Supports for Oil Painting 

If you choose to work in oils (or acrylics) you can use a wide range of supports (surfaces) upon which to paint.

Canvas (cotton or linen) is a surface with which most people are familiar – but wood panels have been used for centuries; mdf and hardboard are popular today.  Watercolour paper can also be used, as can off-cuts of mountboard.  Canvas (or other materials like muslin) can be glued to board or wood panels.

Whatever surface is used it must be adequately prepared.  Acrylic gesso is used by most artists and is suitable for both oils and acrylics.

I would suggest three coats of gesso is sensible whatever the surface.  Paint each coat in the opposite direction to the last and allow each to dry before applying the next.

Ready prepared shop bought canvases and boards have gesso sprayed on, so is usually very thin.  I always apply extra coats.

An alternative to the ‘art gesso’ bought in an art store is the ‘primer/undercoat’ for oil paint that you can buy from your local DIY merchant – if the tin tells you that your brush can be cleaned in water it is acrylic based – just as effective, but much cheaper than ‘art gesso’

 Stretching Watercolour Paper

 If you work with watercolours and pour your colours or paint very wet-in-wet you may find it easier to ‘stretch’ your paper.

This is a process of soaking your paper thoroughly and then fixing it to a strong board with tape or staples or both.  Some people merely run their paper under the tap or dip it into a tray of water.  I soak mine in a bath for 5 to 10 mins for 140lb paper, longer for heavier weight paper and for shorter periods if the paper is lighter.

After the paper is thoroughly wet it is lifted from the water, the excess water is encouraged to run off and it is placed on the board.  The edges of the paper can then be stapled to your board.  If you  choose to tape it (which makes removal easier) you should use brown paper gum strip (not masking tape), and I would suggest you run a damp sponge along the edges of the paper first in order to further remove any excess water.

Fix your paper securely on all four sides and lay your board in a horizontal position and allow the paper to dry naturally.

When you soak the paper originally it will expand and as it dries it will attempt to shrink back to its original size.  The staples and/or tape will prevent it from doing so and the paper will ‘stretch’.  This provides a beautifully taut surface on which to paint, which will not wrinkle or buckle however wet you work.

If you paint on unstretched paper it may wrinkle or buckle as you do so.  This does not bother some artists.  When you apply a ‘hairdryer’ to unstretched paper you may find it curls.  Apply heat to the back of the paper and it will usually straighten out.

If a completed painting is badly buckled you can soak the back with a wet sponge and then place it on a smooth surface between two sheets of clean paper (blotting paper is ideal).  Place something weighty on top of this to keep the paper flat and leave it to dry.

Stretching paper is a time-consuming business.  I do it much less than I used to, but when I do, I stagger the soaking of  between 10 and 30 various sized sheets and fix each to an appropriately sized piece of mdf board.

This month’s painting, ‘Summer’s End’, was completed in 2005.  The task was made easier because stretched paper was used.  Each of the background colours was poured on to the paper – first the yellow, then the red and finally the blue – which you can see in the sky.  More colours were then poured on for the foreground.  As each colour was poured the board was tipped to direct and control the paint and then allowed to dry before the next pouring.  Only at the end was a brush used to paint some calligraphic marks in the foreground and to paint the hedgerow, gate and trees – and even then much of the foliage was done by ‘splattering’ the paint on using a stencil brush.

Watercolour Paper 3

The best advice one can give to any watercolour artist about what paper to use is to try different brands, weights and textures and then decide which best suits your style.

Some paper absorbs the paints much more readily than others; if the paint sits on the surface the colour is much more easily lifted out.  So, if you like to reveal highlights by dampening areas and removing paint this latter type might be ideal for you.  If, on the other hand, you prefer to put colour down in layers or glazes, one on top of the other, a paper which absorbs the paint would be more appropriate.

If I want textured effects I will use a Rough textured paper.  If I want a lot of detail or a more fluid look I am as likely to use a smooth textured hot pressed surface.

I almost invariably buy my paper in large sheets (30”x22”) and cut it down to the size I want.  This is much more flexible (and economical) than buying pads or blocks.

This month’s painting, ‘Eynesford’, had a fair amount of wet-in-wet work, particularly in the water, so I used a 200lb Not paper.