I'm at work but have a quick question. I have recently seen some artists (usually more w/c artists) using "mountboard" for painting/drawing. The artist were British (I think) & their description of mountboard sounds like what we Americans call matboard. Are they the same?

I also saw something about artists storing drawings between sheets of masonite - doesn't masonite contain acid? I thought it was a wood product.

Just curious.

J

J, I'm not 100% sure of the answer, but I believe you're right. I think mountboard i the UK is the same as matboard in the USA. If so, I've never seen them used for painting, but I have seen them used for drawing. In fact Armin Mersmann (http://arminmersmann.artroof.com/) has used acidfree matboard to create some of his amazingly realistic drawings.

The surface is very smooth, but I don't think of it as something suitable for painting, but then again, I've never tried doing so on it.

I'm sure someone will have the answer to your question soon.

Masonite is an engineered wood product formed using the Mason method (invented by William H. Mason) by taking wooden chips and blasting them into long fibres using steam and then forming it into boards. The boards are then pressed and heated to form the finished boards. No glue or other material is added.

From the School of Color Forum discussion:

In our first "Color & Technique " newsletter the following Q&A was featured.

Q. For painting in oils, do you recommend any particular type of canvas for practice and for serious work? Also, is Masonite a suitable substitute?

Michael Wilcox Replied
A. I would suggest a good quality primed cotton canvas for practice and a primed, properly stretched linen canvas for serious work. Masonite, or Hardboard as it is also known, contains a great deal of acid which will affect colors such as Ultramarine Blue. Strictly for practice work perhaps.


Matboard- any board used to create a “window” around the artwork. Usually comprised of a core board lined with surface and backing papers, or of equal ply boards laminated together. Most common thickness is 4 ply.

Mount boards - are foam boards without any adhesive. Easy to use and economical, they are designed for jobs that will not be displayed for extended periods of time
Mount a laminated or non-laminated print by coating its back with a spray adhesive and applying it to the board.

In Australia we also know it as Matboard and it is sometimes used for inks.brandname ecoline.cheers Lorrir

Thanks for the replies. From the context of the posts I've seen, I think mountboard & matboard are pretty much the same thing. In a search, I found several references to window mountboard - doesn't that sound what Americans would call a mat?

It's not that important, I was just curious.

Thanks again!

J