Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

MATERIALS & METHODS - Painting - Oil Painting

Characteristics - Painting Methods - Materials and Equipment - Manufacture - Protection of the Picture

Supports and Grounds - Cardboard


Well-made cardboard, like fine quality paper, is a durable permanent support that will last for centuries if it is not torn or abused. Like paper, cardboard consists of cellulose derived from a variety of sources, principally textile fibers or wood pulp. Rag cardboards and rag papers have traditionally been manufactured from cotton or linen fiber by methods that produce papers and cardboards of low acid content. These retain their color and flexibility for long periods of time. Inexpensive papers and cardboards are made from wood pulp treated with acid or alkali. Such products as chip board, Upson board, or newsprint contain amounts of unneutralized acid that causes them to become discolored and brittle and to fall apart in a relatively short time. They should not be used for permanent paintings, and since they are no cheaper than 1/8-inch untempered Presdwood, they are best avoided even for sketches and student work.

One type of 100 percent rag cardboard is sold in art supply stores under the designation of museum mounting board. Although this board is most often used for making mats, it can be used as a support for painting. It is acid-free and is available in white and off-white colors in a two-ply and a heavier four-ply thickness. Other cardboards and papers have been developed that are made from wood pulp but have been specially processed to be acid-free. Although they are more permanent than the common wood pulp cardboards, they may not be as strong as the acid-free 100 percent rag cardboards. [p. 115]

[Kay, Reed. The Painter's Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.]


Oxford Dictionary Of Art:
A thin but stiff board made from paper pulp or sheets of paper, sometimes used as a support for paintings. Some of Etty's finest nudes were painted on the type called millboard. A large number of the best works of Toulouse-Lautrec are on cardboard as, also, are many paintings by Bonnard and Vuillard. Twentieth-century painters have used cardboard which was sized but not primed. [Chilvers, Ian, Harold Osborne, and Dennis Farr, eds. Oxford Dictionary Of Art. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.]




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