Finding the Ideal Surface for My 9X5 Artworks on Wooden Panels

The quest to find the ideal surfaces for my 9X5 inchartwork for the 2024 VAS Exhibition continues! I'm planning to create two pieces, one in watercolour and the other in soft pastels. To test out different surface preparations, I made three variations for each medium on some scrap plywood.

 Let's start with the watercolour surfaces:

• W1: Just plain white acrylic, which behaved a lot like Yupo paper.
• W2: White acrylic topped with a thin coat of regular gesso. This improved colour intensity and gave sharper hard edges compared to the acrylic-only surface.
• W3: White acrylic with a 50/50 mix of transparent gesso and regular gesso. This surface had the most texture, but the paint went on nicely with great intensity, and it was easy to lift off.

Both W2 and W3 seem promising, except that the watercolour washes picked up brush marks on all the surfaces. For the next trial, I'll need to apply the gessos with a foam roller.

Now, onto the pastel surfaces:

• P1: Just an old layer of Derivan background paint (China Red). This added a nice tooth to the surface, and the coloured ground made the pastel colours sing.
• P2: White acrylic with standard gesso on top. The least successful option.
• P3: White acrylic with the 50/50 transparent and regular gesso mix. Good coverage with a light pastel touch, but the colours looked pale.

 I tested various pastel marks, from very soft to hard, and even Conte pencils. Getting details on such small panels is going to be a challenge, and I need to experiment further with different "background" paints and "watercolour ground".

Stay tuned for more experimental fun on the road to the perfect 9X5 surfaces!