• Large heavy board
There are many ways to mount a flexible support to a panel. I chose the archival practice that was easiest to do and worked the best. The materials suggested can be mixed and matched in order to suit your purposes. For example, you may substitute paper for the canvas or the Lineco adhesive for the Golden® soft gel medium. After a few attempts, you will develop your own personal preferences.
Ampersand Claybord™ and Gessobord™ are the easiest, least labor-intensive choices in archival substrates for mounting. Because both panels are sealed with the Archiva-Seal™ barrier and then primed with acid-free grounds, it is only necessary to apply adhesive since no sealing is required. Hardbord™ and other types of un-primed woods like plywood, on the other hand, do require sealing—see the extra step. Another time saver is to choose a pre-primed canvas or linen so you don’t have to gesso or prime after mounting the fabric to the panel.
1. Begin by trimming the fabric to size. Allow for a 2˝ overlap around the panel (not shown). Note: if you plan to wrap the canvas around the panel, you will need to seal the edges and back of the panel with GAC100 (see Extra Step at bottom). Otherwise, go straight to step 2.
3a
3b
5. The next day, take out your panels and place them one at a time face down on a clean surface for cutting. Using a fresh X-acto™ knife, cut flush around the edges for a perfect and clean look (5a). If you would rather wrap your corners (1/8˝ panels only), apply gel medium or glue to the back where the fabric will overlap and quickly pull the corners in to fold (5b). Brayer or squeegee over the folds to smooth. Clean up excess glue with a wet towel. No weight is necessary in this step, but do allow the panel to dry thoroughly. The panels will be safe to paint on or gesso in 1-3 days. Extra Step: When using Hardbord™ or any other un-primed wood panels as your substrate, follow the same instructions above, but add this important step first. It is important to correctly seal all un-primed wood substrates to prevent support-induced discoloration that can cause your paint film to yellow over time.
Extra Step: When using Hardbord™ or any other un-primed wood panels as your substrate, follow the same instructions above, but add this important step first. It is important to correctly seal all un-primed wood substrates to prevent support-induced discoloration that can cause your paint film to yellow over time.
Before applying the adhesive in Step 2, allow the GAC100 to dry for 1-3 days so that the sealer can coalesce into a uniform film for maximum protection.
Nice simple instructions, thank you. I've been wondering how to mount the canvas sheets I've already painted and whether I'd have to wrap the corners, not wanting to lose the work at edges. Going to test this out.
What about mounting the canvas/linen to a cradled support without glueing it? Surely this would be a better idea overall, especially from an archival point of view, as the canvas can easily be dismounted, and no substance is sticking to it?
Just wondering why most videos on this subject assume that glue is necessary. Thanks.
Thanks for your question! The reason is that, without support across the fabric from the panel, the fabric will still expand and contract with environmental changes. As the fabric swells and shrinks, it can cause stress on the paint film. While some of our adhesive recommendations, such as acrylic polymer gel, are not easily reversed, pH Neural Adhesive can be reversed by a conservator. There are also other adhesive options which can be easily reversed. One such option is BEVA, a heat-set glue, which can be reversed with moderately low heat. In short, gluing the fabric to the panel offers the fabric and painting the best support.