I am getting ready for a painting trip to France, with an international group of artists that paint outdoors in plein air in each other’s countries. I was thrilled to be invited! We will be painting in and around Tournon, Tain l’Hermitage, Vion and Valence and exhibiting our work in several towns in that area.

 As I am considering which art supplies to take on the plane, I notice that my usual painting panels, made by RayMar and SourceTek, have a good bit of weight if you pack a lot of them, and also take up quite a bit of space. A stack of 8 SourceTek panels on 1/8” birch is 1 1/8” high, and RayMar panels are thicker and heavier than that. I love these panels normally, because they are oil-primed linen mounted on board. And for everyday use, the weight is not an issue.

 So, necessity being the mother of invention, I decided to make my own panels. I used Multimedia Artboard, which is an archival epoxy resin paper. It is about the thickness of a sheet of watercolor paper, but quite stiff and brittle (Don’t drop it! The corner might break off.) It is easy to frame with a foam board backing, and easy to cut with a craft knife.

 Since I prefer to paint on a less absorbent surface, I have coated the Artboard with Art Spectrum Oil Prime (one coat). This is a water-based oil primer that is very fast drying. I applied it with a large palette knife. For some fine texture, I smoothed it out with a paint roller from the hardware store. A stack of 8 of these panels is only ¼” thick. We’ll see how this roller texture works, since I haven’t tried it before.

 I have, at other times, applied the primer with a paint brush, which leaves some brush texture on the surface.

 This is a close-up of a painting on Artboard with the oil primer applied with a brush. A base of transparent red was applied to the primer, and is evident in the texture of the brush strokes.

 Another detail from the same painting. See how the opaque paint seems to float above the transparent? This is why I like oil primer, it lends itself to transparent effects so well.

I'll do a practice painting before leaving to see if I like the texture made by the paint roller.