Canvas Painting

Canvas is usually used in painting because of its sturdiness. There are several other uses of a canvass such as backpacks, sails, tents and marquees. The word Canvass was taken from the Latin word “cannabis” which meant hemp, which usually was used in making a canvas. The canvass is usually stretched across the stretcher (a wooden frame) and usually coated with gesso to prevent the oil paints to come in contact with the canvass that can cause decay.

Twelve Sunflowers painted on canvas

Modern canvas are usually made of cotton while early canvas are made of linen which is very fitting for oil painting. Although recent canvas is made of cotton, a lot of artists and painters still use linen for their oil paintings because linen is made of good quality materials. There are three possible ways to set-up the canvas.

The following are:

• Canvas boards – are usually made of cardboard where the canvas is stretched and sealed on the back.

• Stapled canvases – The advantage of using this set-up is that it will stretch the canvas for a longer period of time. But once it needs to be re-stretched, it will be difficult to do so than the splinted canvases.

• Splinted canvases – There are advantages in using this canvas other than the stapled canvas, which the common problem is that there are no staples on the stretched area of the canvas. Without the staples, the painting can be presented without a frame and the artists can integrate painted edges in the painting. Using this type of canvas can be easier to stretch the canvas again. In addition, it is easier to add another support because of the extra fabric at the back.

It is advisable to use heavy linen canvas when you plan to store the painting over a period of time or when you want to use heavy paints because linen fibres are stronger than cotton fibres. Cotton canvas are made of weaker fibres so it  gets easily worn over a long period of storage.

There are two other canvas materials that are also available:

• Synthetic – Much lighter, cheaper and stretches nicely than linen and cotton canvas. It also is bacteria, moulds and warp resistant. However, it does not provide the same texture such as the natural canvas because of its uniform texture.

• Jute – This is the cheapest canvas material but it is not ideal for long period of storage and use. It becomes brittle as it ages.

Here are some websites that can offer you with top of the line canvas:

• 1) http://www.misterart.com – One of the world’s largest on-line shop which offers discount arts and craft supply to their customers including amateur and professional artists and painters.

• 2) http://www.fabricuk.com/ – One of the biggest fabric distributor in the United Kingdom which offers canvas for amateur and serious artists.

• 3) http://www.whaleys-bradford.ltd.uk – One of the largest on-line fabric shop in the United Kingdom that offers a wide selection of canvas materials.

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