Can't Live Without, Part II

By popular demand:  Things I Can't Live Without, Part II.  The scoop in this post will have studio tips for fellow painters, and a peek behind the scenes of a working studio, for you non-painters. Actually, I'm only talking about one item this time: Gaffer Tape.

"Gaffer" is a strange name, no? A "gaffer" is the head electrician on a movie or TV set. Gaffer tape gets its name because it is the preferred tape for use on the film sets. Wikipedia calls it "a heavy cotton-cloth pressure sensitive tape, with strong adhesive and tensile properties".  Strong is an understatement.  If two things are capable of being held together, gaffer tape will hold them. 

I love gaffer tape for so many reasons.  I've used it to hold an umbrella in place when plein air painting. I've used it to repair equipment that breaks during a painting trip. 

I also use gaffer tape to finish paintings for presentation. I often  paint on loose pieces of linen. Later, when they are dry, I mount them on panels. Unlike most people, I don't cut off the overhanging edges of the linen after mounting, because that leaves the raw edge of the panel showing. Instead, I wrap the linen around the panel. Wrapping can leave the back of the panel looking messy, like this:

But I use my trusty gaffer tape to finish the back side of the panel. I paint the raw panel with gray gesso. It ends up with a clean, professional look. Check it out below:

Gaffer tape is also great for covering the white edges of stretched canvas, when the painting is going to be put in a floater frame. Darkening the edges insures that no bits of raw white canvas will be visible when the painting is framed. Many times I just paint the edges of the canvas black with an acrylic paint or gesso. But oil primed linen won't accept those materials. So presto: gaffer tape to the rescue!~

I'm sure I'm overlooking other uses of gaffer tape. But you can see why I love it! Stay tuned for more "Can't Life Without" to come...