Oils on Yupo Paper…?
Posted By Carrie L. Lewis on February 7, 2009
A small group of local artists have been experimenting with watercolor in a variety of techniques and surfaces. One of the surfaces they have tried is the synthetic paper, Yupo. A petroleum-based product, this paper has a very slick, dense surface.
A year or two ago, I requested and received a sample of it, which I tried with colored pencil. The results were okay, but nothing to write home about. About two layers of color is all it would accept and after that, it was like trying to layer color on polished brass. Nothing doing!
The watercolor paintings I’ve been seeing on Yupo reminded me that I still had a sheet of the stuff left. Since I’m trying to paint on ivory, why not try to paint on Yupo? No reason that I could think of.
So I dug around until I found the sample, then tried two small areas. One was straight paint. The other was paint mixed with M. Graham Walnut/Alkyd Medium. This medium is designed to not only dry more quickly but to adhere better. I fully expected the paint straight out of the tube to slide right off the paper even dry. I was hoping the alkyd medium might remedy that problem.
The swatch on the left is straight out of the tube. The swatch on the right contains the alkyd medium.
I was surprised immediately at the way the paint went on and slid around. There are actually spatter marks around the edges straight out of the tube.
The paint was applied on Wednesday evening.
On Thursday morning, I checked the paper and discovered the paint was still wet. That’s a surprise, since Burnt Sienna is one of the faster drying colors.
Both swatches were still wet Thursday evening, though the swatch with the medium had dried the least. I could still have moved paint around a little bit had I wanted to. The other swatch was nearly dry.
Friday morning I looked at them again and came to the same conclusion as previously, but on Friday evening, I decided to do more than just look at the time. I touched it, too.
In spite of looking very wet, the swatch that had been mixed with M. Graham Walnut Oil/Alkyd Medium was completely dry. It was almost completely impervious to scratching with my mixing knife. There were some marks in the paint film, but they did not go all the way down to the paper.
The straight paint, however, was still wet enough to receive a finger print and it was very easy to scratch off the paper. Note those nice, clean lines.
It looks like the thing to do is to mix the first layer with Walnut Oil/Alkyd medium, then apply the rest of the layers in the same fashion, either with the medium or without it.
I am very much inclined to cut off a piece of this paper and try a small painting on it. It would be a perfect surface for miniature paintings because it has absolutely no texture. I can also do a small painting without feeling too badly if it doesn’t turn out.
I’ll have to come up with a nice composition, though; just in case it turns out!
As always, thanks for reading and best wishes.
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I am a self-taught artist for the most part. Lots of trial and error in the past forty years! Formal art training consists of a couple of years of high school art, a painting class at a community college, one semester in the Fine Arts program at Abilene Christian University and a couple of local workshops.
I am always looking for ways to better my artistic skills, so I am a permanent student in the School of Trial and Error. I love reading and have been known to spend hours online researching materials and techniques. As a result, I've painted in several different styles, including the direct method (which goes straight for the color) and Classical methods (which involves underpaintings, layering and glazing).
I have exhibited paintings in locations such as Lone Star Park Race Track, Grand Prairie, Texas and Remington Park Race Track, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Since the early 90s, I've worked with the Michigan Harness Horseman's Association, donating custom portraits to their annual benefit auction.
In the course of maintaining a growing art business, I have taught myself web design (a skill that will no doubt prove to be a continual learning experience).
I also enjoy puttering around the yard, chasing trains with my husband, Neal, travel and, of course, looking at horses whenever they appear on my horizon.
Hello, Carrie. I just found your article here in a search on Yupo today, which coincidently I happened to pick up a pad of it at a local art store to do some of my own tests. I’ve actually used it before, but not for paints, since I figured they would not stick. Graphite and ink work very well with it.
Good point about the colored pencil layer problem. I’m wondering if a coat of fixative might give them some tack to add more layers?
As far as oils are concerned, I was wondering if turpentine causes any chemical reaction to the paper? I suspect not, but wanted to test that out. Alcohol, I’ve found, in some inks can cause problems. I had thought to lay down a thinned toned layer of oils (imprimatura style) and then paint on that when dry. I figure that might also reduce the slickness somewhat.
I have painted on other similar synthetic surfaces that have a particular advantage in that they are etched with a frosted or matte surface, unlike the smoothness of the Yupo. Drafting Film is made this way. There’s a brand from Borden & Wiley called “Denril” that is exactly the same as Yupo (polypropylene) but has this matte surface. Other films, like Mylar, are made of polyester. The matte surface also makes them semi-tranparent instead of opaque. Its roughness makes it take wet media better, I think.
Best wishes. ~DBC
David,
About the Colored Pencil Question:
I don’t know if a coat of spray fixtive would provide tooth. I didn’t try that because I was so generally unimpressed with the overall results, that I had no desire to experiment further!
I would be glad to hear what your experience is with the fixative.
About the Oils
I would hesitate to try turpentine on Yupo because Yupo is basically a plastic and turps will melt or dissolve plastic.
When I get around to painting on Yupo (as I intend to do), I plan to use an imprimatura layer of paint mixed with alkyd medium to lay down a base coat of color over which to apply the rest.
I may finish out the piece of scrap I currently have with some layers of color glazes just to see what happens before putting a lot of work into a composition.
Thanks for reading and for writing!
Carrie
Hello again, Carrie. I found that there’s no problem with turpentine. It’s not that distructive a solvent to melt Yupo. I wondered about discoloring, but that didn’t happen. Mineral spirits work too. I think you’ll find that a layer of thinned oils will dry just a quickly as an alkyd layer.
~DBC