Painting Mountboard

[silvercleave]

Has anyone any tips for painting mountboard, stipple is one way but how about solid colours?

Ian

[Roboframer]

If you're talking the complete board and not a panel then it's the same as an artist laying a flat watercolour wash for a sky etc, but we're talking subtle tones not bold.

Have the board sloped and do it in wide overlapped flat brush lines; each line will form a bead of colour at the bottom that that moves on to the line below each stroke - but do the same in clean water first. The board will probably bow with so much moisture, but will dry flat. How steep an angle to have the board at and how wet with clean water before applying colour - trial and error, same applies to what colour and what medium, some dry variegated, some dry flat.

[Not your average framer]

I always prefer to stipple solid colours onto mountboard with a lightly loaded brush. If you use the right paint, the finished result will appear smooth and untextured. The Craig and Rose "1829 range" chalky emulsion match pots from B & Q dry to a dead matt finish and work very well on mountboard.

Two of the reds in the 1829 range don't cover very well and need more coats to get a good result. These are "Oriental red" and "Arabian red", Craig and Rose tell you about this in 1829 range the colour guide. I've also tried these two particular reds and would not buy them again, as I expect to get a good result with the minimum of messing about.

I find that it's not easy to find really good looking red paints which dry to a dead matt finish and are solidly opaque for handfinishing. You may remember from my first course that I make my own red paint by mixing B & Q "Brick red" exterior emulsion and Craig & Rose "Osbourne Maroon" chalky emulsion. This makes a excellent opaque red with good body when applying and a durable dead matt finish, which distresses nicely.

[Linden]

I've never painted mountboard but have painted primed canvas and MDF panels.

If it's a solid, rich colour you're looking for, I'd suggest artist quality acrylic paint in an opaque colour.

Acrylic and oil paints come in opaque, semi-opaque, semi-transparent and transparent colours - each tube usually has a symbol denoting which it is (usually ... black square=opaque, white square=transparent, black & white square=semi-opaque, white square with a diagonal line=semi-transparent). If you use anything other than opaque, whatever is underneath the paint will show through, including brush strokes of previous layers. If this is the effect you're after, then use the more transparent colours.

Acrylic, thinned with 10 to 20 % water, dries quickly and drying can be accelerated with a hair dryer.... 15 minutes and you can apply another coat. Although artist quality acrylic is lightfast & archival it will dry matt/dull, but can be varnished with acrylic-based artist's varnish in matt, satin or gloss. The varnish will reinstate the original brightness to the colour and add further UV protection.

Hope this helps

[prospero]

Airbrush.

[Keith Hewitt]

A bit of history !

In Denmark in the 1980's most framers painted their mount boards to get any desired colour
Usually one coat - leave it to dry overnight, second coat next day.
Time consuming - but as they tended to use quite thick board results were impressive, as thick mount boards were not then readily available.
The bevel edge was also painted.
This custom is I believe almost extinct today with the advent of mount boards as we know them

[prospero]

Doing decorative effects like stippling/sponging/whatever is cool. I used to do great mock-velvet using Ingres board (for the lines) and splodging on a darker shade. These effects are very subtle and generally use hardly any paint. Done in watercolours they are very permanent.
But I would not do it just to get a flat colour. The prob is that you have to put so much paint on that you need to space the mount away from the glass or you get weird visual artefacts where it contacts. Or the paint sticks to the glass. Acrylic is tough put is the worst for sticking. Gouache is better, but soluble when dry, so any condensation will mark it.
I don't like spacing mounts away as they tend to curl without support of the glass.