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Acrylic, Gouache, box canvas, stretch canvas and lots more???
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Message
Posted
No you don’t, all decent quality boards will almost certainly have two or three coats of primer, so you can just start painting.
As for oil paints, have a look at Jackson’s Artist oils, I’m currently working on a test report for The Artist magazine, and so far I’m well impressed!
Daylight lamps are readily available, small and mobile, Ottlite (I think that’s correct) make decent quality daylight desk lamps. I’ve got one here but rarely use it, I prefer to use natural light and don’t paint in poor light.
Not sure if this was an oil thread, so if not, ignore my bit on oil paints!
Edited
by Alan Bickley
Posted
Loxley, W & N, Inscribe, Daler-Rowney boards - all good quality - don't need any extra priming. Some people do add another coat - for a variety of reasons - but it's not necessary with these boards. I think all of Jacksons' own boards are ready primed, with the probable exception of wooden panels - I've just received half a dozen or so from Grantham's/Art Discount, because I fancied a change from canvas, and I will need to prime these myself. I bought primer at the same time! Should be fun - looking forward to getting down to it.
I agree with Alan about natural light, if you possibly can, and yes, a northern light is the best. But you may need artificial lighting, depending on your circumstances, and Jacksons offer a range of bulbs and fittings, any of which should be fine - they don't sell anything they can't vouch for. I don't use them, though - so maybe those who do could chip in here?
Oh, and if anyone out there is familiar with, and preferably likes, wooden panels for painting in oils or acrylic, I'd be interested to read of your experiences with them. I have painted on wood before, but that was on cedar, from cigar boxes.......
Posted
I’ve never used wooden panels, no particular reason though!
I’ve just checked on Grantham’s (who incidentally I’ve never used), and the size I paint on is a hefty £17.
So I won’t be using them anytime soon!
Yes, all Jackson’s boards are ready primed.
Nonetheless, I’m still interested to hear how you get on with them!
Posted
You're right - it is expensive! And everything seems to run out at the same time .... I've just added up how much I've spent on materials this month (because I'd run out of almost everything) and had to stop for a nice lie-down. Still - it's what I do .... and only death, disease, or dotage will stop me....
Galeria acrylics are fine - there are many other brands available, and acrylics generally are good value: certainly compared with oil - and there, you do tend to get what you pay for: the best paints are those that are, so far as possible, pure pigment, without stabilizers, added binders, too much mixing of not especially lightfast colours, fillers of various kinds which eke the paint out and keep the price down but rarely satisfy. Alkyd oils wouldn't be a bad choice, if you ever tend in that direction (wonderful painting of a sloth in alkyds on the Gallery today).
But take your time about all that, and enjoy your acrylics - we all look forward to seeing more of your work.
Posted
Ok. Enough. Here’s the definitive on the treatment of canvas edges, box canvas or otherwise. First job, mask the edges with brown paper tape. Last job, soak the tape with a wet sponge and remove it, then apply a coat of gesso. Don’t paint the picture around the sides, those stripes just look silly. There is just no other way.
Posted
I love painting on hard surface boards Initially not the cheapest surface.i agree .
I wait for them to be on offer .
But..and for me it’s relevant, though I know several of you disagree .
If it’s in box format you don’t need a frame.
Drawings,pastels ,watercolours, gouache yes they need fames/ mounts and that always takes the price rocketing. I’m not able to make my own so a nice gessoed ,fab surfaced board is luverly..
No need for sticky brown paper to faffup edges . I use a varnish on my painting first. Let it dry . The, paint box edges freehand with a largish flat brush and gesso. Works fine for me . IF you get a bit of white and I never have, onto your painting , because it is varnished it just wipes off straight away...works every time .
Edited
by Sylvia Evans
Posted
Yes, low tack masking tape was my suggestion earlier in this thread! Gummed tape! Not likely with all that messing around trying to get it off - and putting it on...
I don’t use anything, I just leave it as it is, a few splashes on the edges here and there shows that it’s an original - I just have more to do in life than concern myself with irrelevant trivialities!
Posted
Remember - no one can MAKE you do anything: you don't have to pay any attention to an opinion with which you disagree..... there are many reasons for not painting round the sides of a panel/canvas - apart from that being a fiddly pain. But it does make a bit of a nonsense of the idea of the picture plane - and the eye is best concentrated on that, and a frame helps to concentrate it. However, if you've been commissioned to paint a picture your way, or the buyer's way, and that's what you and they like - you'll do it. Dangle enough money in front of me and I'd do it - but I wouldn't like it. My problem, my choice - no one else's.
I think we all recognize that, and can live with contrary opinions. It does raise another issue that irritates me, though: bought some deep-edged boards (not hugely deep-edged) and noticed the blurb on the packaging said "no need to frame" - well, thank 'ee kindly, but I'll decide that!
The noive.....! Just leave this to US, board-makers .... we can see for ourselves what needs a frame and what doesn't: if you want to be helpful, just tell us where the materials come from, where the board was made, whether it needs priming/sizing - your aesthetic advice is not required.
Along with several other objections to painted sides, I suppose another is that it strikes me as trying to tidy things up: my stuff isn't tidy, and I wouldn't want it to be - but the bigger problem is that I don't see it serving any aesthetic purpose; it just wraps up a package that'll fit in nicely with the IKEA furniture and general décor (which is not to be despised as a concept, but unless you have bright orange walls [and if you do, you're a hopeless case] most paintings will hang quite happily in the average home's colour scheme).... in that, a frame DOES serve an aesthetic purpose: but unless you're going to sidle up to a painting and inspect its back and sides, I don't understand the purpose is of painting the edges.
However - if you like that, do it! It's all just a matter of taste and opinion. It's just that my taste is positively exquisite...............
Posted
Masking tape if I remember. If not, freehand round the edges with gesso .You are, of course, correct. I worked in a business that relied heavily on NLP for a long time and one thing that taught me is ‘all meaning is context dependent.’ In other words, you take the written or spoken word how you choose to. The other thing it taught me though, was ‘think before you speak (or write)’. So I do struggle at times when I read something so binary and ‘my way is correct and everyone else is wrong’. Anyhoo, deep breaths, I’ve got a painting to butcher... 😁Very tolerant of other peoples’ approaches, that is.Sometimes, online, people sound more strident than they really are - if you were side by side you'd probably just say " rubbish!" and have a laugh .....no?