Archival Quality Grounds

Archival grounds are art supports that are resistant to deterioration or loss of quality, allowing for a long life expectancy when kept in controlled conditions.

I strive to choose art materials of the durable chemical composition (no lignin or acid free, no bleaching or optical brightening agents, etc.) and make my finished work as resistant to ultraviolet and humidity as possible.

As grounds I primarily use rag papers and canvases made from pure cotton pulp.

I hope that the resulting product would be archival-grade, so your investment in my artwork is as minimum safe from rapid loss of physical qualities, and preserved in the form you received it for your lifetime, provided you care for it.

From the Society of American Archivists:

While no materials meet the ideal definition of 'archival', many archivists use the term informally to refer to media that can preserve information, when properly stored, for more than a century.

My art ground of choice is 100% cotton - canvas and rag papers, hand and mould made from renewable fibers, without use of animal products in the sizing layers. Sometimes I use recycled manufactured or found and repurposed archival (pH neutral) papers, textiles, and textural materials like sand or marble dust, and ground them with acrylic mediums.

My Art Supports

Cotton Rag Paper

For aquarelle on cotton rug (heavier watercolor papers), I choose mould made whit 100% cotton, without optical bleaching, chlorine and acid free - guaranteeing long conservation and inalterability. I prefer roughunpressed surface and a special formula of sizing, Italian Fabriano Artistico being my favorite brand (no animal industry by-products used). 300 gsm (140 lb) is the best paper weight for me - heavy but still flexible.

Canvas

When I work on canvas, I usually apply foundation grounds myself - a toned gesso based on acrylic polymer, to which I add marble dust and pigments. Sometimes I stain canvas first and seal it with a clear acrylic medium.

I prefer unstreached, heavy cotton, unprimed canvases, and avoid working on anything that includes new wood - for environmental and ethical reasons. If my technique calls for a harder ground, I search for artist grade recycled canvas boards, or mount cotton on sealed found objects.

Art grounds that had been either industrially produced out of recycled materials, or were made by hand of found materials, treated for permanence as much as possible.

Examples:

• artist papers that are 100% recycled, including 30% post consumer;
• acid free and lignin free special purpose papers that was saved and repurposed;
• found papers that were charged with acid-reducing solution and tested;
• found and repurposed or upcycled suitable materials of any kind;
• found permanent natural materials, like sand.

I make single works and polyptychs. Sometimes the pieces are so close in their expressive manner, color ans size that they become series. Miniatures are often offered in sets.

• Polyptychs - usually diptychs - contain two or more singles that are intended to be viewed together, in a specific sequence or a free arrangement.
• Sets contain works similar in style and purpose.
• Seriesare set up by style, technique, palette, ground, and the visual approach to interpretation of the reality or ideas. They can look harmoniously together, for example, on the walls of the same room, but they intended to be freely arranged and rearranged over time.
• Collectionsreflect the mood and, the depiction, by colors, or the time and environment in which artworks were made.

Unframed Dimensions

My finished artwork I leave unframed, so you can decide how to present it in your unique environment, according to your taste.  Usually, I make the edges presentable as well, and in some cases the work call for being exhibited with exposed edges: from rough deckle edge to gilded with bronze or copper.

Shape

Art supports are usually rectangular, but sometimes have irregular shape: round, triangular, wavy, etc.

Size

The size of unframed artwork relates to the surface dimensions of a single piece that itself might be a part of a set (e.g. of a diptych). Sizes of artwork grounds I use range from miniatures to wall painting and drawings over 30 inches.

The size groups are arranged by the longest dimension - height or width:

• Miniature (small) artwork sand fine art in extra-small size - are about letter or A4 sizes or smaller - less than 12 inches longest side (under ~30 cm) .
• Standard (medium size) - over 12 to 20 inches (~30-50 cm).
• Large - over 20 inches (50+ cm). 

The approximate measurements of each artwork should be provided on its page.

Loose leaf 100% cotton French and Italian watercolor paper sheets usually come in traditional Imperial sizes. I cut heavy canvases approximately the same dimensions. Some other archival papers I use are in metric sizes.

Special Sizes of Art Grounds

Cotton Rag Paper Sheets

• 1/1 Full Imperial is ~ 30 × 22 inches or 76 × 56 cm,
  somewhat smaller than metric A1 (841 ×594 mm or 33-1/8 ×23-3/8 inches).
• 1/2 Half Imperial is ~ 22 × 15 inches or,
  a little smaller than A2 (420×594 mm or 16-1/2 x 23-3/8 in).
• 1/4 Quarter Imperial is ~ 15 × 11 inches,
  comparable to but smaller than A3 (420 ×297 mm or 16-1/2 ×11-3/4 in).
• 1/8 Imperial is ~ 11 × 7.5 inches, a bit narrower than Letter ANSI A (11×8.5 inches or 279.4×215.9 mm), and shorter and less narrower than A4 (297 ×210 mm or 11-3/4 ×8-1/4 inches).
• 1/16 Imperial is ~ 7.5 × 5.5 inches, close to metric A5 size (148 ×210 mm or 5-7/8 ×8-1/4 inches).

Metric Sizes

Other useful sizes:

A0 size (841 ×1188 mm or 33-1/8 ×46-3/4 in) is big: nearly 3 ×4 feet.

Metric System

Metric measurements are used in most countries in the world, the important exceptionsbeing USA and Canada.

Metric paper sizes are also known as:

• SI (Système international (d'unités), The International System of Units), or
• DIN (Deutsches Institut für Normung, the German Institute for Standardization).