oil painting question

[|NTeRN]

do you need to prime the masonite boards?

[Elwell]

Generally, yes. You might be able to get away with working directly on unprimed tempered hardboard (the darker, harder kind), but I'd still gesso it just to be safe, and to have more control over color/texture.

Never let laziness be the deciding factor in technical matters.

[Chingwa]

Never let laziness be the deciding factor in technical matters.
This is my new Mantra... thanks Elwell.

[MadSamoan]

The two reasons why you need to gesso the board is that one, if you don't gesso the board, the masonite will absorb the oil like a sponge so much so that you won't be able to push the paint around. The other reason is that the oil will rot the wood gradually over the years. If you see an experienced painter painting on what looks like ungessoed masonite, it's probably at least had several coats of shellac or if it is ungessoed masonite, he's just farting around and doesn't have any intentions of selling it and is just going to throw it away eventually.

[jetpack42]

how does one go about gessoing masonite? I've got the masonite, and I've got the gesso, but I've heard you dilute the gesso and apply it in layers? What kind of brush should I use? Could somebody recommend a general procedure please?

[emily g]

hmm, I don't dilute the gesso--I've never heard of that before.
I just apply it with a cheap house-painting brush. Or sometimes I use a cheap sponge roller (leaves an interesting grainy texture).
If the brown of the masonite is still showing through the paint, apply another layer.

There will probably be little brush stroke ridges left by the brush--that's ok, it adds a cool texture and looks nice. But if you want a smoother surface you can sand those ridges down. You can get the surface pretty super-smooth, which many people also like.

emily

[Prehistoric]

yes you MUST prime for oil paint.

gessoing masonite. here's the lowdown. oh and by the way, don't dilute your gesso, it's not fair to you or the painting.

apply the gesso with a big house painting brush in one direction. dry. sand with medium grain sandpaper. then repeat in the other direction (if up/down first, right/left second). dry. sand. then brush on diagonal. dry. sand. then the other diagonal. dry. sand. you'll be left with the smoothest most perfect painting surface in creation (in my opinion).

on the backside of the board, paint an "x" of gesso from corner to corner to keep from warping.

if you like the look of masonite and you don't want to cover it up with gesso, prime the board with a clear acrylic primer. Gamblin makes a PVA primer that's excellent.

also, you can go super old school and use rabbit skin glue (and sorry for all you animal lovers, but YES is it really made from rabbit skin). it's a powder you buy and mix with hot water. it's been used for hundreds of years and remains one of the best ways to prime. it constricts when it dries so you've got to prime both sides, or else it WILL warp. it's also excellent for stretching canvas, you can stretch it loose, paint that stuff on, and it'll tighten up like a drum.

[Gilead]

Ok then I have a question. Frank Frazetta used to paint on "academie board" which looks like masonite to me. Several paintings like "Neanderthal" just use the board as a toned background, no primer. It looks really cool, does anyone know if he used a clear primer or painted the image with primer or what?
There's an image of what I'm talking about on this page. http://www.frazettaartgallery.com/gallery/HTML/prints.html

[jetpack42]

emily and zach, thanks! :bow: :bow: :bow:

[Umbra]

I used to dilute my initial couple of layers and then move on to the undiluted stuff for the final layers. I found i got a nicer result that way when using using winsor and newton gesso. I have used liquitex and now an italian brand that are a good consistency and need no dilution. As gesso ages it tends to become thicker over time. I heard people argue that adding water could maybe affect the longevity of the gesso, others the opposite. I'd just buy a good flowing gesso and be done.

[jrr]

Ok then I have a question. Frank Frazetta used to paint on "academie board" which looks like masonite to me. Several paintings like "Neanderthal" just use the board as a toned background, no primer. It looks really cool, does anyone know if he used a clear primer or painted the image with primer or what?
There's an image of what I'm talking about on this page. http://www.frazettaartgallery.com/gallery/HTML/prints.html

heh, frazetta's a great painter, but his methods and tools weren't the greatest.
it looks like he put some bunny glue on over his drawing over the masonite and painted on top of that. and sometimes on t he back side of the masonite. but i could be wrong.