but anyway... i'm glad to finally share my new experiments on this new surface that brought me much excitenment and a happy sense of artistic enlightenment: the masonite board.
masonite is a type of hardboard much used in construction and furniture. it's light, thin, smooth, and very inexpensive. if you apply coats of gesso on it you'll have a nice surface to play using almost all types of traditional media - including oils, acrylics, pastel, colored pencil, charcoal, and graphite.
it takes a little time to prepare it, since you have to sand and prime (acrylic gesso) and sand a little more between coats, but it's well worth the effort. for my particular technique, i think it was the perfect find, since it allowed me to do my pencil work just the way i like it without cursing the texture. by the way, the texture is something else you can create according to your needs. pencil won't erase well, but a moist rag or paper towel will do the trick.
acrylic paints keep their vibrancy and look way more alive and luminous on a primed masonite than on canvas. the picture doesn't do the justice: these greens and blues are to die for. unfortunately i am not going to finish this painting; it was supposed to be a depiction of the goddess Isis, but i'm not really feeling it, so the figure will be covered soon. but the background will certainly be reused.
now i have a set of wooden strips resting on the back porch, destined to become cradles for other boards. i'll spend some time measuring, cutting and sanding them, but when i think about the money i'll save, the extra job just makes me smile: no need to frame the pieces, not mentioning that buying the boards already cradled are amazingly expensive. i'll report all the process of preparing the boards as soon as i get started.
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I'd like to thank all the people who's been buying e-tickets for the Solstice Giveway. i feel really joyous. God bless you all.
4 comments:
Masonite boards are perfect for artwork. I have used them for some of the angels I have created in the past and love them. They also lend to gluing embellishments to them, which I love since I so often add items to my work. I have also added clay bas-relief to the boards. I have never sanded between coats of gesso, which I will take your word for as being a good thing. Your Isis is wonderful and I am sorry you will cover her. But, we are our own worst critics as artists aren't we?
Best,
Cheryl
I so love seeing the process to your amazing and expressive artwork. What a beautiful expression on masonite!
how wonderful to read of your joy of this masonite. when i look at your shading, i think, you are a master! Sometimes I notice I comment on the wrong post, I think I look at the comment button at the bottom of a post and then leave it on the previous post, sorry.
Interesting.... i used to use boards but thought they looked 'unfinished'... never thought of adding some wood strips (dumb, eh)!! Canvas is hard to get sharp lettering but love the look of it... hmm, think i might give the board & gesso a go, thanks!
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