to operate as a distinct layer, it becomes
by far the most powerful factor in the system. In such conditions the canvas
is relaxed, the size layer extremely tense, and the paint layer only slightly
tense. The result is that the contracting size layer pulls at the canvas
and the paint, forcing cracks and the peeling of the paint layer. Such
problems are clearly noticeable in a large number of nineteenth-century
paintings. The answer is to use as little size as possible and to apply
it hot. Polyester fabrics require no size at all with an oil priming since
such fabrics are stable to acids and alkalis. Mayer recommends mixing 1
1/2 ounces of rabbitskin glue dissolved in a quart of water to produce
a weak sizing suitable for coating cloth or wood supports.
Cellulose Sizing:
"A possible alternative to using the traditional glue size on flexible
supports is carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), which has been used for
some time in the textile industry as a warp size.
CMC is a cellulose ether, produced by reacting alkali cellulose
with sodium monochloroacetate. It is available as a whitish powder or granulate
which dissolves in water to form a clear viscous solution. It can be obtained
in a wide range of viscosities but, for textile sizing, a relatively low
viscosity type is generally used.
Refined CMC forms a flexible film that is resistant to oils and organic
solvents. It is also physiologically inert.
Applying a chemically compatible sizing to the cellulose fibers of the
cotton or linen canvas alleviates the problems associated with traditional
glue sizing. Any expansion which occurs with changes in relative humidity
will take place at a similar rate between the cellulose size and the cellulose
canvas, so avoiding cracking.
Although, like glue size, the coating will stiffen the canvas, this is
not at the expense of flexibility - the cellulose does not shed or crack
as glue size might do in certain dry conditions.
Around an eight per cent solution is generally used for sizing, the powder
being dissolved in cold or hot water in much the same way as a wall-paper
paste, which it closely resembles. It should be stirred and left to swell,
after which it can be stirred again before being applied with a stiff brush.
It basically forms an outer coating on the fibers, though there is some
diffusion through the pores and some seepage into the fiber itself, depending
on the viscosity of the grade. Two coats may be applied. As with glue size,
no priming should be applied until the cellulose size is completely dry."
Quoted from Ray Smith's "The Artist's Handbook"
I have been informed that some artists have tried
CMC with less than favorable results. Though I do not know what viscosity
or percentage solution was used. If you desire to experiment with this
size, make sure to follow Smith's advice in these areas and record your
results.
PVA Sizing
is non-hygroscopic, which means that it will not swell and shrink with
changes in temperature and humidity. This size is recommended by Robert
Gamblin and can be purchased through gamblincolors.com.
PRIMER: provides a surface that will accept the paint and allow
it adequate adhesion and manipulation. The surface must have a degree of
tooth that will enable it to accept the paint, and a certain degree of
absorbency. For oil painting, a ground that is too absorbent soaks up most
of the oil from the paint, leaving a brittle film of paint that is liable
to crumble to dust. If the ground is completely non absorbent, however,
the paint film will probably peel off.
In transparent and semi-transparent painting techniques, the ground enhances
the colors of the painting by providing a white reflective background.
This illustrates the need to use permanent, opaque, and non-yellowing pigments
in the primer.
Primers for stiff supports were described by Cennini:
Gesso grosso: This is raw plaster of Paris used alone or made by
grinding plaster of Paris in glue size. A single coat is applied with a
spatula. It was often used as a rough undercoat.
Gesso sottile: Here the plaster of Paris is soaked in water for
a month -- the mix being stirred every day before being ground, squeezed
of water and added to hot, but not boiling, size. A number of coats of
this finishing gesso are applied at right angles to each other over an
underlayer of gesso grosso. Giotto's gesso sottile was made of parchment
glue and slaked plaster of Paris (artificial gypsum in the form of calcium
sulphate). Precipitated chalk or a fine grade of purified whiting are considered
improvements over Plaster of Paris.
Precipitated Chalk:
an artificially produced inert pigment that stays white in water solutions
but yellows when mixed with oil.
Whiting is natural chalk that has been refined. "Extra Gilders"
grade is adequate for gesso and less expensive than Precipitated Chalk
but has inferior whiteness and uniformity.
The basic ingredients of traditional gesso are rabbit skin glue and white chalk (whiting). Gesso
is not a flexible ground and should not be used on a flexible support such
as stretched canvas. It was used by the Flemish on wood panels, for which
it is still very much useful, especially for creating a pure white ground.
To make the gesso ground more white, Titanium White pigment can be added
in proportions of 1:9 with the whiting or precipitated chalk. For a very
smooth finish surface, clay can be added. (red or white bole, China clay,
or kaolin). For a rough surface with tooth, add powdered pumice, sand,
silica or silex (powdered quartz), marble grit or limestone dust. Marble
dust is commonly available from art supply dealers for this purpose and
some premixed gesso powders have marble in the ingredients.
Gesso Recipe
Soak 3 ounces of rabbitskin glue in 28 fluid ounces of cold water overnight,
or until it has swollen and absorbed its full capacity of water. It whould
then be of a uniform pale color and of soft consistency throughout, without
any dark or tough spots. Heat in a double boiler until dissolved, stirring
occasionally. Do not boil, scorch, or overheat! Add more water to bring
the total to 1 quart, heat through, and stir in 1 pound of chalk. It is
then ready to be brushed onto your panel in thin liquid coatings. For complete
instructions on preparing gessoed boards, see Ralph Mayer's book, The Painter's
Craft.
Acrylic Gesso Primer:
not actually gesso at all, but a pigmented acrylic resin dispersion. As
such, they are non-yellowing and non-cracking and give good adhesion to
most surfaces without the need for a preliminary coat of glue size. They
are extremely flexible and are appropriate on canvas for use with acrylic
paints. It is very common to find Acrylic primers used on preprimed canvases.
They should not, however, be used for painting in oil because, as the oil
film becomes increasingly brittle over time, the acrylic ground remains
flexible, causing the oil film to crack.
Oil Primer:
for painting in oil on cloth, the best primer is one of like substance
to the painting itself, applied in the appropriate fat-over-lean method.
Traditionally cloth has been sized with animal glue and primed with layers
of Lead White Paint. Lead white is a flexible pigment that covers
well, producing an ideal surface of good texture and absorption. Lead as
Flake or Cremnitz whites are available ground in cold-pressed linseed oil
by Old Holland Imports at 60 Grant Street, New Haven, CT 06519, or through
the Jerry's Catalog.
The toxicity of lead has, in recent years, caused many manufacturers to
replace it with combinations of Titanium and oil-modified alkyd resin.
Alkyd is an alcohol and acid petro-chemical resin that is less flexible
than linseed oil, making it acceptable in grounds and underpainting following
the fat-over-lean rule.