Polyester or linen, what is the most archival surface to paint on?

[Allan Rahbek]

After reading that Tate site it seams that the main problem with linen support is the flexibility of it.
Oil paints are, after curing for several years, rigid and will respond to pressure by cracking.
If the linen is supported by a stiff support such as Masonite or MDF it would not be possible to deform the paint film and course cracking of it as the result.
Many likes the give of linen when painting, and so do I, so the mounting of a stiff support could be an option after finishing the painting. Gluing to the support is the optimal solution.
What do you think ?

[Richard Bingham]

Originally Posted by Allan Rahbek

. . . seems . . . the main problem with linen is . . . flexibility . . . Oil paints are, after . . . several years, rigid and . . .respond to pressure by cracking. If . . . supported by Masonite or MDF it would not . . . deform . . .

The long and the short of it is that weight is a consideration for large panels. In fact, stretching canvas over light-weight chassis is the solution. As for materials, fiberboards (including masonite and MDF) lack the structural integrity of natural wood, and deform of their own weight. Applying canvas over such panels doesn't eliminate the problem of movment of the supports under brittle paint films. New-fangled panels such as cellular resin-core aluminum laminates are quite durable, light and rigid, but the problem of adhering the canvas remains, with the attendant criticism that these materials and processes have not stood the test of time as traditional materials and methods have.

The hand-wringing over these details is certainly a major problem for those artists painting today whose work is assured of being timelessly important and treasured in the next century and beyond. Perhaps they should work in buon fresco? Oh! what if the plaster cracks, or the walls behind it crumble? Heavens! The agonies of worry!

[Allan Rahbek]

Richard,
I don't exclude any type of supports and think that the choice should depend of the size of the painting. Small ones could be glued to MDF or Masonite, bigger could be on cradled Birch Plywood and the large portraits could be on Honeycomb Aluminum.
I don't think that the gluing would cause a problem either, I would use a water based glue meant for flooring such as Linoleum.
Would that function?

[Linda Brandon]

Moderator's Note: please keep this thread on topic (archival surfaces and substrates) and discuss glues on a glue thread so that artists (like me) with perennial glue questions wil know where to look in the future.

[Richard Bingham]

Linda, I removed the "sticky" comment. Is there a thread or section on glues? (discussions of painting supports often wander into digressions on glues as sizing, and methods of adhering fabric to panel)

One of the plusses of this site is being able to find things!

[Steven Sweeney]

All things old are made new . . .

Trolling for something else, I discovered this brief thread on topic, adding a couple of other voices.

http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=6347

[Steven Sweeney]

Richard,

Here are some folks talking about adhesive applications, from about 5 years ago . . .

http://forum.portraitartist.com/showthread.php?t=1769