Art Canvas
Quality art canvas and canvas techniques are an integral part of the success of your art piece or painting. There are many techniques for preparing and stretching your canvas and techniques for using canvas with different paints including oil paints, water color paints and acrylic paints. If your canvas is improperly prepared your painting may not last and ultimately be damaged so do your homework and learn how to use canvas and create your art canvas properly.
Artist Canvas
Canvas is the general term for the woven fabric painted upon by artists. The most common types of canvas are linen and cotton. Linen is stronger and more expensive than cotton. Cotton is more affordable and easier to stretch tightly. And, a heavy grade of cotton can make up for the strength.
Watercolor Canvas
Watercolor canvas is a surface made of 100% cotton and is uniquely textured from an all natural woven material. When combined with an acid-free coating, is a unique new watercolor painting medium. The combination of coatings and natural woven materials absorb the watercolor paints better then other painting mediums.
Linen Canvas
Linen is the preferred choice of canvas for most artists for a variety of reasons. It is most durable and less susceptible to expansion and contraction from moisture. It also retains its natural oils over time, which decreases the chances of your painting becoming brittle with age. It is also more receptive to sizing and priming materials. And lastly, it comes in a variety of weights and textures that make it more interesting to paint on because it maintains its texture through even several layers of paint.
Fredrix Canvas Panels
For ease of use, accessibility and affordability, many artists paint on acrylic boards or panels. They are made with either an imitation canvas surface texture or from canvas that has been laminated. These boards are available in a variety of standard sizes and texture. They are sometimes ideal for their portability because they are lightweight and less bulky. Fredrix is the most popular manufacturer of canvas panels.
The Different Grades of Primed Canvas
When shopping at an art supply store or through an online catalog, you¡¯ll notice that artists canvas comes in single, double and universal primed. Single primed canvas simply means that gesso has been applied only once. A single primed canvas is flexible and shows more of the fabric¡¯s texture. Double primed canvas is smoother and stiffer because it has an additional layer of gesso. Universal primed canvas is triple acrylic primed to accept oil, acrylics or alkyds.
Wet Canvas Carrier
Transporting of wet canvas can be tricky, that is why artists¡¯ use specially designed transporting products to transport their wet canvases. The wet canvas is simply sandwiched between two pieces of stretched canvas with handles. This keeps the wet canvas from smudging.
The Vocabulary of Artist Canvas
Different grades and types of canvas have a vocabulary all of their own. Some of the terms that you may encounter include tone, which is the shade of the canvas¡¯ priming. Pumiced is the hand process of rubbing linen with a pumice stone to smooth its texture. When a canvas is picked it means that its irregular or nubbly spots have been removed. Duck is a popular type of cotton canvas amongst artists. It comes in a range of weights and textures.
Muslin & Scrim
Muslin is a less expensive and more loosely woven fabric that can be used as canvas. Scrim is another affordable canvas choice. It is made of a cotton/linen mix. When properly stretched, both of these canvas alternatives look and feel the same as traditional canvas.
Artist Sketch Box
Artists who travel use sketch boxes to transport sketching materials for their art work. Many artist sketch boxes have fold up easels that setup easily for portability. Sketch boxes are usually made of wood with adjustable compartments for sketching and paint supplies.
Squaring Your Canvas
Stretching your own canvases is tricky at first, but rewarding because it gives you more control over the size and shape of your paintings. One, sometimes overlooked step in the process is to make sure your canvas is squared. You can check the squareness of your frame by measuring across the diagonal corners to see that both measurements are equal. The larger your canvas, the more critical this step becomes, especially when you are adding bracing.
Stretching Your Own Canvas
Artists who paint a lot and like to stretch their own canvas will often stretch very large pieces of raw linen on heavy frames for sizing and priming. Once the linen is dry, it is removed from the frame and cut into desired painting sizes and re-stretched. Even though this is a time consuming process, by re-stretching, the artist ensures that if the linen tightens or sags with priming, it can be corrected when transferred to its permanent frame.
Acrylic Paint On Canvas
Looking for canvas tips? It is easy to prepare a canvas for acrylic paint. Simply by applying gesso in thin coats over the canvas, one coat of straight gesso will give a rough finish. When applying several coats, dilute the gesso with a mixture of half acrylic gloss medium and half water. Use a wide brush to apply gesso directly to the canvas in even strokes going from top to bottom in parallel strokes from edge to edge.