|
Canvas Basics
Canvas and canvas products are the traditional surface for oils and acrylics. The canvas products you will encounter are:
1. Traditional Canvas – canvas, primed with gesso, stretched on standard size stretchers. Cotton, cotton blend or linen fabric, used for oil and acrylic painting. Also refers to the finished product of canvas stretched onto stretcher bars and primed. Primed canvas gallery wrapped on thinner stretchers. Perfect size for framing, as smaller stretchers fit inside rabbet of frame.
2. Heavy Duty Canvas – are similar to traditional canvases, but stretched on deeper and heavier stock stretchers. Both Traditional and Heavy Duty Canvases should be Gallery Wrapped, meaning the canvas painting surface covers the front and sides of the canvas without staples exposed on the sides. Traditional and Heavy Duty Canvases are also both re-stretchable, allowing for tension adjustment throughout the life of the painting. Less prone to warping due to size of stretchers. Also, painting may be hung without a frame because canvas has no staples showing. Primed canvas gallery wrapped on large stretchers.
3. Canvas Panels – An inexpensive primed canvas wrapped around a chipboard core. Not as stable as stretched canvases due to their tendency to warp, but a good beginning alternative to more expensive stretched canvas. Canvases that have a layer of gesso on the fabric stretched around the sides of the stretchers, and attached in the back.
4. Masonite – a rigid board that has been primed with gesso (an acrylic based primer for canvas and Masonite) used for surfaces that will be painted with oils or acrylics (either pre-primed or primed prior to painting). More stable than canvas panels, but without the flexibility and longevity of stretched canvas. Construction-grade wooden board coated with gesso. Used for oil and acrylic painting.
Here's a GREAT place for a variety of canvases |
|
