aluminum painting surface??

[ttpaint]

I am interested in painting on aluminum. Any hints or directions for info...
painting surface prep and or making painting structures?

[Mary Riggs]

tt, Welcome to Wet Canvas! I don't have any suggestions for you but I know others will. You will be happy with our group because they are very helpful and friendly.

Hope you get some assistance with your question soon !

I am very glad you joined us and I'm looking forward to seeing your work :clap:

[sassybird]

Hi tt, and welcome to WC! and Mixed:) In order to answer your question properly I need to know if these paintings are going to be indoors or out after completion.

[ttpaint]

I paint in oils, formal paintings to be viewed inside. I have seen a couple of paintings in galleries on aluminum so I know it can be done...I am currently in grad school so have great facilities at my disposal. I have worked on birch panels the past year...
I am looking for a material that might be lighter and that might open up possibilities for 3d elements in my paintings. Choosing classes these next few days and need to know if this is even a plausable direction... thanks

[ttpaint]

Still no help?

[wren]

Painting on metals is something I've wondered about too. Your question got me curious again, so I ran a search in yahoo and found this page:

http://www.1art.com/forums/oil-painting/messages/104.html

Maybe it will help. And have you also considered painting on stainless steel? Some of the most mesmerizing pieces I've ever seen were some on stainless steel by Gerhard Richter. There are pictures on these two sites, but they can't really capture them--you need to add your imagination of how the light shows through and makes the colors float:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2077277
http://www.sfmoma.org/exhibitions/exhib_detail.asp?id=90


;) wren

[tfriggstad]

It's all about surface preparation, of course! And I will be general as you didn't specify the type of painting you will be doing.

If you want to paint the entire surface or a specific large area, use metal primer. You brush it over your metal surface and it dries almost clear. It smells like chemical and takes a little while to dry. But it ends up with a 'tooth', and then you can use almost any paint you want on top.

If you want a lot of the aluminum to show through and are painting a design on the item, you can also buy ready-made metal paints in bottles. These require no primer, but can be applied directly to the surface. There aren't tons of colors available, but they can be mixed easily.

The last alternative is metal spray paints. This can be fun right out of the can if you are doing something really abstract. Or, you can spray a little on a styrofoam meat tray, then use a brush as long as you are fairly quick about it.

I can give you brands on the paints if you want. Wasn't sure if I should 'push' certain brand names. Hope this helps!

- Tracy

[Sundrop]

Hello,Painting on aluminum is a fun process,depending on what approach you want to take....If it is raw aluminum,it has to be scuffed and primed with an aluminum primer like zinc chromate.Then you could add a basecoat and go from there..You could also use a non sanding primer that you would have to shoot on with a spraygun and also get a smooth surface which would allow you not to have to scuff........I like using precoated aluminum....It has a thin layer of primer already applied so all you have to do is scuff and paint,It has a glass like surface.........You could find tons a scrap at an electric sign company,Who builds signs..Just go down there and ask if you could have a few pieces out of the scrap bin or purchase it from them.........I use to work for a sign company and had access to many different substrates including different thickness of Aluminum....I prefered .063 aluminum,it wasnt to thich nor too thin,.040 works good too but is a little flimsy,but great for shaping....About a 1/16 of an inch to 1/8 thick is perfect.....You could find it with any company dealing with metals....but you cant go wrong getting the precoated stuff its marvelous....................Steve