press mounting oil on canvas.....

[The Common Framer]

WAIT! Before you all faint dead away...

I know this is not the done thing - however, have a thick oil painting on rolled up canvas - you know the type, bought in spain - cant afford the frame . This one however, is badly cracked and rippled. very low value except from a nostalgia perspective. Can i

a: Put into Hotpress using a Daler cold pressure sensitive adhesive board - no heat, just pressure.
b. Put into press using heat activated tissue at lower heat?

any other suggestions - stretching wont do the job I am afraid.

thanks all

[Roboframer]

Wet mount with builders PVA?

[The Common Framer]

hi

possible - but pressure definitiely required. guess i could wet mount and lay under board etc....

cheers


matt

[Graysalchemy]

I would bond it to some MDF if they cant afford to frame it.

[prospero]

Yep. Unibond it to MDF or Hardboard. Good idea to lay a foam blanket on top ( with release paper under the foam) and under a weighted board. The foam blanket will even out the pressure in the hills and hollows. Leave it weighted overnight. If your foam is the thinner stuff designed for vac presses, use a double thickness.

[easypopsgcf]

As has already been said, pva onto a board, I'd use hardboard, plus foam, (exercise mats are good) in the press with no heat, oh and release paper too.

[The Common Framer]

"I would bond it to some MDF if they cant afford to frame it."

Sorry - they do want to frame it - so I was just looking at the bvest way to fix it to a board permanently and reduce the massive creases !

Thanks all for your advice.

rehards


Matt

[Graysalchemy]

Why not stretch it then

[Steve Goodall]

Watch the Hot Press - Vacuum Press DVD - last chapter on the DVD...

If you don't have one - phone me - I'll send you one for free.

Do not mess with cold pressure boards in hot machines - you are looking for trouble - in most cases - you only put cold boards in hot presses when you have done something seriously wrong in the first place

[prospero]

I think I know the type of problem. A lot of these 'tourist' paintings are done quickly with little regard to longevity. They also tend to use additives in the paint to speed up drying, which causes cracking, especially on thick impasto. All oils will crack over the years. Oil paint takes decades to fully cure. But if the ground isn't primed properly you can get chunks falling off. Stretching will exacerbate the problem so in these cases bonding to a solid board is a good solution. To further stabilise the paint surface you can coat it all with a clear medium such as 'Liquin', which will wick into the cracks and into any voids thus consolidating the whole thing. Do this after it's been stuck down.

I will emphasise that this strategy is strictly a quick fix for 'pot boilers' of little or no intrinsic value.

[The Common Framer]

Thanks all. Job done: I used spray fixative and put in press to iron out some of the wrinkles. All in - given the state of the piece, it looks ok! ( keeping in mind it was very thick paint and had been rolled up in a tube for 9 years) Stretching would not have helped as the cracks would have widened. This really was a corrugated surface.

Thanks all for your advice..

regards


Matt