What to paint on? Tight on $$$

[CabinFeveReflections]

I have been glueing several layers of cardboard together and painting directly on it simply because I can get it for free and I'm waiting until I get "really good" to invest in some decent canvas. I don't mind hanging these in my home because honestly I think the whole upcycling thing is pretty cool.
My only problem is... now I have a few individuals who are very interested in my work and have mentioned wanting to buy a few pieces. I am embarrased to tell them that I have been painting on cardboard. Any good suggestions out there? I'm fine with re-creating some of my work on better material, I just don't have a lot of money to put into it. I have read about buying duck or poplin from the fabric store... what would I glue that to or do you glue it? Any advice on the matter is highly appreciated.

Also I do not know if this is the right place to post this question. I hope I'm not breaking any rules here.

[wsrea]

Yes, this is certainly one of the right places to post this question. At the Smithsonian I saw a Toulouse-Lautrec painted on cardboard; it's probably a nightmare for the curators since cardboard has a lot of acid in the wood pulp.

You want a support that is not easily torn (or hole-poked-in-it), cheapish, doesn't fall apart quickly with age or humidity, doesn't leak acid or other funky things into the paint, and lets the paint bind to it. (I think that about covers it.)

So, pick a cheap sturdy substrate like 1/4 inch hardboard (Masonite), MDF, or plywood, or sturdy acid-free paper (although that is surprisingly more expensive than the others). Get the flat panel at a diy store like Lowes or Home Depot. A 2 ft by 4 ft panel is $6, or 75 cents a square foot. Cover it with a barrier primer like acrylic gesso and you're good to go. (Caution, mdf can swell from water in the gesso unless you apply it in light coats, so I've actually used Killz oil-based primer, which is probably anathema to the curators among us.) You can ask the diy store folks to cut your panels to the sizes you want for about 25 cents per cut. (Tell them you're an artist and they may do it for free if you're nice.) Here's a link to the kind of panel:

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-25ec...&storeId=10051

As an alternative, you can often find cheap canvases on sale at various stores.

Remember: sell one piece and--if you sold it for more than $6 plus tax--you have enough for a bunch more panels! Good luck!

[Aires]

You can also use a sheet of luan, a thin sheet of plywood used, among other things, for underlayment before installing tile or hard suface vinyl on a floor. It comes in 4x8 sheets that can be cut into required sizes. Like masonite, luan is available at hardware stores or any place that carries building supplies. One advantage is that it is light in weight compared to masonite, important if you like larger paintings. It must be sealed on all surfaces but that is easily done with a coat of house paint primer. Follow that with a coat of gesso on the painting side and you're set to go. I've had no warping problems but we've been careful to prime all surfaces. Both masonite and luan ae thin enough to be framed in a standard picture frame so that is also a money saver. Another option is a pad of preprimed canvas which can be glued to a substrate if your painting is a keeper.

It's true you can use a heavy weight poplin or duck fabric for a canvas but keep in mind that oil paint will rot any fabric unless it is prepared first with a primer made for that purpose. All in all, the cheaper way is masonite, luan or canvas pads of pre-primed canvas.

[Aires]

P.S. I forgot to mention that there is a gesso made by Hyplar that claims it's a one step process for any hard surface substrate for painting. It lists brick, stone, cement, wood, slate, etc. It does warn that it is only for hard substrates that do not flex or it will crack. If the claim is solid, you could prepare a lot of masonite or luan with just one coat. (I can't give a personal testimonial as I've opted to prime first and then gesso the painting side with my usual brand of gesso).

By the way, if you aren't wanting to go larger than 11X17, you can get pads of canvas textured heavy paper at Walmart or any where that carries a few painting supplies. It is more like a canvas textured poster board rather than think paper - good for practice in any case. You can pop it in a regular picture frame for a professional looking gift.

[CabinFeveReflections]

Thank you so much for the ideas/advice! I love shopping at Home Depot and Menards so this gives me an excuse... I love doing larger paintings so I will look for the lighter options for sure!

[Aires]

I've been able to go as large as 36"X24" in luan -- it is not heavy, fits in a regular frame and has not warped. However, I'd not advice going larger without a cradle as I pushed the limits with a 3 footer. I think the reason it did not warp was not only that it was well primed on every surface but that it was popped into a picture frame that supported it well as soon as it was dry enough. Others have reported the same result: popping a large thin sheet of wood into a frame where it can be well supported has prevented warping. I squeaked by on that one but I had a picture frame on hand and hubby cut the luan to fit that particular frame. It was not only a great saving over stretched canvas that size but I avoided shipping costs as well. Good luck with your shopping, you may be surprised at what you can find for your art work without a great expense.

[VicDiPilato]

I am still in the learning process too... I like to paint large and keep the price down. I buy luan paneled doors from home depot and cut them in half or into thirds, plug the holes, and then prime the hell out of them. If you're handy it's worth it. I get two to three nice, extremely smooth, and large wood panels for ~$25 or you could paint on the whole door.

The paintings in my Avatar were painted on doors

[Biblioscape]

If they have Freecycle where you are, just post asking if anyone has extra plywood, flat doors, picture frames, or canvas panels. Then you can get them for free! If you do larger than 16x20 in 1/4" plywood, I would brace it on the back with some scrap boards; sometimes the luan is a little warped.

Anything you can prime with acrylic gesso, you can paint on. I've even cut up old cotton sheets, attached them to mat board with matte medium, and primed them with gesso to paint on. They make nice smooth "canvas" panels to paint on.

[CabinFeveReflections]

So many great ideas! Now I just need to find time... Turns out me and the fam are moving this month. Finally buying a house so I can paint my walls! It's a dream come true for me. :-D

[erynamrod]

I, like a few others I see here, would suggest masonite. That's what I've been painting on for awhile and I'm an art student so I'm definitely looking for the cheapest options. I normally get by with one decent coat of gesso and it's worked pretty well. The only problem is that the masonite has a tendency to warp. You can prevent that by nailing a wooden frame on the back but if you're going for saving money you probably won't want to spend the money on wood, just like me. I find that even if some of my boards have warped I can lay them flat and get them straight again. They can also be a pain to transport if you paint large because you don't have the option of pulling the canvas off the stretcher and rolling it. They're also a bit of a pain to hang without framing, but it is possible.

Other than that I would suggest just painting on things you may find. I know we have it pretty good over by my art building people are always throwing away large sheets of wood or board. I don't know if you'd be able to find a place where people are throwing away decent quality materials to paint on but it's worth keeping an eye out I think.

[KJBaker422]

I use these panels...very cheap I usually only paint 8x10, 11x14 and 16x20. I'm also a beginner and those beautiful wood artist panels are too good for me at the moment

http://www.dickblick.com/products/bl...kTracking=true

they frame nicely and in anything too. I haven't had any of them warp either

[Bluefly]

try getting a canvas drop cloth for about 10$. You can stretch it yourself or even attach to Masonite or your cardboard for a panel. we have used this and 1x1 for set flats, works great and we have painted 5 or 6 layers on muslin as well. (caution too many layers and its brittle)

[Freesail]

Originally Posted by erynamrod

I, like a few others I see here, would suggest masonite. That's what I've been painting on for awhile and I'm an art student so I'm definitely looking for the cheapest options. I normally get by with one decent coat of gesso and it's worked pretty well. The only problem is that the masonite has a tendency to warp.

.

Your Masonite panels are warping because you are not preparing the surfaces of the panels correctly. If you seal all 6 sides of the panel with a product like Kilz to keep out the moisture, and then apply a few layers of gesso while sanding in between the layers to the surface you are going to paint you will greatly lessen the panel warping. I would also keep the panel size below 14x18 without building a cradle for the panel first.

[OddballAnn]

Masonite, or any thin wood sheets are really good. They're cheap, but good to use and sell on. You can get a huge sheet under $5 at Lowes or Home Depot. In fact, I like them better than using canvases. Many old masters painted on a wood surface and these same paintings are lasting until now.

[Horsa]

If you have people who are seriously interested in buying your work, why not take commissions and use the down payment to buy quality materials to paint on?

The cost of materials should be very low compared to the selling price of a finished painting. If it is not you need to take a good hard look at your pricing structure. Artists are almost never going to get a fair return on their time, but materials should be a given.