Tag Archive for canvas

Preparing a canvas surface for oil painting

This is a companion to my canvas stretching post. After you stretch a perfectly taut and square canvas, you’re ready to prepare the surface. Our goal is threefold: protect the canvas protect the paint create a perfect surface  Why do we have to protect the canvas?  Oil is acidic, so if you paint directly on…

Stretching canvas

While it’s true that I didn’t learn anything about painting at art school, it isn’t true that I didn’t learn anything at all.  I learned a lot about printmaking, and I learned how to stretch canvases. That canvas-stretching skill has stood me in good stead.  I can’t think of a single instance when the technique…

Knot-riddled stretcher strips

Art supplies are absurdly expensive. Artists have to pay Cadillac and boutique prices regardless of the quality of the goods, which varies widely. What’s worse is the cynicism of manufacturers. You can buy ‘genuine copal varnish’ that contains no copal–none.  You can buy ‘genuine flake white’ that contains no lead–none.  The list can go on and…


Tom Hudson

My large order of heavy-duty stretcher strips arrived from Jerry’s on Thursday. Enough stretchers and cross braces for 12 paintings: 6 @ 36″ x 48″; 6 @ 40″ x 50″. I am preparing three at a time–three of one size and then three of the other and so forth. Buying in bulk saves money plus I got them on sale–$275 for the lot.  I have everything necessary to prepare the canvases–GAC 100, acrylic gesso, and oil ground. And the canvas, of course.

These 12 new canvases along with the 12 larger ones I prepared earlier (the biggest is 5′ x 6′) will keep me busy for awhile.