Favorite panels and suppliers?

Terri Ficenec · 03-12-2005, 09:00 PM

Linda, I haven't painted on a panel in over 20 years... so am not sure if I'll like the feel of it or not! Guess I'm looking for a 'ready-to-paint' surface that is of consistent quality, archival, reasonably priced, and easy to frame. (Not to hard to please am I

) I just don't want to be spending time prepping canvases any more, or worrying about the canvas losing tautness or bouncing around once the painting is on it. Looking for something more stable.... I've ordered the Dibond panels from NT, but I'm curious about your comment regarding putting masking tape on the edges -- is the canvas not wrapped around the support?

Mary, there is a very large difference in price for the RealGesso cradles. I was also concerned about how heavy the ones with cradles might be...? On their website forum (here) , they recommend the cradling for the linen panels for anything larger than 16x20, to prevent cupping they say.... and they say that the cradling won't interfere with framing. Someone asked, here , wouldn't the frame serve as a cradle, and they responded, yes if it was properly framed.

I'm still a little apprehensive myself about ordering larger than the 16x20 because am thinking that must be very heavy with the cradles.... The samples I ordered (for both the realgesso and the New Traditions were 12x16... so didn't get into the cradling thing). If anyone has used the cradles would love to hear about your experience?

Chris - have you, or would you feel comfortable, using the gator board panels for commissioned work?

Chris Saper · 03-12-2005, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Chris - have you, or would you feel comfortable, using the gator board panels for commissioned work?

Over the past two+ years the ONLY panels I have used for commission work are the new traditions, and panels I have made mounting Wallis paper to Masonite.

Terri Ficenec · 03-12-2005, 09:37 PM

Thanks Chris-- that's a ringing endorsement!

Kimberly Dow · 03-13-2005, 12:21 AM

The TX Lady I just painted was on a Realgesso cradled panel - 20x30. I had a non-cradled at first and it does have a slight cup to it - which would be fine once in a frame, but I didnt want to present it to the client that way. The cradle doesnt go all the way to the edges so it doesn't interfere with framing. I really enjoyed this, but next time I will seal it with some thinned titanium first because it does suck up the first layer.

Terri Ficenec · 03-13-2005, 01:21 AM

Kim, was it much heavier with the cradle?

Jean Kelly · 03-13-2005, 01:34 AM

Terri,

A friend of mine is a carpenter and he is making my panels for me. He felt that anything over the 16x20 needed cradleing so I'm letting him be the judge. I like the meditative quality of gessoing my own, and after seeing the prices of the Realgesso and New Traditions, I felt this was the way to go for me. Plus, I will have many panels that I can put linen, canvas, or sand to that ivory finish for oil or pastels.

Jean

Ardith Starostka · 03-13-2005, 01:55 PM

I have purchased a Source Tek Premium canvas Panel. It is a 1/4 inch baltic birch plywood panel mounted with Claessens #13 oil primed portrait linen. I haven't tried it yet but it feels nice to the touch and I think that I will like the texture. They have up to size 16 x 20 but I believe that you can special order sizes. You can even order the plain birch panels and mount your own canvas. I think that I may do this. I ordered Claessens #13 oil primed canvas in a roll a couple of years ago and I couldn't stretch it. I think that mounting it will work out much better for me. Their website is http://www.canvaspanels.com.

Linda Brandon · 03-13-2005, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terri Ficenec

I've ordered the Dibond panels from NT, but I'm curious about your comment regarding putting masking tape on the edges -- is the canvas not wrapped around the support?

I don't know about the Dibond panels, but the Gatorfoam panels are not wrapped around the support; the linen is cut at the edge of the Gatorfoam.

I've had a few clients recently who prefer a "contemporary" gallery wrap style, that is, they don't plan to use a frame. New Traditions built a wonderful custom panel for me, with linen-wrapped edges and with a grid cradle on the back. I think the size was around 38" x 40". I had a cradled gesso realgesso board (similar to Kim's but not as large) where the grid is on the back but doesn't run along the edges. The owners put screws and wire along the grid for hanging and I think it looks very "arty" floating on the wall.

I wish I had taken photos of the backs of these to show you.

The problem with uncradled panels generally for me is a marketing issue: do you want to hand a flat thing to your client and send them away with it? If it is a standard size then you can pop it into a standard sized frame, at least to unveil the painting to them, with the possiblility of selling them the frame. If it isn't a standard size, then it gets a little trickier. Maybe one answer is just not to offer non-standard sizes unless you already have a frame available for it.

I always seem to have a million things going on at the same time and I keep vowing to make some rules about things like sizes to make my life easier, but ..... I don't.

Kimberly Dow · 03-13-2005, 04:44 PM

Terri- It wasnt that much heavier. I have had cheaper frames that were lightweight that I dont think would hold it well, but for all real wood frames it would be fine.

Kimberly Dow · 03-13-2005, 06:18 PM

Max at Realgesso saw this and suggested I cut and paste from his site - I think this is the post he was referring to..

He has a forum at his site realgesso.com that answers a lot of these questions. And I suggested he sign up here if Cynthia doesnt mind to answer any questions.

Gord wrote:

If I put a larger panel in a frame(20" by 24"),would the frame act as a cradle or are the boards warp free( linen put on the board after the gesso)?

How large can a linen on panel be before I think about cradling it?

Is there a bulk order size that would warrant a discount(this was posed to me by a business who is interested).

What kind of weight would 20, 16" by 20"s be?

Theres no hurry to answer Max.I won't be able to order until late Jan.
Gord, if properly done, the picture frame does indeed act as a cradle, we usually recommend cradling sizes above 16x20. A note: The linen panels exhibet less warping than do the gesso panels.

There are price breaks on quantity orders as well as wholesale volume discounts, have that business contact us at [email protected]

20 - 16"x20" weighs approximately 54 lbs.