One of the most popular surfaces for painting these days, the stretched canvas is often used for oil and acrylic paintings. Looking back in time, during the Renaissance, canvas took the role of wooden panels for painting because stretching canvas across wooden bars allowed for larger, portable works that could be rolled up for storage.
Moreover, painting on canvas on a more solid surface than a wooden panel, gives it less tendency to warp and break. The name canvas is derived from cannabis (hemp), and the first artist canvases were produced from fine Venetian hemp sailcloth. Cotton has only recently become a popular fibre for canvas.
Choosing a Stretched Canvas: Important Considerations
With all this in mind, use smooth texture, durable and versatile stretched coloring canvas to make a big difference in the outcome of your artwork. There are many different types of canvas fabrics to pick from, whether you plan to stretch your canvas or purchase already stretched canvases or canvas boards.
Many painters experiment with a variety of canvases, primers, and grounds before settling on one that best suits their style. Even more so when using techniques like staining in oils or acrylics, the surface characteristics can have a significant impact on some artists' paintings. Therefore, to make the best possible selection, there are some important factors to keep in mind before buying.
Material Range
Cotton and linen or flax are the two main fibre types used to manufacture stretched colouring canvas. Some specialty fibres, including hemp and jute, are also used for canvas. Although jute is a separate fibre, it is typically thought of as extra-rough linen because of how close it is to it.
Cotton stretches easily and holds its shape on the stretcher bars. Some primed Italian cotton has a coating on the reverse that makes it darker on the back. Unprimed cotton, on the other hand, is often a cream colour. Compared to regular cotton canvas, cotton duck canvas has threads that are more tightly knit.
Cotton duck is perhaps one of the most widely used stretched canvases in the world. It is relatively thick, typically has a prominent weave, and has numerous purposes besides art. There are three weights available. It is also the most popular canvas sold by the metre and the roll because of its affordable pricing. The "medium" texture Italian cotton is finer than any other cotton type and has a tighter weave, finer thread, and overall smoother surface. Italian poly-cotton is used as an artist's canvas. Additionally, a very fine texture known as No-Grain exists. However, this cotton fabric doesn’t relax as much as 100% cotton and will eventually become loose because of the polyester mix.
Linen is the more expensive option for stretched canvas art as it takes many more steps to process the flax fibres and because its inelasticity makes it harder to weave into fabric. The French linen canvas is stronger than the Italian one and is constructed of smoother, more tightly spun yarn. It also has a more regular, tighter weave. The Belgian linen, on the other hand, is somewhere between the two.
The famous French linen is excellent because it utilizes the best flax possible and has incredible quality control. It is an excellent option if you paint, scrape, repaint, scratch back, repaint, and impasto, even though stretching it can be difficult since it is so tightly woven.
Weave Type
You must take the weight and weave texture into account in addition to the fibre type. Stretched canvas for painting is weighed in grams per square meter (gsm) or ounces per square yard (oz), just like paper. While a rough canvas has a very noticeable weave, a fine canvas has little roughness and can almost be completely smooth.
The feel of the painting and the final appearance are influenced by the texture of the canvas, which might be no grain, extra-fine, fine, medium, rough, or extra-rough. All these terms relate to the weave's texture rather than its weight. The weight cannot always be determined by the texture. A higher-weight canvas with an extra-fine texture is an option in addition to a lightweight canvas with a rough or medium texture.
Desired Weight
Weight, which measures how much fabric there is per square inch, is influenced by the weave's tightness and the thickness of the thread used to weave it. For particularly large, stretched canvases, you may want to use a heavier canvas because the heavier the weight, the more tension the canvas fabric can withstand without tearing.
In comparison to a fine canvas that is tightly woven, a coarse or rough canvas may have lighter weight especially if it is loosely woven. Typically, a heavy canvas is made with a thick thread and a light canvas with a thin thread.
Sizing and Priming
The primer on your canvas should be your last consideration. To ensure that the painting will last the longest and be in the greatest shape possible, build a solid foundation before adding paint. Canvas can be untreated or coated with primer. However, not all types of coating are available on all types of canvas. For less expensive student-grade canvases, one coat of primer can be applied; for the majority of artist-grade canvases, two to four coats are required.
Acrylics can be painted straight on a canvas that has not been primed, but if you plan to use oils and you want the painting to stay, you must seal the canvas first. By gently ingesting oxygen from the air, oil paint oxidizes to dry. When oil from oil paint or oil primer comes into touch with canvas or paper, the canvas fibres progressively degrade. This canvas needs to be sealed to stop leaking oil. To "size" your canvas is to seal it because the sealing procedure is known as "sizing", and the sealer is known as "size." The size is either acrylic polymer or rabbit skin glue (RSG).
