An artist has many choices when it comes to the surface (known as the “support”) and medium they will use to create their artwork. Supports range from papers to woven textiles such as flax linen or cotton duck canvas–to solid supports such as hardwood panels, MDF panels made of compressed wood, or other laminated wood products. They can also choose to apply their medium to glass and metals such as copper or tin panels.
I prefer to either use stretched canvas or various types of hard panels to support my oil paintings. Often, I refer to something called a “cradled panel,” when I describe the support I’ve chosen for my latest creation and I understand this may be artspeak jargon for some of my readers so I’ll try to explain further.
Cradled panels are wood substrates, either composed of hardwoods or MDF, usually an eight to a quarter-inch thick, which are reinforced with hardwood strips, adhered to the perimeter on the back side of the panel. This “cradling” is designed to add rigidity to the panel and helps to deter warping or twisting of the panel over time. This is especially important for larger paintings done on panels as the tendency for a painting on panel to warp or twist is directly proportional to the physical size of the painting. The larger the panel–the greater the possibility of warping.
Here is a photo of the edge of a cradled panel I recently painted, as seen from the front side:
And here is a view of the same panel as seen from the back side:
Not only does the cradling of the panel provide a solid and rigid support that will last for years (centuries) without twisting or warping, it also allows the artwork to be hung without framing as the lip created by the cradle makes an excellent place for a nail or wall anchor to catch.
While cradled panels come in various depths, ranging from 1/4′ to as much as 3 inches, I prefer the 3/4″ deep cradled panels because they will hang readily without a frame but if you do choose to frame the artwork at a later time, frame mouldings with 3/4″ rabbet depths are not as difficult to find, nor are they as expensive as those with the deeper depths. If a work is intended to never be framed and hung as is in the original cradled panel, it makes sense to go with a deeper cradle.
Ronald Lee Oliver is a self-taught artist, working in Southern Calfornia.
