Photo Fresco and Screen Painting Materials

After reviewing the work that I found ditched in my yard I had a few glimmers of brilliance as it relates to materials.

1) The screen painting of Michael Jackson was one of my first realizations that I could use the screen as a canvas and I had used acrylic paints to quickly make that piece. The acrylic paints held up pretty well in an outside environment. I washed the picture off with a garden hose before I too the picture, but it was no worse for wear after 2-3 years of being outside. This indicates that the acrylic bonds well to the screens, like the photo sensitive emulsion I use for coating screens and the acrylic bonds well to itself. As an inside material acrylic should be acceptable as a painting material, but in standing water it will turn white and change color.

2) The plaster and gypsum materials held better than I thought inside the frames, better than cement. This is not to say that plasters like Tufstone and gypsum based cements like Duracal are acceptable outside materials, but with a little reinforcement with some epoxy, then they don't just flop out of the frames the way that portland based cement does. Some of the same issues exist with the color of the plaster and Duracal in that with excessive moisture you cannot count on the exterior color with only pigments, they need to be painted, becuase the moisture will allow the exterior color to change or lighten. The exterior coat can be a gel-coat of some more resistant material like epoxy. A sealant can also be added to Tufstone to make it harder by mixing in a glue in the place of water.

3) Thin layers of the plasters can be used, if applied correctly to create a stronger base for the acrylics, and create and insulating and sound dampening barrier. Although I like screen painting for the visual effects, I like to have a thicker structure to support the pictures and to kill the drum like sound that screens can make. The biggest problem is the addition of weight onto the screen and depending on how thick the layer is the weight can be from 3 to 6 lbs. I have been using laminates on the back side of the screen lately to create the exterior shell and this may free up the inside of the screen to remain a screen painting of sorts. Determining the right way to make an exterior shell that isn't too much trouble to connect to the screens has been the focus of some of my latest work, but nothing looks simpler than an nice thin layer of the Duracal for a strong backing simple backing that dries flat when required.