MAKING MY PAINTING PANELS

A question that continues to pop up is how I make my panels. So here we go. 


I like to paint on solid panels more than on stretch canvas - particularly plein air. I make light panels (1/8"thick) from 6x6" up to 14x18" for plein air. I am starting to make heavier (1/4" thick) supports for larger pieces - up to 18x24" - and may explore larger. 


For the thin panels my preference is 1/8" mahogany door skin plywood. It comes in 4x8' and 3x7' sheets. I cut it into the appropriate sizes (6x6, 6x8, 8x10, 9x12, 11x14, 12x16 and 14x18") on a simple table and chop saw. I sometimes use MDF board (medium density fibre board) but the dust it creates makes such as mess that it is not my preference. I seal the boards with a coat of shellac thinned about 10% with methyl alcohol. The mixture  brushes on easily, both sides at the same time, and dries quickly. I lean them against one another and snake them across the floor - often 100 or more at a time. They dry over night. 

Shellac to seal door skin 

Boards drying

I use a variety of canvas and linen types. All are pre-primed with gesso or lead. Un-primed canvas or linen tends to shrink using the technique described.  I purchase the canvas in rolls. I unroll it on a work table and place a selection of the boards spaced about an inch apart on all sides and placed to avoid waste. I do a quick cut around each board using a simple blade 
knife. 

Sealed boards placed onto canvas roll 

Linen cut around boards

The canvas is then glued onto the sealed door-skin using polyvinyl acetate ( white glue) and spread with a simple spreader. Glued boards are piled with a weight on top and left to dry over night. Next day I cut the extra canvas from the board.  Gives a nice light archival panel. I often add additional gesso layers as needed. 

Glue spread evenly on board 

Boards trimmed once glue dry 

I also take larger paintings that are going no where and, using a selection of frame sizes, see if I can isolate one or more small areas that are stronger on their own that the whole. If the painting was done on board I simply cut with my chop saw. If painted on canvas I cut the selected area using the blade knife and simply glue the painted canvas to a board as described above. I have, on many occasions, rescued smaller salable paintings from an unsalable large one.

Turning junkers into profit

Hope this answers the questions. 


Lots more to making paintings than pushing paint on a brush.