HOMEMADE PANELS: Canvas or linen glued onto multi-media board.

[Jeanean Songco Martin]

On my last plein air  workshop in Ireland I was determined to bring alot of painting surfaces to work on.  The key is to keep your supplies lightweight and easy to carry.  Managing your painting gear is truly an art worth experimenting with.  A friend of mine suggested using multi-media board to paint on.  Because I love the feel of canvas or linen I decided to glue oil primed belgian linen (ooh la la) onto the lightweight multimedia board.  The glue that worked the best was Miracle Muck glue.  The results were fabulous.  I carried over 20 panels that weighed next to nothing.  I separated each painting with a little piece of weatherstripping tape in each corner, then a piece of waxed paper covering the front and taped to the back. Stack them in a homemade portfolio out of foamcore.   Voila! 

[Plein Eire Administrator]

Thanks for posting.

What is multi-media board, Jeanean? I thought perhaps it was foamcore until you mentioned that at the end of your text. I have used that (ie. foamcore) to glue canvas onto. It works well but you have to be careful not to drop it on the corner. We can't seem to get Gatorboard here and Miracle Muck seems to be a popular US glue but likewise, I haven't seen it here in Ireland.

[Jeanean Songco Martin]

This is a description of multimedia board.  My friend paints directly in oils on the board but I prefer to glue linen or canvas to the board then paint because it isn't so slick.  I buy it from Daniel Smith  or Jerry's Artarama.  Like I said it is great for small sketches but it does flop around a bit with use for larger paintings.  I just keep my little sketches in a box.  I love them and if I decide to frame I would use a piece of foamcore behind the multimedia board.  I do not paste it just wedge in underneath and then frame.  take care,  Jeanean 

Definition from Daniel Smith................

Multimedia Artboard®, a great surface for nearly any medium, is now better than ever. Made of paper soaked in a thermal-set epoxy resin, it retains a lightly textured, papery matte surface but has superior longevity. It’s acid-free, pH-neutral and impervious to mold, mildew and insects. Both oil and water-based paints adhere well, with no priming required.Multimedia Artboard® can be sanded and scraped, cut, shaped and soaked — it doesn’t buckle when wet. It also accepts and releases adhesives and masking fluids without surface damage. Try it for acrylic, airbrush, charcoal, gesso, oils, pastels, pencil, silkscreen and watercolor. Since it’s lightweight and needs no stretching, it’s ideal for travel; you can pack twenty sheets in the space of one standard canvas! Finished works can be framed with or without glass.

 

11X14   $10.25   5 IN A PACK  Daniel smith

[Jeanean Songco Martin]

I read this somewhere on line and for the life of me forgot to note who wrote this informative article.  Perhaps this could help you and this type of glue might be available in Ireland.  He is suggesting multimedia board is museum board???  I am not sure about that but I know some people who paint on museum board and it does look similar.  Good luck!

UNKNOWN SOURCE for this article:    

LIGHTWEIGHT SUPPORTS:  My two favorite light in weight supports are; 6ply archival museum board (multi-media board) or archival gatorboard. The museum board is only good for tiny pieces, 6"x8" and smaller. Both supports can be cut with a utility blade.

I apply Lineco neutral ph adhesive (cosistency of white Elmers glue) with a soft synthetic brush over the entire surface. Place a piece of primed Claussen #13 (double oil primed) linen that is 1/8" larger than gatorboard, cover with wax paper, and smooth with a rolling pin. Repeat until you have a stack of these. Then I lay a hardboard that is slightly larger than my mounted linen and lay a cinder block (or many heavy old college textbooks) on top. I leave it 24 hours.

It's really important to burnish/use the rolling pin or you'll get air bubbles.

All this is 100% musuem quality archival. When framing, I back each piece with white neutral ph foam 

[Plein Eire Administrator]

Thanks, Jeannean!