Hi all,
My surface of choice is an ACM panel (lightly sanded and with an acrylic clear gesso applied). However they can be a bit expensive for more experimental or practice works. Or when a painting goes wrong!
So I have been looking into synthetic papers and after looking at a selection of samples I tried a small sheet of PICOFILM from SIHL. It worked so well I ordered some larger sheets to do a painting on, which came out really well. It's basically white PET-G with a very matt primer which gives the the very slightly coarse feel of paper.
Here are the details of the surface from their technical sheets:
https://www.sihl.com/en/products/picofilm-p-125-m2/7831_picofilm-p-125-m2_picofilm.pdf
PICOFILM P-125 M2
matt
Synthetic matt paper. Ideal for waterproof and tear-resistant loop-locks, hang tags,
weatherproof hiking maps, race numbers, menus, hard-wearing handbooks, booklets
and brochures.
PICOFILM P-125 M2 is a white polyester film coated both sides with a matt primer. It is
weather-resistant, chemical-resistant, temperature-resistant and dimensionally stable.
It can be cut, punched, perforated and drilled without issue. It’s also suitable for hot
foil stamping and laser cutting.
The high-quality coated film surfaces offer optimized feed properties and printing
results. The slightly coarse surface, which is specially developed for laser printing, has
an anti-static effect and prevents double-feeding. Suitable for monochrome and fullcolour laser printing, and for UV flexo and conventional offset pre-printing with
oxidative drying inks. With fast ink drying, ideal ink adhesion and toner fusing. Can be
stamped easily and lettered manually.
Advantages
Waterproof
High tear resistance
Weather-resistant
Chemical-resistant
Temperature-resistant
Excellent ink adhesion and toner fusing
The surface is very matt, even more than a white polyester coil coated matt ACM panel. It has a slightly rough feeling like paper or ultra fine sandpaper. The primer can be easily scratched off with a fingernail, but otherwise is a perfectly level and even surface (more than can be achieved using acrylic paint)
I applied two coats of clear gesso and it didn't buckle or warp as even heavyweight paper does. When I tested water paints and oil paints on an untreated surface I saw some absorbtion but absolutely no warping or cockling.
The oil paints developed the familiar oil ring of an absorbent surface after some hours and the paints did dry quicker (but still took several days or longer to dry).
Adhering the paper to a board is a bit tricky because both the surfaces of paper and ACM panel are plastic I've found Golden Acrylic Gel and PVA glue do not seem to dry (even though there seems a bond). They still appear wet when pulled apart after several days.
I'm currently testing out some Pressure Sensitive Adhesives (spray, tape and pot based) but I am seeing some distortion of the thin paper (bubbling underneath) from the glues - possibly from the solvents, so going to try leaving them to dry more thoroughly before bonding. There are also thicker grades of PICOFILM available, but don't know how much that would help.
I tested out sticking the PICOFILM paper to a paper mountboard from Daler Rowney with PVA glue and the bond was so strong then when I tried to remove the PICOFILM it was pulling off layers of the mountboard until the PICOFILM inself ripped when I used great force.
So, my concerns are:
If the primer is mechanically stable enough to be used with oil paints without some additional gesso or primer.
Is the primer going to react negatively with the oil paint.
Can I adhere it to a rigid surface without visible bubbles from the glue appearing and getting it to form a suitable bond.
I like the surface and it works out very cheap compared to thick normal papers (which still need stretching), or canvas/linen.
I have been in touch with SIHL who produce the paper and they've not heard of anyone using it with oil paints before. They are keen to know my experiences with using it and have sent me more samples.
I wondered if you had any thoughts, or any experience with artwork on these new synthetic substrates?
Thank you for your help,
Richard
