Masonite Panel

[seanbone]

Leopoldo ---Wow, that painting looks great! How is your painting you attached in your post hung to the wall? Do you have any pics of the backside of the painting (where it would attach to the wall). From the shadows it looks like it's set out a bit. Also, for the paintings that you frame, do you take it to a MJDesigns or Michaels or do you do it yourself? I have no idea of how to frame a flat Masonite panel. I saw one post where they covered it with a cut out bevelled overlay (like a photograph). From a painting class I took at UNT all we painted on was stretched canvas. Using Masonite is completely new to me. Also, have you ever painted on the Masonite with just Gesso on it (or would the surface be too slick? All the posts and tutorials I've seen glue canvas to the Masonite first. Thanks...

[Leopoldo1]

Originally posted by seanbone
Leopoldo -How is your painting you attached in your post hung to the wall? Do you have any pics of the backside of the painting (where it would attach to the wall). From the shadows it looks like it's set out a bit.

I have no idea of how to frame a flat Masonite panel.

Also, have you ever painted on the Masonite with just Gesso on it (or would the surface be too slick?

seanbone, here is the back side of the Native American painting where I glued 1X2's to the back. Remember this is just a experiment for a different look, normally on masonite I glue the 1X2's at the perimeter or edge of the panel where a conventional frame will attach better. The protrusion out from the wall with no frame was just a interesting look, I would never do this with conventional masonite, but Duron can handle it.



Glue 1X2's to the back your masonite and either take it to your framing store for a fee, or frame it yourself. If you decide on the latter, buy a good miter saw and buy various mouldings from your lumber yard. Paint, miter, glue, and nail the frame to the dimensions of your panel and you are on your way. Below is simple black painted frame surrounding this silverpoint portrait.



I have never painted on canvas glued panels. Sounds like a different feel since there would be no spring in the weave. Too lazy I guess. All my panels were gessoed traditionally and I just went to work on them. I might not do that again, since traditional gesso is so beautiful and it is a BIG sin to cover it up with my thick paint.............L

[seanbone]

Leopoldo,
Thank you so much for posting those pics...people like you are who make this site so great!! By the way, does that mean you paint straight onto the Duron board after you Gesso it with no other steps---no need for glue or anything like that?? Do you use more than 2 coats?? Finally, is the white X on the back of the painting there for a technical reason? I'll quit with the questions for now and thanks again!

[Leopoldo1]

Originally posted by seanbone
By the way, does that mean you paint straight onto the Duron board after you Gesso it with no other steps---no need for glue or anything like that?? Do you use more than 2 coats?? Finally, is the white X on the back of the painting there for a technical reason? I'll quit with the questions for now and thanks again!

Yes gesso and than paint away. I am assuming you are using acrylic gesso purchased at a art store. Follow the directions. I don't understand your question about glue, unless you are talking about traditional gesso made with rabbit skin glue and whiting. In that case, it is easy to make, but one will have to apply at least 6 coats in order to get good coverage. I just swiped an gesso X on the back to prevent the possiblity of cupping or warping of the panel. Duron is so durable I don't think it was necessary.............L

[JamieWG]

Originally posted by Leopoldo


Yes gesso and than paint away. I am assuming you are using acrylic gesso purchased at a art store. Follow the directions.

Leopoldo, do you use the acrylic gesso? The teacher in the oil painting class I'm taking won't let me use that. He said it's too glassy, and that I have to get the oil primer gesso instead if I want to gesso Duron or masonite to use in his class. I've got a whole quart of the acrylic gesso. Can you tell me anything about this? Are they totally different to paint on?

Jamie

[artbabe21]

Originally posted by JamieWG
I've got a whole quart of the acrylic gesso. Can you tell me anything about this? Are they totally different to paint on?

Boy, these teachers are getting awfully demanding...LOL...I would certainly use up what you have Jamie as it can't possibly hurt...unless it's going in the Met right off...sheesh...

[JamieWG]

Originally posted by artbabe21


Boy, these teachers are getting awfully demanding...LOL...I would certainly use up what you have Jamie as it can't possibly hurt...unless it's going in the Met right off...sheesh...

Cath, I wish I could. This is a nightmare. He wants us to have a really big stretched canvas for the next still life---preferably about 30X30....square no less!!!....but he will settle for 24X24. I don't want to make a huge investment here. For me, what I do in class is a STUDY, and I know he's going to repaint most of it. I don't even want to keep it; I just want to learn from it. I told him I have masonite....Can I cut that to size and gesso it and use it instead of buying a huge, expensive canvas in a size I can't find anyway. He says I can.....but then he looked at the gesso I have, which fortunately I brought with me, and he said I cannot use acrylic gesso for it.

Jamie

[KPowe]

Originally posted by JamieWG
Leopoldo, do you use the acrylic gesso? The teacher in the oil painting class I'm taking won't let me use that. He said it's too glassy, and that I have to get the oil primer gesso instead if I want to gesso Duron or masonite to use in his class. I've got a whole quart of the acrylic gesso. Can you tell me anything about this? Are they totally different to paint on?

Jamie

Jamie, you can add marble dust to your gesso to "kill" some of the gloss. It makes a nice surface to paint on. Just stir it in until it looks nicely opaque. Spread a sample on a piece of junk cardboard to test it until it's right. Sorry, I don't have a proportion for you since different brands of gesso need different amounts of marble dust.

[artbabe21]

Originally posted by JamieWG
Cath, I wish I could. This is a nightmare. He wants us to have a really big stretched canvas for the next still life---

he said I cannot use acrylic gesso for it.

Jamie, sounds like he's in to control & doesn't have a flexible bone in his body! He gives teacher's a bad name...it's a study for cripes sake, not a commission...

[Leopoldo1]

Originally posted by JamieWG


Leopoldo, do you use the acrylic gesso? The teacher in the oil painting class I'm taking won't let me use that. He said it's too glassy, and that I have to get the oil primer gesso instead if I want to gesso Duron or masonite to use in his class. I've got a whole quart of the acrylic gesso. Can you tell me anything about this? Are they totally different to paint on?

Jamie

I have used bought canvases with already acrylic on it, but never applied any to panels or canvas. All of the panels I made up had bunny glue and whiting gessoed on. Like I think I mentioned earlier, it a such a beautiful surface to behold and can be a shame to cover it up, at least in my style of painting.

One way that works well, if you are forced to get around the acrylic thing, is to go to your local house paint store and buy a can of oil primer, a gallon goes a long way, just house paint primer, I used that for years on masonite. Works just fine and is a lot less expensive than going to an art outlet. Those art stores are such bandits on everything!...........L

PS: I agree with Cath on your teacher thing, he sounds pretty rigid to me! There are always a few of them around in academics! Shame.

[JamieWG]

Originally posted by Leopoldo

style of painting.

One way that works well, if you are forced to get around the acrylic thing, is to go to your local house paint store and buy a can of oil primer, a gallon goes a long way, just house paint primer, I used that for years on masonite. Works just fine and is a lot less expensive than going to an art outlet. Those art stores are such bandits on everything!...........L

PS: I agree with Cath on your teacher thing, he sounds pretty rigid to me! There are always a few of them around in academics! Shame.

Hi Leopoldo. Thanks so much for your reply. I guess I should try to get over to Dick Blick, otherwise I'll get the house paint oil primer. I appreciate the suggestion. I don't want to piss off this teacher any further. He's already annoyed that I told him I thought cobalt green was a strange color to put as the only green on the palette list for the course, and because my canvas was only 11X14 instead of the 16X20s that the other students had, even though his own list specified 9X12!

Jamie

[Paintonbrush]

I wonder if it matters what type of gesso makes for a smooth vs a dry surface. I've found the white gesso on masonite is dry and sticky. not fun to paint on. what about premade colored gesso? anyone try that?

[JamieWG]

Originally posted by Paintonbrush
I wonder if it matters what type of gesso makes for a smooth vs a dry surface. I've found the white gesso on masonite is dry and sticky. not fun to paint on. what about premade colored gesso? anyone try that?

Diane, do you mean like the kind Art Spectrum makes for pastels? Do you have any of that? T'would be an interesting experiment! (I did try pastel on a gessoed canvas. Don't go there! LOL)

Jamie

[artbabe21]

Hi Diane! Yep, I have used black gesso and that makes for a real interesting painting, using LOTS of paint just to cover the black up...but some have used a venetain red gesso as well. I know Fagan uses black & it yields really cool results in her work.

[KPowe]

Originally posted by Paintonbrush
I wonder if it matters what type of gesso makes for a smooth vs a dry surface. I've found the white gesso on masonite is dry and sticky. not fun to paint on. what about premade colored gesso? anyone try that?

Dianne,
I use the gesso that Frank Covino promotes that has marble dust added to the regular polymer stuff and I don't find it sticky at all. I also use his tinted gesso technique for doing the verdaccio step for which I mix my own colored gesso from the white stuff. It's not as much fun as oils, but it's so much faster, more portable, and you can paint on it immediately.

Bottom line, it might not be the "white" gesso, but the kind of white gesso.