ART PANELS
We bring exacting craftsmanship and quality to this foundational art support form, a fine art staple for thousands of years.
Selecting An Art Panel
Before the Canvas Stretcher was born, artists were painting directly on Art Panels for millennia.
The overall quality has advanced but the basic concept remains the same, with Art Panels still a preferred art surface and support for many conservators and artists.
Traditionally constructed from joined planks of wood, today most Art Panels are built with much lighter boards or composite materials.
We offer custom-built Art Panels for conservators, and for artists looking to produce work in unconventional dimensions and shapes – whether tondo, oval, figurative or organic shapes – such challenges are one of our specialties.
Then there are many artists who, particularly for smaller artworks, simply prefer the relative ease of working with Art Panels, plus the rigid, durable qualities they offer.
We’re all about close creative collaboration with clients, striving to meet their objectives and budget whenever possible. And we have also compiled some background information about Art Panels for a general orientation. (You can scroll down to our specific panel types at any point!)
Art Panel Evolution
Solid wood art panels feature extensively throughout Renaissance painting, but go much further back in history, with pieces still in existence that date back to the 2nd century. The process of creating sufficiently smooth panel surfaces from wood in those eras was a difficult and time-consuming challenge
Eventually, the introduction of manufactured or engineered wood materials allowed for building art panels with a more uniform appearance and stronger, more stable structure.
How We Build Our Art Panels
We cut our Art Panels using machine technology and tools, but purposefully work on a production scale that prioritizes the human factor, with the skill and eye of an experienced craftsman vetting every detail.
Features Of Our Art Panels
The standard we produce breaks down largely to the quality of the materials and the strength and precision of the design.
The Importance Of Wood
Wood quality is paramount. We meticulously source and scrutinize every piece of wood that enters our studio. Clear lumber is key and, in our four decades worth of experience, only certain woods are suitable for making panels.
American Birch Plywood
All of our wood Art Panels are made of high-quality, fine-grained furniture-grade American plywood. Distinguished by an even texture, this American plywood is a strong, stiff hardwood that stains and finishes well –– remaining durable over time.
Sealing
For our wood panel options, we always highly recommend the added protection of sealing. Whether using a clear shellac, or B-I-N® (a white, shellac-based primer and sealer), or Camger (a water-based polyurethane), sealing the wood diminishes any drying out and reduces significantly the possibility of future twisting.
Sealing, of course, isn’t fool-proof. All wood can invariably move at least slightly over great lengths of time. But sealing considerably enhances stability.
Alternative Materials
In addition to wood, we value sourcing a plethora of other composite materials including Dibond, acid-free Gatorfoam® board, and aluminum honeycomb sheets.
Art Panel Types
We offer a selection of high-quality options to accommodate just about every conceivable conservator or artist project.
Some of our Art Panels are intended for the direct application of paint while others are intended to support canvas, as with our Semi-Rigid Art Panel, featuring an acid-free Gatorfoam® board.
In terms of creating new work, panels are often preferred by artists working with relatively inflexible media like encaustic, tempera, and casein paints, yet whatever the use, our panels are built to last. Aluminum extrusion reinforcements are available upon request for every type of panel we produce.
One new and exciting panel offering is our aluminum honeycomb panel, available raw-edged, cradled or veneered with wood, available to be seamed together (for larger sizes), and designed for traditional or organic shapes. This innovative product has endless possibilities.
Panel Products
-
ALUMINUM HONEYCOMB
Our Aluminum Honeycomb Art Panels provide exceptionally rigid, stable support for painting. Our lightweight and durable version has an epoxy-coated aluminum surface with an aluminum honeycomb core.
Specifications: Sheets are available in 1/4’’ or 1/2’’ thicknesses. Please inquire about our different edge treatments, with additional wood veneers available upon request. -
SINGLE-SIDED
Rigid and reliable, the face is comprised of a single piece of furniture-grade American plywood with a whole-piece face veneer atop a well-structured strainer. Our Single-Sided Art Panels are the most economical art support option.
Specifications: The thicknesses of our panels vary depending on size — a 2’’ depth is considered standard. We offer the option of adding built-in cleats. We have two types of cradling: L-shaped or rectangular stock. -
DOUBLE-SIDED
A considerable upgrade in strength from the Single-Sided option, our popular Double-Sided Art Panels offer extra durability. Artists working with heavier collage pieces that need to be affixed to the surface often rely on this panel form.
Specifications: Constructed with two furniture-grade American plywood skins sandwiching a wood grid core starting at a 3/4’’ width. -
SEMI-RIGID
Our Semi-Rigid design –– featuring an acid-free Gatorfoam® board supported by a wooden cradle –– is ideal for artists who use a lot of pressure during their painting process. (There is no need to worry about touching the crossbars.) Semi-Rigid Art Panels are intended for stretching canvas over. The Gatorfoam® surface is not suitable for direct painting.
Specifications: Made in the United States, Gatorfoam® is comprised of extruded polystyrene foam bonded between two layers of wood-fiber veneer. And we offer three different panel profiles: no air space, sleight air space, and deep air space. -
DIBOND
Extremely flat with a highly smooth surface, Dibond® is the industry's leading aluminum composite material. Comprised of two strong, pre-painted sheets of 0.012" aluminum with a solid polyethylene core, our Dibond® design affords flexibility, durability and versatility — in one extremely strong yet lightweight construction. Our Diamond® art panels can host canvas or be painted on directly.
Specifications: We offer three different edge-and-cradle treatments: mitered edge, cradled, or wrapped-around. 4'x8' or 5x10’ Dibond sheets, both 3mm thick, featuring white polyester paint. -
SHAPED
Whether you will be painting directly on the surface or using the panel to host stretched canvas, our Shaped Art Panels are the art support answer for the unusual. We specialize in accommodating a wide range of custom-shapes. And when it comes to round, oval, triangular, geometric, organic, or any complex and unconventionally-shaped artworks, difficult challenges are our specialty.
Specifications: Our Shaped Art Panels can be constructed from a 1/4" piece of furniture-grade American birch plywood atop a well-built strainer, or from 1/4’’ and 1/2’’ aluminum honeycomb. -
KEYABLE
Valued by conservators, this inspired Simon Liu invention lends keyability to fine art panels. The design of our Keyable Art Panels compensates for any looseness in the canvas while also providing an exceptionally rigid painting surface and overall support. This is the ideal art support for conservators restoring an artwork where rigid backing is needed, but they also want to stretch the canvas lightly, avoiding too much stress on the perimeters. From there, they can key it out for optimal tension.
Specifications: We offer surfaces in either aluminum honeycomb or furniture-grade American plywood; keyability for rectangular shapes only.
Panel Accessories
Cleats
How’s it hanging? We offer hanging systems for all our panels: 45-degree beveled French cleats, cleats with a lip, or a z-clip hanging system. We’ve got you covered.