What Kind of Wood for Alt. Process?

[bvy]

I'm looking to do some Polaroid emulsion lifts onto wood. The finished piece will be something that could hang or sit on an easel by itself -- i.e. it wouldn't require a frame or other type of housing. I've done some looking around, but I'm not finding good information about what kind of wood to use. Aesthetically, I'm looking for a very light colored wood surface, with a minimum (but not complete absence) of texture. And it should be archival.

I've been looking at wood panels made for artists -- they would meet most of these criteria and they come in a variety of shapes and sizes. I imagine if they can take paint, they could stand up to the ten or fifteen minutes of submersion in water necessary to apply and position the emulsion.

Thoughts? Thank you.

 

[jeffreythree]

I don't know much about the alt. process, but I do know a lot about wood. The grain is going to lift in the water and make the wood fuzzy if you don't apply something to the wood first after sanding it to the desired smoothness. Wetting the wood between sanding sessions will cut down the fuzz by lifting the grain so it gets sanded off. I would think maple would be the preferred wood. Light colored, stable, a bit of texture, and should be readily available.

 

[bsdunek]

Agree with jeffreythree. I use liquid emulsion on wood sometimes, and it is sealed with a spray coat of artist varnish. That is sanded lightly when dry. The preparation described is right on.

 

[bvy]

Sounds good. Thanks for the feedback. Wouldn't the artist panels that I mentioned have to be pre-treated as described? It seems like wet paint (oils, watercolors, whatever) would potentially have the same effect on the wood. Blick sells birch panels; they recommend priming them with gesso for "some applications" -- but they don't say what those are.

 

[jeffreythree]

One reason I mentioned maple and not the similarly light colored birch is that birch can have different absorption rates across its' surface. I had to look up gesso, it keeps the paint from soaking in. If you go that route(birch and gesso), I would apply clear gesso to the whole surface to keep the water out and the fuzzy grain from happening. You can't really go sanding much once the emulsion is down.

 

[bvy]

Thanks. Utrecht sells the wood panels for painting, but their prices are ridiculous. So if I wanted to source maple, perhaps cut to size and finished to some degree, what can someone suggest?

 

[jeffreythree]

I don't know what may be around you, but Woodcraft, Rockler, some of the box store(Lowes, HD) carry maple, and look up local saw mills since you are in maple country.