Cheap Painting Surfaces

by Shannon Bridgeman
(Macon, Georgia)

I have used masoninte board as a cheap painting surface. Masonite is the brown compressed board (some have little holes, like for hanging tools), usually with a shiny surface on one side and an unfinished surface on the other. Masonite is not very heavy and I usually get the store I buy it at to cut a 4 foot by 8 foot piece into smaller sizes for me. A 4' x 8' piece is under $20.00. I use two coats of Kiltz primer to prep the shiny side surface. I have used masonite for acrylic and oil painting. Painting with oil is much different than on canvas. You need softer brushes and/or more paint, so that you don't pull lower layers of paint off with the brush after it has dried!