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Cheap Third World Painting Surfaces
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Posted
.I Tis think there are several surfaces you could paint on Rod. Look around for wood to recycle try the local recycling centre, cut stuff up then gesso it. You can use white under paint ,sand it then paint another coat. . Mount board I get off cuts from my framers he just gives them to me you could also gesso this or even paint onto it directly. Old pics can be painted over if they are well prepared first. One person on the gallery paints onto feathers they are beautiful. A bit of lateral thinking and lots of white gesso. Oh and a bit of cheek ,ask for stuff .
Posted
It depends largely on how long you'd like your work to last. Cardboard is OK if you're not looking too far into the future, and it doesn't really matter how long your pictures last - it will deteriorate over time, but I have a couple of oil paintings on cardboard which are around 75 to 80 years old: they're a bit dull, because the oil has probably seeped into the board where they weren't primed properly. But otherwise in good condition; and acrylic on cardboard should theoretically last longer.
Watercolour paper - which isn't, unfortunately, especially cheap -is a good support. Cartridge paper not so much, unless it's very heavy and you use light washes. MDF or hardboard sheets - those stocked in hardware stores - can be good. But if you economize on everything else, or just find supplies hard to get, use the best acrylic primer - described as 'gesso' - you can get. Household primer/paint WILL work, and is fine for practise work, learning, developing your style - snag is, you can never be sure when you'll produce a painting you really want to keep, or sell: and then you may regret that you've used inferior products to paint it.
MDF needs some sort of priming or sealing, because it's absorbent. Harboard needs de-greasing on the shiny side, (light sanding, a touch of methylated spirits or ISO alcohol wiped into the surface) and both benefit from a white priming of that 'gesso': there are many alternatives, if you can get them - but it sounds as though you would have problems getting your hands on other products which would also work.
