Priming Wood Panels With Oil Grounds
A wood panel is a better painting substrate because it is less susceptible to expansion and contraction than flexible supports, like canvas. The movement of these flexible supports can result in cracks and damage to the artwork created on them.
Ampersand offers several ready to use sealed and primed panels, but for artists that prefer to prime their own painting panels, enjoy working with a natural wood texture, or need strong support for encaustic, collage, or mounting, Ampersand also offers three unprimed wood panel options: Hardbord™, Unprimed Basswood, and Birch Wood Panel.
Commonly, artists ask us if unprimed wood panels need to be sized. The answer is yes.
All raw wood panels should be sized properly before applying ground applications, regardless of whether you use acrylic polymer dispersion “gesso” or oil painting ground.
