There are a variety of alternatives to painting on canvas or paper. Many of the Old Masters painted on wood panels and today a variety of contemporary surfaces are available, offering unique opportunities to explore new ways of creating images. Ampersand has created a series of archival quality painting surfaces that are acid-free, non-yellowing and engineered not to warp or bow.

The Museum Series Panels include an unprimed hardbord that allows you to build up your own unique grounds and textures, and a ready to paint gessobord delicate enough for glazing but strong enough for pallette knife painting. Ampersand also offers the two types of panel used in this month's Learning Center on ink washes; claybord and aquabord.

Claybord is an incredibly smooth and absorbant kaolin clay-primed multi-media panel that accepts ink, gouache, acrylics, pencil and airbrush and makes a great surface for collage and photo transfers. The clay surface allows you to add thin layers of paint or ink then remove, reapply or even scratch through to create contrast and texture.

Aquabord is another acid-free clay surface that absorbs watercolor like a fine paper, but without any threat of shrinking, tearing or buckling. The surface offers the ability to lift color out with a wet brush or work in countless layers of color. Perfect for watercolor and gouache, but also a great option for encaustics or acrylics.

Ink on Ampersand Claybord