Why Baltic Birch?
Today’s artists are offered numerous painting panel products. How you choose what to buy depends upon your artistic expression and priorities.
Robert Genn’s Twice-Weekly Letters states “The better quality painting panels are those which use birch in all the plies, the inner plies and back as well as just the face of the panel. Generally speaking, the more plies in a given thickness of plywood, the better the quality.
Birch has a much smoother, non-splintering surface than Luan and does not chip like Masonite. You can really work with the surface, I paint and sand and build up a lot of layers. I briefly tired Poplar plywood, but it warped terribly, even when I put backing braces on it, never again with Poplar!”
Birch is preferred for it's smooth almost non porous surface texture. Alternative man made composite panels are loaded with acids and chemical vapors that seep through several layers of gesso. After a few years the painting surface is highly likely to be compromised.
Encaustic paint is best used on a rigid surface that is absorbent and heat resistant.
Russian birch plywood is a 100% birch product, a single wood-type plywood makes for a more stable product.
The grain in birch is tight and closed rather than full of large open pores like the Luan and mahogany used for door skins. This makes surface preparation much, much easier and faster. Fewer coats of sealer or gesso and thus fewer sanding sessions are required to fill and smooth the surface.
The highest quality Birch plywood is produced in Finland and Russia. What sets the veneer from these countries apart is the consistency of surface being virtually free of gaps and voids. This disparity cannot be solely attributed to quality milling; but also that the Baltic birch is indigenous to the northern Baltic regions and is generally healthier in that area. This means that the wood used to create the birch veneer in these countries is less prone to wood bugs and other ailments that can befall Baltic birch trees in more temperate climates.
The lack of voids gives Baltic birch tremendous strength, and also presents a very attractive side profile without the gaps and voids common in many other types of plywood.
Contact Richard “the panel man” at artistwoodshop@comcast.net
for information & pricing on:
Small Panels
Mid-size panels
Monster panels
