Cardboard Packaging - my favourite substrate

It's official - I'm addicted to painting my art on cardboard packaging. This came about one day when I was following and acrylic art tutorial on normal mixed media paper. I was using a piece of cardboard to wipe excess paint from my brushes. It took the paint so well and left an amazing texture without me having to add any of my own.

From then I was hooked. My craft room slowing filled with cardboard packaging. I even made a roll of brown paper from the internal packaging.

There are many things I love about working with cardboard. Here are a few

• Cheap

• Readily available

• It comes in a variety of sizes and thicknesses

• Easily cut down

• If you peel the top layer off it's corrugated card

• When painted it has it's own natural texture

• Its very tactile

• It takes acrylic paint very well. (Some cardboard does work better after priming with gesso)

• Nothing gets wasted. I even use the inner packing.

• Most pieces can be die cut (Using my Sizzix big shot or my Brother scan n cut)

• I'm doing my little bit for the planet and upcycling

There are obviously a few downfalls as there are with other substrates

• Thinner pieces can get bendy

• My craft room is a bigger fire hazard than normal

• Water colours done behave quite like water colours. (Although are ok and leave a chalky finish)

I have tried to ween myself off of using cardboard but its just not the same.

Here are a few of the pieces I have made using a cardboard base. You easily can see the texture from the carboard on the first 2 pieces. The tetraptych piece was primed with gesso before I began.