i spent some time on
saturday afternoon backing a bamboo
painting. i haven’t backed anything
in over a year. mainly
because i was having issues with
the painting not staying flat while
it dried, therefore warping. =(
this makes the surface of the
painting “wavy” and it doesn’t
look nice at all, even when framed.
so instead, i have been taking my
paintings in and paying for it to get
mounted. alas, when i went this past week,
the person who specialized in chinese
brush art mounting was on vacation
until end of next week. and i needed this
painting to gift to someone by tuesday.
so i was left to my own devices.
i’d venture that this technique is
centuries old, if not over a thousand.
i use wallpaper paste instead of
mixing my own, as past artists did.
here is the bamboo painting i want to back.
i apologize for the flower sheet–but it’s an
old one from my mom and i use it to keep the
area clean. on the left is backing paper. a
thicker paper i buy especially–the chinese
usually mount onto another piece of rice paper.
which sounds difficult to me!
on the right is just a roll i formed from
paper towel tubes. there is a small tub
of wallpaper paste and a tub of water.
also a roller to help attach the backing
paper to the painting.
i do the backing on clear plexiglass.
start by wetting the backing paper.
then roll it onto the tube.
the scariest part of the whole process iscompetely drenching your painting. it has
to be wet for the process to work. rice paper
is very delicate, and over wetting it may mean
tearing it. place the painting face down and
spray its entirety.
then spread the glue onto the painting. it
needs to cover the entire back surface.
apply glue strokes in the shape of the union
jack flag (across, up and down, from
corner to corner). sometimes, you have to lift
the corners to tease out bubbles and (the
brush gods forbid) wrinkles. this is the most
difficult part of the process and where one
is most likely to ruin the painting.
then roll the wet backing paperover the painting.
this is a wallpaper tool which i found to bea little rough for the backing paper. using
the roller squeezed out too much glue. i think
one of my backing problems may lie here.
press hard and across entire surface
of the painting so it’ll adhere to the
backing paper.
then apply about a half inch ofpaste along the edges of the backing
paper.
mount the painting on a wood board.some people will mount on smooth surfaces
like kitchen counters or the plexiglass itself.
the little slip of paper is so it’ll be easier to
“pop” the painting off 24 hours later, after
everything has dried.
the push pins is my own doing.
another brush student said this is what
she did to keep the painting from lifting
at the corners and warping. i used the
push pins and it worked!
the final bamboo painting framedin a double matte. the character says
“bamboo” and the chop has my
chinese name. i hope the recipient
likes this piece!
12 Comments
Your art is gorgeous, and the step-by-step was so awesome to read. I love learning new things! I’m sure the recipient will cherish this!!
Your use of the word mount has my head spinning. : )
Seriously though, how does the paint not run if you have wet it again before it dries?
Beautiful painting by the way.
P.S. You’re going to have to get your sweat pea a barbie vette to match her barbie frames, oh and a barbie dream house. :D
-Kevin
aww, thanks angie!
kevin, i knew you liked horses a lot, but not *that* much. =p
and yes, color paintings do tend to bleed. you need to take extra precaution with them and i’ve ruined more than a few. =( especially since i love vibrant colors such as reds, oranges and greens.
and wait till your girl begins to like barbie. 8)
that’s beautiful, cindy!
grats on learning a new mounting technique, too…
lucky stiff who gets this!
Cindy, you might be able to find a sturdier roll of cardboard at a place like Kinko’s. Ask to see mailing tubes and bigger tubes for storing blueprints.
THis is gorgeous, and so cool to know!
The person would probably adore it, it is a beautiful painting. :)
That is simply beautiful! and thanks for the art lesson! How cool was that?
OMG — I’m almost positive we had those sheets growing up…off to dream about simpler times…
anne, thanks for the great tip!
jkb, i hope the recipient enjoys it! thank you!
ello, i’m glad you enjoyed the art lesson!
jen, haha! i’m pretty sure the bed sheet is from the 80’s if not earlier!
I think the sheets are from the seventies but I could be wrong
jen, i think you’re right. i was in denial. i can’t believe i have 30 year old flower sheets. hhahaha!
If you ever list them on ebay let me know…I LOVED those sheets as a kid.