I want to document a cool process that is helping me make larger paper pieces available for others to purchase and hang.
This process starts with me painting on 30” x 22” sheets of paper, on my easel. I love painting at this larger size, because I feel less restricted, I have enough room to move around as I paint the piece.
These larger sized pieces are beautiful, but are a little impractical to frame for selling. Framing is the highest cost associated with paper pieces and can make it more difficult to ship because of the glass.
Wood panel is my favorite substrate to paint on, but it’s significantly more expensive than paper. I find myself painting more freely and expressively on paper because I’m less concerned about the costs. Also, paper is easy to transport. So find an approach that lets me paint on paper then mount that on wood panel is turning out to be the best of both worlds for me.
I want to walk you through the steps in this process. The first image in this post is the final result, then all subsequent images show each step in the process.
1. Until now I’ve been hanging these large paper pieces with chip clips on a wall in my home gym. Not very stylish, but it’s given them a place to hang out and let me see them until I worked out what to ultimately do with them.
2. I selected 20” x 20” as the size for the wood panel that I want to adhere this paper piece to. To do this well, I needed some extra around the edges, so I cut a 21”x21” hole in a large piece of cardboard to allow me to select the subsection of the piece that held the most power. I used a fine tipped posca pen to mark the square to cut.
3. I cut out the 21”x21” section that I wanted, using scissors. The first time I did this, I used an exacto blade, which took way too long. After that I realized that every part that I was cutting was overage, I didn’t need to be that precise, so scissors worked faster.
4. I laid the cut paper piece face down on some plastic and smeared a large amount of gloss medium onto the wood panel. Don’t skimp here; the amount you use is very important. I used too little gloss medium, in the first 2 pieces I did, which resulted in some air bubbles. I used too much in the last piece I did, which resulted in large waves of solidified glue under the paper, completely ruining that particular piece. I used the perfect amount of gloss medium in my 3rd and 4th pieces though.
5. After adding the gloss medium to the panel, I flipped it and set it centered in the back of the cut paper, pressed down hard across all sections of the back, then flipped the combined piece over so I could see the front. There are always large bubbles at first.
6. I rolled a brayer (a small device for smoothing out prints) across the piece to smooth out the paper and gloss medium. I always started from the center and rolled out to an edge, working my way around the piece in a circle.
7. I then flipped the piece over again. I used paper towel to wipe off the excess gloss medium that oozes out of the sides. You don’t want that excess getting under the painting and gluing it to your surface. (I had that happen a little on one piece and spent an hour picking off the excess dried gloss medium from the front.) I then weighed the piece down with 8 bricks, then set several heavy books on top of that. I let this sit and dry overnight.
8. The next day I flip it over to see the result. In the first 2 of these pieces, I’d used too little gloss medium and had some air bubbles that I had to work out. In the last piece, I’d used too much gloss medium, which ruined the piece. But for the 3rd and 4th pieces turned out perfect.
After flipping it over and resolving any issues with bubbles or excess gloss medium, I then start working on the edges. I like to create a slightly beveled edge with the paper. I used some light (220) sandpaper to lightly sand off any dried medium. I also tilt it at 45 degrees and lightly sand the edges of the paper. I don’t want the paper sticking out over the back panel even a tiny amount, since over time that could be a spot where the paper starts pulling up. So I very lightly sand the edge of the paper, until I can see the white of the paper on the very edge.
9. I then tape off around the edges of the front and back of the piece, leaving the edges exposed. I mix up a batch of black paint, plus a little of the predominant color in the piece, I used that to paint the edges. I then take a black posca pen and oh so lightly go around that white sanded edge of the paper, to remove that white. The edge of the paper sits against the blackish sides, so the end result looks sharp.
10. I finish by adding another layer of gloss medium, then varnish, then finish with a cold wax rub.
And here’s the end result! It retains the most important parts of the original painting, but is now on a solid wood panel that can be hung on the wall as-is, without requiring a frame with glass. You could of course wrap this in a large floater frame if you wanted the added expense, but that’s really not required.
