|
ABS Panel (Portrait of George)
I thought I would post the result of my first painting on an ABS panel.
Bill Whitaker introduced his class to the technique of making these panels at his April Scottsdale Artists School workshop, discussed at length elsewhere on this Forum. Several of us were intrigued by the idea and vowed to come up with a few panels (although Michael Georges said he was way ahead of us, having already made a few).
ABS is a form of sheet plastic available at speciality plastic companies. It comes in varying thicknesses; I used 1/4", although I would have used 1/16" if I could have found it locally. It compares in price to a sheet of Masonite. When sanded (with a rotary power sander) the surface becomes absorbent, with the look and feel of ivory (or perhaps a bar of white chocolate). I glued this sheet onto a 1/4" sheet of Masonite to make it more sturdy, though I probably didn't need to, given the thickness of my ABS.
I loved this surface though it took me a while to get used to how the paint behaved. The ABS is very absorbent and the paint "sits" differently on it than it does on linen. It also has a slightly 'dusty' surface appearance, which will possibly change after I varnish it. There are several layers of paint on the surface, since I put on a thin layer of Maroger over the section I wanted to work on each day (after scraping down the surface I worked on the day before) (Thank you, thank you, Bill Whitaker.... ).
Carl Toboika and I have been emailing about the archieval properties of ABS which I'll be happy to set forth here, if anyone is interested. By the way, this panel certainly meets the four foot high Drop Test.
Oil, 24" x 30"
|
Threaded Mode
