The Truth About Painting Surfaces for Acrylics
Today I want to dispel a common myth about painting surfaces for acrylic paintings. You may have been told that canvas is the only surface suitable for painting with acrylics. You may have even been told that you need to gesso your canvas before you use it.
Well the truth is that with acrylics, you can paint on just about anything. Apart from canvas, other surfaces I have created artworks on include watercolour paper, MDF board, plywood, matt board (used for framing), terracotta, shells and even a 100 year old piano.
The Secret To Creating Artworks That Last a Lifetime
The secret to creating acrylic artworks that will last for generations is less to do with the surface and more to do with the surface preparation.
The most important thing when selecting or preparing a painting surface is to make sure it has some “tooth”. That means that it should have a finish which is slightly rough to the touch. This will give the paint something to grip onto and make applying the paint a whole lot easier.
How To Prepare Painting Surfaces For Acrylics
My preference when preparing a surface for painting is household paint primer. I use a 3-in1 primer that has a matt finish and therefore plenty of tooth. Two coats will usually be enough to give you a sound painting surface. With very porous surfaces, such as terracotta, I sometimes use a coat of sealer first to prevent too much paint being absorbed into the surface.
I prepared the surface of this 100 year old piano by stripping off as much of the varnish as I could. Then I applied a stain blocker followed by 2 coats of primer. After the artwork was complete I applied a final coat of clear, water-based varnish to protect it from bumps and scratches. It still looks great, five years later.
On a side note, the “Play Me, I’m Yours” street piano was a project I did for our local art group. That’s my granddaughter Millie playing the piano on the day it was launched in 2014. At first the piano was located outside our local supermarket and all sorts of people would just sit down and play. It was wonderful.Then the shopping centre management decided the space would be better utilised if they installed advertising boards there instead. Can you believe it? So the piano was moved to a favourite local restaurant where, thankfully, it can still be used by any budding muso’s.
To Gesso or Not to Gesso
If you do choose to use a stretched canvas for your artwork then you really don’t need to do anything to it prior to painting. A lot of artists will apply a coat of gesso prior to painting which is perfectly fine. However, I believe that a coat of gesso actually contributes to making the surface too smooth which can impact your ability to blend colours and remove visible brush strokes.
Feel Free to Experiment
The thing to remember with acrylics is that because they are synthetic. This means they dry to a very permanent finish a bit like plastic. Therefore they are much more durable than other paint mediums and will last for many years. This means that with acrylics you are free to experiment with lots of different painting projects on lots of different surfaces. So go on, get out there, try something different and start creating your own art legacy.
Jen
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