Paint Now . . . Stretch Later?

[Richard Bingham]

Originally Posted by David Clemons

Personally, I wouldn't describe [RSG] as "perfect." Many times I get an uneven bond with patches that don't stick and pucker. This is with canvas sized with RSG glued to raw wood . . .

Well, hey . . . nothing's "perfect", please excuse my over-enthusing. Bets are off with all materials when mis-application or operator error enters the equation.

I should have elaborated on that statement. By "raw", I mean clean, new canvas off the bolt, devoid of all sizes or preparations. Canvas pinned to the edges of a wooden panel, then saturated with a suitable strength of RSG, sticks like a limpet, reliably, and it's a simple procedure that's pretty hard to screw up.

I'd never recommend RSG for attaching a primed and painted canvas to a panel; mounting a "loose" painting is a different problem.

[Lesley Grindlay]

So what you're saying is heavy duty wallpaper glue would suffice re- glueing a finished lose painting to a panel??? RSG is obviously not an option for mounting finished lose canvas to a panel, so I wont do it! LOL!

[David Clemons]

Originally Posted by Richard Bingham

Well, hey . . . nothing's "perfect", please excuse my over-enthusing. Bets are off with all materials when mis-application or operator error enters the equation...

...or when an experienced professional who knows what he's doing, such as myself, can't get to behave consistently. Sizing the raw canvas and board first will (sometimes) give you a better adhesion, just like joining wood. Since I'm not inclined to skin my own bunnies, I'll just move on to something that works as well or better for this application.

Lesley, most wallpaper glue these days is a premixed vinyl compound which is likely not acid free. You might find some that's made of just wheat paste powder, but it's often not readily available. You can also make a paste with pastry flour, which is lower in protein than bread flours and less appealing to bugs.

[Lesley Grindlay]

I dont know bout the flour thing, would it not eventually rot?

[Lesley Grindlay]

I wonder what Richard Schmid does with his lose paintings, does he perhaps stretch his paintings and if he mounts them on board, what does he use? interesting to know...

[David Clemons]

Originally Posted by Lesley Grindlay

I dont know bout the flour thing, would it not eventually rot?

Not if the flour has a low gluten content, like pastry or cake flour. You need some gluten for adhesion but not much. Dry flour can become rancid in a few months, so that's another reason it's not often stocked for wallpapering. Properly made wheat paste is very archival. Freshly made paste is acidic, but calcium carbonate buffers the acids, and fungicide helps keep the bugs away. Some brands of wheat paste/starch require cooking/boiling before using (food grade,) but there are others that you just have to add water. If it's a heavy-weight canvas, I'd probably use a stronger glue.

[Allan Rahbek]

In stead of experimenting with food stuff I would recommend a waterbased glue made for adhering Linoleum to concrete floors. That sort of glue has a low contend of water.

I made a pile of panels a year ago with linen on Masonite. I filled the rough side of the Masonite with glue by using a spatula and pressed the linen onto it with the hands. After half an hour I checked that it adhered all over, if not, I just pressed again with a finger.

[Lesley Grindlay]

Thanks for the tip, something to look into when applying fresh canvas to a panel, however, I'm wondering how to apply already painted loose canvas to a panel, any ideas? Would it work for my painted canvas?

[Allan Rahbek]

Lesley,
it works for finished paintings also because you glue the panel and place the painting on it. You don't need to glue the painting on the back side too.

When the painting is dry to the touch you can apply it to the panel.

It might be a good idea to place a sheet of acetate over the painting when you rub with your hand and fingers to press it down.

[Lesley Grindlay]

It makes me nervous using a glue that isnt tried and tested with paintings, the last thing I need is for the worst to happen. I had primed some panels I previously used to tape my paintings with masking tape to. I sanded the panels making sure it was clear of tape and glue etc. After the panels dried, the glue from the masking tape went thru three layers of gamblin ground I had applied thickly with a spatula! Here I thought I had sanded away the glue from the masking tape. So the moral of my story is, glue is harsh. Perhaps my best bet is to stretch my paintings, I'm thinking perhaps stretch them over acid free foamboard and push pins into the sides and frame them. I painted these paintings unstretched and stretching them over stretcher bars would damage and crack or move the paint???