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Studio Art
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Painting surfaces can be as traditional as canvas or wood, or as creative as the painting itself when using paper, glass, or even my favorite painting surface - stretched chiffon. If you tend to use more unconventional materials you may have already considered its special preparation, based upon your particular painting needs. However, if you will be painting on traditional canvas or wood, your surface will need to be properly prepared not only for preservation reasons, but also because your surface will set the underlying professional appearance of your painting. An improperly stretched or sloppy canvas can ruin the presence of an entire painting, regardless of how well it is painted. In order to avoid this mishap, this article will focus on preparing a stretched canvas or wood painting surface the correct way. Canvas... Although wood seems to have been the preferred painting surface of the old masters hundreds of years ago, these days the most common and scholastic painting surface is stretched canvas. More unconventional and being seen more frequently by contemporary artists, are paintings done on unstretched canvas. There is also a recent trend to paint on an unfinished surface, either stretched or unstretched, in order to give a raw quality to the painting. In any event, it is beneficial to learn how to properly stretch and prime a canvas if only to tackle one of the basic fundamentals of oil painting. Canvas is available in different blends and thickness, and can also be substituted with artist grade linen. Cotton duck is considered the best blend of canvas to use for oil painting, which comes in varying grades of quality or thickness. It is important that the material you choose is strong enough to tolerate the great tension it will be subjected to when stretched. A good standard medium grade cotton duck is #10 or medium weight, which is fairly heavy, durable and suitable for all types painting. Canvas and linen are available by the yard or roll. Rolls are fairly large, and as such quite expensive, so I advise buying by the roll only if you have a very flexible budget or plan to produce large paintings. I find that for small to medium sized pieces, it is helpful to pick up about 4 yards at a time so you'll always have plenty on hand. Be wary of already primed unstretched canvas, as it will be very difficult to stretch. It is ideal that you stretch and prime your own canvas in order to ensure its long-lasting quality and good craftsmanship. Canvas needs to be stretched before it is primed, so you'll need stretcher strips, fasteners and canvas pliers to complete the first step. Stretcher strips are wooden slats that are made to fit together to form the frame of the painting. They are found in art or craft stores in either lightweight or heavy-duty form. Heavy-duty stretchers are considered more professional, so I recommend them in all cases unless your painting will be very small (12" square or less). Moreover, heavy-duty stretchers are vital for constructing a large canvas (36" square or more), for which a crossbar or two, inserted to brace the stretchers in place, is also necessary to support the shape of the frame. Purchase stretchers in sizes appropriate to the size painting you would like. Canvas tacks, staples or even thumbtacks can be used as fasteners to stretch the canvas onto the frame with canvas pliers or other such pliers designed not to rip the fabric. Once you've gathered your canvas, fasteners, and pliers you may begin the preliminary steps to stretching your canvas. (1) First assemble your stretcher strips by fitting the slots into the grooves already cut into the wood. You may need to bang on the wood lightly, and go around the structure many times before getting it into place, for which a rubber mallet might be helpful. Use a right angle or level to make sure your frame is at perfect right angles. I like to use the upper structure of a doorway to check my angles since most doorways are constructed to form sturdy right angles, and if necessary lightly pound the frame into the doorframe in order to force the corners into the angles. (2) When your frame is constructed, cut the canvas to measure 3 inches larger on all sides than the frame, and position the frame on top of the piece of canvas right side down. (3) Fold over the material and fasten it temporarily in the center of one side, then do the same on the opposite side, stretching the canvas gently taught as you do so. Repeat on the last two sides. Next, go to the side you started with and remove the fastener while holding the material in place. Use your canvas pliers to re-stretch the canvas nice and taught, without making it too loose or too tight, and finally secure it permanently with another fastener. Repeat this on the three remaining sides. Now that all four sides have been stretched from the center, return to the original side and add two more permanent fasteners, one on either side of the embedded one, stretching the material with the pliers as you go. Repeat this on the opposite side, then on the other two remaining sides, continuing until the entire canvas is stretched nice and taught, like a drum, except the corners. (4) Now that your canvas is stretched onto the frame, the last thing you need to do is finish the corners. This will take a few tries, but eventually you will get the feel of it. The idea is to fold each corner neatly like you would a gift package. Then, secure the corner with a couple of fasteners. Priming the Surface... Your canvas should be well stretched and ready to prime at this point, or you may prime a piece of wood or heavy-duty paper. There are a few different ways to prime a surface, some more complicated than others, but the easiest and most common is to use gesso that comes commercially prepared in a jar or bucket. You can find it at any art or craft store, where white gesso is the most popular and traditional kind. You will also need a large paintbrush or roller to apply the gesso. First, wet down the unprimed stretched canvas with hot water until it is saturated in order to shrink the fabric and make it more taught. A wet canvas also facilitates the gesso application. It is also helpful when priming canvas to wet down the paintbrush or roller you will use to apply the gesso, shaking off the excess water. Do NOT do the same to wood or paper, as water will ruin both. If priming paper, you should secure the paper to a sturdy board or table with tape before applying the gesso. Depending on how thin the wood is, you may want to do the same if priming wood. Apply the gesso with broad, clean brushstrokes in one direction over the canvas, paper or wood, making sure to cover the entire surface and sides with a nice coat. Let the surface dry, and then repeat by applying another coat in a direction perpendicular to the first coat. Let the surface dry again to apply the final coat with random, diagonal brushstrokes, keeping them clean and smooth to cover the entire surface. Applying the primer in multiple layers and directions like this will give it the best coverage, eliminating bare areas that might cause light seepage from certain angles. A Surface Ready for Colour... following the directions in this article, after the surface has been given plenty of time to dry, it is now ready to apply color. You will notice how smoothly your paints will glide onto the surface if you have primed it correctly, and you won't have to worry about your painting deteriorating in your family's lifetime. Reprinted with the kind permission of the author
About the Author:Susan
Wenz-Denise is a fine artist with a BFA degree in Studio Art, and a minor
concentration in Art History. She attended the College of New Rochelle
in New Rochelle. NY for Studio Art where her painting skills were refined
and her conceptual sensitivities matured. Since graduating she has exhibited
a series of her work in two NYC galleries and is now working on a new
series of oil paintings. She plans to begin exhibiting again by Autumn
2001. She is also a contributing editor at Suite
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