Occasionally I use these painting panels made by RayMar Art for my daily paintings but for this trip to the California coast I’ll use them almost exclusively. They are oil primed linen canvas mounted on panel and are about 1/8 inch thick. I really like the way the paint just glides across the surface of these panels. Just so happens I received my order from Ray Mar today. These are 6×8, 6×7, 5×8 inch panels… don’t they look pretty.
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Very pretty indeed! This site has a lot of Google juice I must say. A simple search like “primed linen panels” brings it to the front page of image results. Qiang Huang also recommended RayMar, so I’m going to give them a shot. It’s certainly easy to wrap up quite a sum quickly!
Tell me – I’m noticing some of it is double primed and some of it is single primed. What dictates which one you use for a study?
Yea, in the photo there’s both single and double primed panels but I really only use the double primed ones now. I prefer the smoothness of these panels while others prefer the less smooth single primed ones. I’d recommend ordering a few of both to see which ones you like painting on. It’s just a matter of taste.
New Traditions also makes excellent linen panels, although they are a bit more expensive. http://www.newtraditionsartpanels.com/
Most of your paintings at dailypaintings.blogspot.com are linen on panel. Some of them just say “oil on linen.” Does this mean they’re stretched? What determines if you use stretched or panels? Where can you even get stretched linen? It looks like usually people paint linen on panels. But when it comes to cotton they usually paint on stretched. Why is this? Sorry for all the questions. It’s all so confusing!
Martyn, here’s some of my thoughts on painting surfaces that might help…
- For paintings around 18 inches or smaller I prefer to use linen panels (linen on board, etc) because of the solid support the panel provides and also for the convenience as you don’t have to stretch the linen. Another option is to use gessoed hardboards (sometimes referred to as masonite). I’m not a big fan of these but I do use them on occasion. I used these a lot when I first started painting because they were very affordable.
- For painting sizes above 18 inches I prefer to use stretched linen. I purchase large rolls of primed linen and stretch the linen myself.
The reason for using stretched linen opposed to panels is because panel has a tendency to warp in the larger sizes. Stretching linen yourself will be more cost effective and better quality than the pre-stretched linen canvases you find at most art stores.
- I don’t use cotton canvas because of the even weave and the absorbency of the cotton. I find it difficult to paint on.
Two books that I regularly look to for answers:
The Painters Handbook http://tinyurl.com/284vo6h
The Artists Handbook
http://tinyurl.com/24lv9k5
Hope that helps
Thanks for the recommendations. I just might have to look at those books. Judging from your work, it’s pretty rare for you to go outside of 18 inches, though you do occasionally. Out of curiosity, what do you charge for something like an 8×10?
It all depends on the painting. Right now they go for anywhere between 250-500.