PACKING TUTORIAL - A MUST READ FOR CONTEMPORARY INDIAN ARTISTS

 


Packing Tutorial - A Must Read For Contemporary Indian Artists

Raoul Lornie Last Updated On : 30th Nov 2020

Selling an artwork for an artist is hard work, so if you have reached that stage, congratulations! Now comes the important bit of packing and shipping it to the customer.

Your art is valuable. As a contemporary Indian artist, if you want to succeed, it makes no sense to try and save money on your packaging material because if you do, it’s likely that your artwork might get damaged in transit or worse, completely destroyed. There are a few key points to keep in mind to ensure that your artwork reaches its destination in one piece. In this article we’ll go over the procedure for packing your art in the ‘rolled’ format.

Some tools to keep handy while packing include:-

  • Measuring Tape
  • A Box cutter
  • A Marker pen
  • Bubble Wrap
  • Butter paper
  • Packing Tape
  • Thermocol sheets and thermocol peanuts (bits of waste thermocol)
  • A PVC pipe.
  • End caps for the PVC pipe.
  • Masking Tape
  • Cotton or Nylon gloves (Optional-only for handling the artwork)
  • A cylindrical cardboard roll (the kind used to wrap aluminum foil and kitchen towels)
  • Cling film or plastic wraps
  • Tape (Clear and brown packing tape)

 

  • Packing of Artwork

Packing of Artwork

Make sure your work station, where you’ll be handling the art is clutter free and clean. Keep in mind that the more organized you are about the packaging procedure as a whole, the better the final outcome will be.

First, lay out the artwork on the table/workstation; take a note of the measurement of the artwork for both width and height.  Take the sheets of butter paper and measure the amount you will need to cover the front of the artwork. Now place the butter paper over the artwork and use small bits of masking tape to secure the paper to the artwork, both the top and the bottom. The butter-paper should cover the entire front side of the painting. This is done to ensure that when it is rolled, there is no contact between the painting and the canvas.

Before you roll the painting, place the cylindrical cardboard roll on your contemporary painting and roll the it onto the cylinder. This is done to ensure that while shipping, the shape of the artwork does not get distorted or bent out shape.  The roll should not be too tight and not to loose, the ‘goldilocks effect’ is what we’re looking for here. Use the masking-tape in more than two points on the artwork to keep it in place.

Next is waterproofing, wrap the artwork in either the cling film or a plastic sheet to make it waterproof. You should ideally have two layers of this to keep the artwork inside safe from water or moisture. Once this is done lightly wrap the bubble wrap around the artwork while leaving a gap of two inches at both the top and bottom end of the rolled artwork. Fill this space with thermocol, which adds more shock absorption for the artwork inside.

Once you have packed the artwork in the bubble wrap, measure it again with the tape measure for length, breadth and height.

The PVC pipe that will be used to ship the artwork should be of the correct size, both length and diameter. The diameter should not exceed the width of the packed artwork by more than half an inch. This will ensure you save on couriering charges. Place the artwork, the Authenticity Certificate and an Invoice in the pipe and fix the endcaps securely. Seal it with the brown packing tape from both ends.

Ensure that the artwork is not moving inside, you can do this shaking it next to your ear; ideally there should be no noise which means that it is secure.

PVC Pipe for Rolling Your Artwork

PVC Pipe for Rolling Your Artwork

Next, write the senders and receivers address clearly on the package. You can either print out the addresses or write them by hand. We recommend a print out as it is clear and neat. You can use the clear tape to stick it to the package. Adding information like “handle with care” is also a good option as it lets the person handling it knows that they should handle it carefully.

Lastly, check your package one last time before couriering it to ensure that you haven’t missed out on anything. A good packaging simply encourages your collector to buy paintings again from you.

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