Yesterday was my day to clean up all my oil gear. After this week's workshop, which is a plein air pastel class for the Sedona Art Center, Trina and I hit the road. I won't have the opportunity to paint in oil for another week or so. Both brushes and palette needed to be made ready for a week of storage and car travel.
Because I didn't want to throw away the bits of paint that were left on my palette, I decided to play with Judson's "Cartón Board." Last week, I had a student give me a couple of small samples. Here's what Judson says about the board:
"Toulouse-Lautrec and Vuillard used tan card stock for oil painting. This thin resin-sized card stock is far more permanent than that used by the famous painters of past centuries. Great undercolor for oil paintings."
I doubt the board is archival, but it's great if you just want to do some quick sketching. You can secure it with a few pushpins to a sheet of corrugated cardboard. The board is very absorbent, making it perfect for oilier paints.
We had a big windstorm yesterday - 55 mph gusts - but I found a sheltered nook to do the below sketch in.
"Stormy Villa"
6x6, oil - SOLD
Update: I asked Carl Judson about the board's properties. Here's what he says. " I have been using this carton board for nearly 20 years. I tested some of it at the beginning by taping it up in the roof of my greenhouse. After six months or so there was some minor fading. The resin sizing that makes the board somewhat brittle stabilizes and protects the cardboard fibers. For oil painting I like to prime it with a coat of acrylic matte medium, which also helps with stabilizing. Although an unconventional material, I think of it as quite reasonably archival if it can be protected from mechanical damage, which is why I mount it to something solid before I let it out into the world. "
For those of you looking for the board, here's the link:
