Laser engraved paintings
Engraving with a laser cutter is usually done on materials such as wood, cardboard or acrylic. There are many possibilities and one of them is engraving on canvas.
A canvas cloth is made out of several layers of cotton or linen fibers, so it will be easy to burn through when pointing a laser at it. That's why I had to find the perfect point where the laser is strong enough to visibly engrave the cloth, but not strong enough to burn through it.
After fine tuning the laser by testing on canvas cloth, I was able to engrave entire paintings with a laser cutting machine.
Process
Tests
First product
A bit of topic, but when engraving on the head side of wood, you will keep the pattern of the grow rings. Because there is a difference in density between the rings. During the winter season a tree grows slower than during the spring and summer.
The slower it grows, the denser the ring, the harder it is for the laser to burn through. That's why you will see the difference in rings very clearly.
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With this technique I developed these three pieces on Siberian Larch wood.
The engraved parts will leave a brown-yellow surface behind which ultimately gives an authentic look to the canvas.
It strongly resembles Japanese scrolls from the Edo period (1603-1867).
That's why I decided to use Japanese samurai illustrations for my paintings.
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A remarkable feature about these paintings is that the engraved parts gradually darken over time.
Engraving on the head side