Howdy folks! Bit of a nuts and bolts post here. I get asked all the time how I go about mounting a drawing I’ve done, to panel. Maybe you’ve done a drawing and you dig it so much you don’t want to paint over it? Maybe you want to have the original drawing available for a collector? Heck, maybe you want to simply paint bigger than your original drawing? I gotcha covered.
Plus, I also go a little deeper and take you into the scanning and printing part of the process too.
Of course there is loads of info out there on these subjects, including a fabulous mounting Q&A by our own Donato Giancola here: https://donatoarts.com/mounting-paper-to-panel
So take what you will from this video demo (Keep an eye out for a Cthulhu appearance!) and modulate at your leisure.
Question, so this is not a transferring of art to panel but rather a mounting, if so when one paints on the matte paper doesn’t that jeopardize the lifespan of the finished piece?
Hey Tim, thanks for the question. Not to worry, the lifespan of the piece will be fine and hold up because the top surface is sealed under Gel Medium. So the paint is not absorbing into the paper.
Hey Scott. Thanks for this walkthrough. I’ve done this a few times with watercolor paper, but due to the thickness of the paper I’ve definitely had issues with making sure it’s mounted completely flat. Any suggesstions to replace the brayer for smoothing the paper, since I’ve also joticed it leaves slight indentations and drag marks behind. I also tend not to soak my watercolor paper first, and just mount it dry.
Hi Kit. Thanks for the question. Yeah I mention the brayer issue in the video. I used to use one, but like you, the edge of the roller would leave lines in the thicker paper. This is why I switched to using big brushes to smooth out the air pockets and wrinkles! It has worked out much better. Note I am coating the top with more gel medium, so the paper will no longer absorb. If you want the paper to absorb and are thinking of pretty much a dry mounting, I would try a product like Daige Rollataque adhesive. Great stuff. (I don’t use their machine, just their glue.) Then maybe a stiff DRY brush on the top with a heavy hand to smooth out everything. The nice thing about a dry mount is you can hinge the piece on one side with tape, open it like a book and coat the back of the paper and the panel then close ‘the book’ and smooth!
Thank you for the article! That’s so helpful for me