Painting On Corrugated Cardboard

Acrylic Painting on Corrugated Cardboard

10 x 8 inches

Rugged Shore

I thought I would give acrylic painting on corrugated cardboard a try so I cut a small piece from the flap part of a box. I put 2 coats of house paint primer on both sides of the cardboard, first coat brushed on vertically and the second coat horizontally.  Priming with gesso would be the proper way to go but I didn't have any.

While I was putting on the primer the cardboard warped slightly but after it dried it flattened out nicely. Corrugated cardboard has ridges running across the surface  so for my painting I used the side where it's least visible. I was ready to start painting the next day.

The primed surface had a shiny sheen and the brush felt slippery leaving very visible brushstrokes as I was painting. This probably wouldn't have been an issue if gesso was used because gesso has a bit of texture which makes the  paint adhere better. But once a couple of paint layers were down painting became easier.

The finished painting has a bit of a glossy sheen to it which surprised me because I sometimes paint on matboard primed with the same house paint primer and it doesn't have that sheen.  So I'm not sure if it's the cardboard or combination of cardboard with the primer that gives the painting a bit of a gloss. But it's not a bad thing, just a bit different than canvas.

Corrugated cardboard  tears easily and you need to hold it lightly so you don't put a dent in it with your thumb. When primed it feels like foamcore. I won't be giving up canvas anytime soon but cardboard is good for experimenting, doing preliminary studies and makes an inexpensive painting surface when money is tight.

Maybe the best thing about painting on cardboard is it's environmentally friendly by being repurposed instead of ending up in the trash bin.