Just Get Me to the Part Where I Get to Paint, Please

Over the course of my career as a student and then as professional, I have experimented with so many various different surfaces. Cotton canvas, linen, Baltic birch, MDF, super smooth priming, rough priming, oil ground, acrylic grounds, etc, etc. ACM (Aluminum Composite Material) has definitely become my preferred support. The factors that led me to this conclusion were: 1. Quick results with little effort. 2. Longevity. 3. Adaptability. 4. Variable surface possibilities.

Hassles of Stretching Canvas

First of all, I really, REALLY dislike stretching canvas. Small canvases aren’t that bad, but when I began painting commissions over 30×40” I would find myself cursing and spending the better part of a day getting it right. I found that the cost for the canvas and stretcher bars + the time involved = waste of unnecessary efforts. Furthermore the flexibility of canvas was concerning to me, and it felt like it was so much energy expended for a less-than-stable support.

Wood Panels vs. ACM Panels

I shifted to using wood panels, but I had to choose between expensive, heavy, yet questionable quality store-bought panels, or maintain a small woodshop for prepping my own. With two young children and the obsessive tendency to use all my working daylight hours for painting, prepping surfaces became a chore and a mental hurdle in my studio process. I tend to prefer working on smooth surfaces because I like how it reveals all the brushwork in a painting, and you can’t get much smoother than ACM. So I tried out a few small panels for studies and realized the surface was perfect. I’ve been working on ACM almost exclusively for three years now.

ACM is lightweight for its rigidity, it can be cut either with a saw or a box cutter and straight edge. You can trim it before priming, after priming, after adhering canvas, or even when a painting is complete (and dry!). Before discovering Artefex, I found a thinner version ACM at a local sign shop and they were able to cut down a large 4×8’ sheet into a bunch of small panels I could prime all at once and keep in a stack in my studio for whenever I needed them. When I started using Artefex panels, I approach it the same way, trimming to size when necessary, with the added bonus of having the perfectly primed surface ready-to-go. I usually choose their Oleopanel (411), or the Allinpanel Lead Primed (532). Both options are exceptional to paint on, and yield beautiful results. This approach has been valuable for me as a busy artist, teacher, and parent of two young kids as I don’t want to spend extra time prepping. I rarely visit the art store anymore because I’ve created a small hoard of panels in my studio so I can focus on the important part of my practice: painting.

How to Prepare ACM Panels

When I’ve prepared my own, I’ll make an order at my local sign shop and have them cut it down to size. When I pick up the cut pieces they have a white coating on both sides, covered in a removable film for protection. I peel off the film on one side and rough up the surface with 150 grit sandpaper, taking care to not sand off the coating on the aluminum, as exposing it can cause oxidization issues in the painting. The surface needs to be sanded evenly and thoroughly, to provide a mechanical bond with the next layers of priming. After I sand, I wash the whole thing down with alcohol to remove dust, let dry, and then apply my first coat of white acrylic ground. I use Golden Artist Colors Acrylic Gesso thinned with a little bit of water and a very wide stiff synthetic brush from the Liquitex Freestyle line. I apply about four coats of ground in alternating directions and I don’t sand. With a stiff brush, the surface is still smooth enough to avoid hours of extra sanding efforts. And it provides a tiny bit of texture and tooth for the paint, which is rarely visible in the finished work. Once the layers are fully dry, I can stack them vertically in a corner of my studio and grab them when I need a surface asap.

Why I Love Artefex Panels

For more involved works, I love to use the Artefex panels because they are superior to what I can do on my own, and they have a wonderful variety of options that I don’t need to labor over, further removing a hurdle in my process before getting to the actual painting work. The Oleopanel’s surface takes my paint beautifully and is far superior to the acrylic stuff I have on hand, and I don’t need to worry about cure times with the oil priming. The Allinpanel Lead Primed gives you the best of both worlds: the warm and traditional tooth of a woven support, with the sturdiness of a modern backing. It is difficult to mount canvas to ACM on your own without all the right tools, so using the Artefex panels really saves me a ton of time and effort. The thickness of the Artefex GridPanel is another big plus. It’s super stable but also relatively lightweight at large sizes. You just can’t get that thickness from most shops, and it makes a big difference in the final results. It provides more stability for years to come. I love that I can assure collectors that their acquisitions will stay true for years, much of it due to these beautiful panels. Visit Elizabeth Zanzinger’s web site to see more of her work on rigid ACM panels.