Frosted Mylar -- marvelous! - Page 2

William Whitaker · 10-17-2004, 04:39 PM

Thanks so much for posting that Mylar supply site Sharon.

"Frosted" and "matte" are indeed the same.

Double matte refers to sheets that are matte on both sides.
Single matte is a sheet that is shiny and slick on one side, matte on the other.

Both work just fine. I've used them both.

Looks like double matte costs less. I'd go for that. It has been my favorite in the past.

Bill

Kimberly Dow · 10-19-2004, 12:32 AM

I really wanted to give this a try, but that link Sharon posted is for large amounts - minimum of $90. I found a smaller pad of it to give it a try at Dick Blick and a few craft sites (they use this for stencils I believe) in case anyone is interested.

Evan Shipard · 03-20-2009, 02:31 AM

It's been a while since this thread had any action.

I have been experimenting with a variety of boards and linens, mounting my linen on well lacquered single ply and masonite. Lately i have been painting on linen taped to board and getting it acid free mounted at a later stage.

Mylar has been something ive been interested in since seeing Alex Kanevsky's work. Bill, have you every primed the mylar? I like having some sort of tooth or texture to work on.

William Whitaker · 03-20-2009, 09:18 AM

Being frosted, the Mylar already has a tooth. I only use it for sketches and very small works. I have never seen a need to prime it. I paint on canvas when I work larger.

Evan Shipard · 03-20-2009, 09:35 AM

Thanks Bill, btw Alex's work can be found here...
http://www.somepaintings.net/Alex.html

William Whitaker · 03-20-2009, 10:40 AM

Thank you for the link Evan. Alex Kanevsky is a terrific and inspiring painter and I've been following his work for some time, It was very thoughtful of you to provide the link.

Evan Shipard · 03-20-2009, 09:59 PM

Alex Kanevsky is an inspiration.

Ive just contacted Dupont but am having a hard time tracking mylar film down in Sydney. What thicknesses does it come in?

William Whitaker · 03-21-2009, 01:29 AM

I don't know. I don't have specifications here. I know it comes in various thicknesses. Sometimes it's frosted on one side only, sometimes on both sides. In thickness, mine compares with a nice sheet of drawing paper.

David Clemons · 03-21-2009, 11:04 AM

There are several other manufacturers of drafting film, such as Grafix, Azon, or Alvin. They're all pretty much identical. 3 mil thickness is common, up to 5 mil I think, but once mounted it doesn't much matter. I've used an acrylic gel as an adhsive and it works fine. The single sided matte is slightly cheaper than double sided. There's another film type made of polypropylene (Borden & Riley's Denril brand) that is almost identical. Also, drafting "vellum" is made of cotton fiber rather than synthetic. Canson makes a Opalux brand of this, and there are others. It's not as tear resistant as Mylar, but otherwise about the same.