Sticking it to Rasterbation, darkly?

March 11, 2006 10:49 AM

I'd like to use Rasterbator to create a large wall decoration, glued onto thin MDF or plywood. I want to paint the MDF/plywood a dark colour first. What paper and/or glue should I use to make sure the dark paint colour doesn't bleed through the glued on papers?

The print will be made in greyscale (a still from a silent movie), if that matters.

Also, any suggestions for areas of difficulty I don't yet expect on this project? Suggestions on what paint to use for a 4'x8' MDF/plywood?

TIA.

posted by Kickstart70 to media & arts (9 comments total)

MDF or plywood might be a little bit heavy. You could probably get a large sheet of Sentra (Cintra? not sure on the spelling), which is a lightweight plastic board. My company uses alot of it for POP printing and things of that nature.

Then, just hit the edges with whatever color you want, and you'll be all set.
posted by jackofsaxons at 11:36 AM on March 11, 2006

If you paint MDF make sure you paint both sides or humidity will cause it to warp.
posted by StickyCarpet at 11:43 AM on March 11, 2006

I think foamboard (including the above-mentioned Sintra-just got lucky on finding it) is often used for this sort of thing. I think they sell it at office supply stores in addition to art supply stores.
posted by TedW at 11:54 AM on March 11, 2006

Ok, I'll look for Se/Cintra or lightweight plastic board or foamboard...that sounds more reasonable.

Thoughts on the glue or paint? I assume foamboard might have some of the same issues with paint that styrofoam does?
posted by Kickstart70 at 12:10 PM on March 11, 2006

You can buy foam core board in several colors as craft stores. This would be a lot easier than buying white and painting it darker.
posted by odinsdream at 12:25 PM on March 11, 2006

Yeah, I'd go with foam-core. Much easier to cut and handle. I'd also probably use white (though it is available in black) simply because the white backing will make the art pop better.

For mounting, get some 3M mounting spray glue. It's kind of finicky to work with--ideally, you want an enclosed, ventilated space that you don't mind spraying glue in--but it's the right thing for this job. A good hardware store will have it; so would the art-supply store where you get the foam-core.
posted by adamrice at 12:27 PM on March 11, 2006

I second the 3M mounting spray. I've never used it for art projects but I use it to attach automotive sandpaper to glass which makes a very smooth, flat, grinding surface. I've also done this to granite for more solid usage. It comes in varying strengths, I believe. I use the max strength stuff for sandpaper, you might not need that. I get it at home depot but probably art stores will have a better, more suitable selection.

There's also dry-mounting. This is how I used to mount prints to mats. It's sort of a plasticy sheet that when heated, melts and joins the print to the mat. We had a big thingy we used which was basically two heated plates that clamped together, but I've done smaller jobs with an regular iron. It can be finicky and you need to be careful, and have something in between the iron and the print, otherwise you'll scorch it. I don't remember what I used... cardboard? A spare mat? Paper?

Contact cement might be a good mounting agent except that if you're printing on regular paper, it'll probably wrinkle it. Oh, and it's rather hard to work with. Generally you apply it to both surfaces, and wait for it to dry, THEN stick them together. The instant the two surfaces touch, this is it, it's stuck forever. Some types of contact cement are used to join formica to countertops and cabinets. Contact cement, when dry, does not stick to most things, to you put a bunch of little long sticks on the counter top, then lay the formica on top. You adjust the formica so it's in the right place and then remove the sticks one by one and press the stuff together, so you can control the rate at which you're attaching the surfaces. Again, there is probably something more subtle than the industrial grade contact cement that I used for cabinetry, that might be more suitable for art projects.
posted by RustyBrooks at 5:10 PM on March 11, 2006

If you glue white paper over a dark-painted backing board, the dark paint is going to affect what you see unless your paper is thick enough to be totally opaque (by which time it's more a cardboard than a paper) or has a foil backing in it.

I don't see why you'd care what color the backing board is if you're only going to glue something over the paint anyway. Why not use a white undercoat, then mask off the parts that are going to have printed art glued on before applying a colored topcoat to the rest of the board?

If you actually do want the dark backing to affect the look of the overlying artwork and your sole concern is to avoid physical migration of the backing paint through your front paper, you should be fine with a simple starch glue over acrylic paint as long as the paint is properly dry before you do the gluing.
posted by flabdablet at 5:42 PM on March 11, 2006

There are plenty of helpful art techniques listed on the Golden Paints website. www.goldenpaints.com. One problem with plywood is that you will need to seal it so the chemicals in the wood don't bleed up and color the image you are mounting.
posted by 45moore45 at 5:51 PM on March 11, 2006