Behold! A headless video (sorry guys) of yours truly prepping an ACM panel for oil painting. What can I say, I pointed the camera at the panel, and you can definitely see the important stuff. Here, you can watch me viciously exacerbate my elbow tendonitis in real-time while I explain in detail some of the processes, thoughts, and techniques that I find important in preparing a surface…for those occasions when I am not painting on linen. It seems I always have plenty of linen panels sitting around when I’m in the mood to paint on a smooth surface, and plenty of smooth panels sitting around when I find myself needing the tooth of linen. Thus, today I used a box cutter to cut down the very panel I am priming in this video to a smaller size.
Speaking of box cutters, let’s talk about ACM panels (“aluminum composite” just means two skins of aluminum bonded to either side of a lightweight core of materials such as polyethylene. The aluminum generally has a white paint/primer.). The one in the video is an E-panel. These are a little flimsy for large pieces, their one great perk being that, due to their thinness, you can easily cut them by lightly scoring with a box cutter and then bending over the side of the table. E-panels are pretty great for small panels, perhaps 16 x 20 and under, when you don’t need much rigidity and you want something lightweight.
Overall, however, I really prefer Aluminum Dibond brand. The E-panel aluminum skin is .008 inches thick. The Aluminum Dibond (and a few other copycat brands out there) have a thicker .012 skin. I don’t really want to feel like I’m painting on cheap aluminum foil and thus I prefer the .012. When possible, I even prefer the 5mm (overall thickness) Aluminum Dibond rather than the more common 3mm. The E-panels I’ve been able to find in Denver are also in 3mm, which, combined with the thin skin, makes them extremely flexible. It reminds me of trying to carry a huge piece of cardboard in a high wind. Better to upgrade to the 3mm, thicker skinned Dibond, or better yet for large pieces, the 5mm + thicker skin. Apparently in Denver you can only buy these by the truck-full or something, so maybe if we gather every artist around and we all go in for a lifetime supply, we can split an order? ….
You can cut all of these on a table saw if you want, as aluminum is a non-ferrous metal.
A few notes:
I do like to file the corners of these for E-panels, and the edges as well for Dibond (with a metal file). They are sharp after cutting.
Also, you can use the exact same priming technique shown here on bare wood panels, and I frequently do. Great surface. I don’t have a preference between the two except as related to framing (or warping at large sizes). Although….I generally put two coats on wood, as the texture shows through and it’s more important to ensure it’s well-sealed. I recommend taping off the sides of your panel if you want them to stay clean.
The product used here is Gamblin’s Oil Ground. Great stuff. Serviceable, moderately priced, and I’ve not had yellowing problems with it as I have with other brands’ similar products. It is not absorbent, which I very much prefer. If you like an absorbent ground this is probably not going to be your thing. I got my E-panels from Polymer Shapes in Denver.
Lastly, please wear a high quality respirator that filters organic vapor compounds when you do this. As stated in the video, I always do. Only left off here so that I don’t sound like Darth Vadar.
Good luck! Feel free to comment if you have questions or thoughts.