Proper surface preparation is an essential prerequisite to ensure the quality and durability of your paintings, by creating a barrier between the substrate and your paint medium. When it comes to painting, the quality depends on how well you have prepared your surface. Picking up the brush and simply start painting is so tempting because it feels like you are making significant progress, but 'Stop!'. First step should be to properly prepare the surface. In today's article, you will learn how you can develop a painting surface to transform your artwork into a masterpiece.

Prepping Paper:

Paper is an amazing versatile surface for oil paintings, when prepared adequately, or when using paper specially created for oil painting.

Modern oil painters have not customarily utilized paper because oil and oil paint solvents disintegrate the paper, due to the fact oil never actually completely dries, and paintings on paper are believed to be vulnerable to cracking when presented to changes in temperature.

Gessoed paper prevents absorption by creating a barrier, and can be achieved with a few coats of an acrylic gesso, or a combination of both; acrylic gesso and acrylic paint for the second coat to create texture or desired under tone. For oil colour, however, a meager layer of undiluted Acrylic Gesso is recommended. Oil paint should be gessoed; there ought to be a barrier on your substrate, underneath your oil paint. Oil paint is sufficiently stable when put on paper, when well prepared. Any shortcoming of the oil on paper will be due to improperly prepared sheet.

Ideally, if a lot of moisture is included, the paper ought to be stretched and dried beforehand to abstain from cockling, and we will prescribe that you use the best quality gesso primer as possible. It is critical to begin with a decent quality surface, as inadequate priming during your painting can't be solved later. 

King’s also carry stone paper that can be used for a number of mediums and oil painting is one of them.

Winsor and Newton Oil paper is ready for you to paint on, please check last month’s blog here.

Preparing the Canvas: 

Cotton and linen are the two most common canvases used as surfaces for oil painting: When unprimed, which means no protective coating applied to prevent the paint from soaking into the surface and damaging the canvas. The two kinds of canvas are sold either primed or unprimed; both cotton and linen, when unprimed, are a light brown/tannish in colour. Primed canvas is useful for professional and novice painters alike, it enables you to avoid the tedious process of combining and applying the sizing and ground desired by many aspiring artists and hobbyists. Primed canvas, still should be gessoed to create a sealed barrier between paint and undercoat, also used to smooth a textured surface for fine detail application. Unprimed canvas, however, connoisseur painters that like to prime their canvas, because of size un-restriction, it reduces costs of custom canvas sizes, and helps them to produce a texture unique to their painting needs.

The unprimed canvas must be stretched before the canvas is primed. Attempting to stretch the canvas afterwards can cause the primer to crack and flake and exposing the raw canvas, while producing a rough surface to apply oil paint. We would recommend a minimum of two coats of primer, so that the raw canvas has an adequate absorption sealing barrier. You should also apply a couple of coats of gesso over the primer before painting. Whether the oil paint needs an alkyd primer, or rabbit skin glue gesso; there should be a barrier on your substrate, underneath your oil paint.

A recent alternative are the Oil painting primers (or solvent-based primers), which dry out faster than the very old oil colour primers.

Before applying a primer, it is recommended that you size the canvases with rabbit skin glue and, once applied, you should add a primer when it is dry in touch. Sizing' is the technique that fills the surface pores with glutinous material (rabbit skin glue or PVA) and assists with dodging the leakage of paint through the surface, which additionally assists with hardening the tissue. It is recommended to add a few coats for better results.

In addition to serving as an extra layer of protection for the canvas, the ground is placed on top of the sizing, which offers a uniform colour, texture, and level of absorption. The most widely recognized ground for oil painting is gesso – a chemically inactive blend of white pigment, for example, Paris chalk, or plaster, and a liquid binder, for example, casein or animal glue (generally rabbit-skin glue). Gesso can be rendered or purchased from cream based to paste, depending upon the desired texture and absorbance level required. It also comes in different colours, but the most common is white.

Preparing the Wood Panels:

You can purchase wood panels from brand name manufacturers that did the work for you and all you need to do is apply (white or clear) gesso. Gesso works as a protective barrier, avoiding deterioration of the wood and discolouration and cracks in your painting.

Some Ampersand and Gotrick clay panel finishes, allows you to directly start painting without any prep required. One of the best durable sealer ever!

Untreated wood needs to be sealed with a thin solution, a clear fast-drying sealant, providing protection for interior wood surface, which is sprayed or brushed onto the wood panel. Sanding is a critical step in the wood preparation process for several reasons. It smoothed out and removes minor abrasions, and opens the pores of the wood to accept your gesso. Inspect panel to see wood putty would be needed. Then seal the uncoated wood panel against harmful oil absorption from the linseed oils utilized in specific underpinnings and oil paints. In the event that wood isn't appropriately puttied or sealed before applying the oil paint, it will deteriorate progressively after some time contingent upon the kind of ground you are utilizing. Without a doubt, proper sealing of unprimed wood substrate is incredibly essential to avoid crack or discolouration that can damage your artwork over time.

These applications are dependent on wood density, such softwood like poplar, pine and basswood benefit greatly from a wood sealer; sealing the porous wood, preventing excessive absorbency of your gesso or paint into the wood pores. While hardwood like balsa, beech, hickory, mahogany, maple, oak, teak, and walnut, usually do not need a sealer.

Before using any sealer, sand and inspect for any small knots, holes and cracks, and fill gouges with wood putty. Sand off carefully with 220 or 320 grit sandpaper until there is no residue on the surface, gingerly pack the wood putty or filler into the hole, mounding it slightly to allow for shrinkage as it dries, or use a straight edge tool to scrape off excess and let dry. Sand, (may need 2 application), if the wood putty shrank to much and sand again. Let dry thoroughly before applying any sealers. Read manufacturers instructions.

If using unprimed basswood? Priming with an oil painting ground or primer on the surface can be sprayed or applied with a synthetic bristle brush, foam applicator, or synthetic pad applicator. Ensure to follow same direction of wood grain. You can prime both the front and back of the basswood panel to ensure the long-term stability. Enable the basswood front to dry out thoroughly, then prime the back. 

Delicately sand the surface with a sanding square utilizing light grade 400/grit sandpaper until the main oil painting ground is arid (around 7-8 hours). After the first coat is dry, a second coat can be added the next day. At least two layers of ground or primer is needed.

Expel any unevenness on the completed prepared surface by sanding the board tenderly after it has dried. The finished primed panels ought to be permitted to dry totally at room temperature before painting.

Want to skip the dishes (SEO)? Use a Gotrick Artists masonite panel that is sealed on both sides and simply brush or spray gesso on the side you want to paint. The gesso will prevent the oil paint to penetrate the panel and cause damage to your masterpiece. Available at King’s…

Preparing the Metal surface:

It is essential to take minimum care to clean your metal substratum. It is recommended to wipe the metal using a lint-free cloth with an appropriate degreaser removing any greasy residue or fingerprints with Ethyl or Isopropyl alcohol that does not leave a residue. Additionally, lightly roughen the surface after degreasing with 360 wet/dry sandpaper. Avoid over sanding, do not perforate the applied manufacturer's coating, henceforth rust proofing the metal. Clean again any dust particles with the alcohol before painting. Keep hands off the painting side of the panel. Permit adequate time to dry.

A good primer has a glue-like base and helps the paint to adhere properly. On the off chance that you miss on preparing the surface, risking peeling paint, particularly in damp conditions, or with water-based creation, like acrylic. Either you paint or spray a light coating of a primer-sealer is highly recommended.

If you chose to not prime aluminium panels, for your paint to adhere better, use a binder when painting on aluminium, make sure to work with lots of binders. Roughen the panel before applying paint. This is to give the paint the best chance of adhering to the surface. Please drop us a note if interested in us carrying aluminium panels for artists.

Last but not least, use a varnish to protect your oil paintings. Weber Synvar Varnish, a crystal-clear varnish with acrylic resin, Synvar ®, has a fantastic finish for oil and acrylic paintings. This has outstanding adhesion without the propensity to crack or bloom, and under normal conditions, it should dry to the touch in less than 30 minutes. Will not fade with age.

Artisan Water Mixable Satin Varnish is a UV-resistant gloss varnish that covers Winsor & Newton Artisan Colour paintings and can be cleaned with Winsor & Newton Artisan Varnish Remover. Usable when the painting is thoroughly dried (6-12 months), non-yellowing, and use as a final varnish only. This UV-resistant gloss varnish covers paintings made using Artisan Colour and is removable with Artisan Varnish Remover.

Take the time to prep the surfaces before you move on with painting it. Make it look flawless with just the right proportion of preparing tips! Leave a legacy for years to cherish!

2020-03-31 14:56:09 | Admin | 3588

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