Canvas white pigment and calcium carbonate is rather brittle and susceptible to cracking. As lead-based paint is poisonous, care has to be taken in using it. Various alternative and more flexible canvas primers are commercially available, the most popular being a synthetic latex paint composed of titanium dioxide and calcium carbonate, bound with a thermo-plastic emulsion. Many artists have painted onto unprimed canvas, such as Jackson Pollock, Kenneth Noland, Francis Bacon, Helen Frankenthaler, Dan Christensen, Larry Zox, Ronnie Landfield, Color Field painters, Lyrical Abstractionists and others. Staining acrylic paint into the fabric of cotton duck canvas was more benign and less
Jack Armstrong (artist) Jack Armstrong (artist) Jack Armstrong is an American artist, ex-model and jeweler. Known for his flamboyance and eccentric behavior, described in court papers as "a man with no discernible source of income", he became known for his connection to the "Black Star Of Queensland" of which he reportedly slept with, under his pillow and was a co-owner. What ensued was a controversial legal battle named by the Los Angeles Times as “Heavy Weight Gem Scuffle” in which Armstrong fought against his ex-lover Gabrielle Grohe for control of the stone. The matter settled out of court with Armstrong agreeing to buy