Tyvek Canvas for Digital Art

Loek de la Haye, a digital artist living in the Netherlands, is using Tyvek as his canvas for digital art.

Loek says, "I consider myself an artist with a camera rather than a photographer." His website is http://www.fritzcatstudios.nl.

Artist Statement:

As a digital artist I’m always looking for materials I can use for my art. Most of my small work is printed on paper or aluminium and earlier in my career I used canvas for my bigger prints. But I don’t like the texture of the canvas so I started looking for suitable materials for my printed art; I found Tyvek.

I now use Tyvek style 1085D. I like it very much and it is an exceptional material. It feels like paper but it is strong and water resistant which means I can use it on stretcher bars and use it outside. A good example is the picture of my art in my garden. It is hanging there for almost 1.5 years and the weather in the Netherlands is not always that friendly. It is nice to see my work inspired by nature in that very nature.

To prepare the Tyvek for my Epson printers I first have to coat it with a few layers of Inkaid white matte. If I need some texture I will treat the last layer with a crumpled plastic bag. It gives depth to the image and lovely imperfections in the print. Sometimes I make an underpainting with acrylic paint.
The smaller prints on Tyvek I will mount on board with a double sided mounting film. For the big ones I use stretcherbars.

I can ply the printed Tyvek like paper, a property that I use for my artist books. The book ‘Light’ has boards covered with printed Tyvek. The book is on display now in the Gutenberg museum in Germany.

Thanks to our friend Loek de la Haye for this guest blog post showing his amazing artwork. All images used here with permission, copyright Loek de la Haye.

Material Concepts offers many styles of Tyvek that can be used in innovative designs for fashion, art and new products. Contact Material Concepts for Tyvek product information or buy Tyvek online