MAKING CANVAS PAINTINGS

Say you want to proclaim I'm making canvas paintings!”  Being an honest artist and desiring to do everything yourself, you begin by purchasing readymade canvases, but then decide that the true artistic experience is to make them yourself.  You and your needs are met by the artist supplies store, with their knowledgeable clerks ready to assist you.  You drive home with the supplies and begin with excitement. Even a fairly inexperienced do-it-yourselfer may learn to shape a rectangular frame, using a T-square to fasten the pine stretcher boards at a 45 degree angle.  It pays to be generous in laying the frame on the canvas, because at least a one to one-and-a-half inch canvas overhang  is necessary to properly secure the canvas to the frame.  A general rule is to start stapling in the middle of each length board and work out from either side of the central staples.  After using a staple gun to secure the top of the canvas, tug it firmly to the bottom and staple that edge, too.  Now you are ready to work your way around the frame, moving from side to side to distribute the tension equally.  If you have a strong friend to pull the canvas for you, so much the better, but you can do it yourself as well.  Once you have completed stapling the sides and left the corners for last, double check the smoothness of the canvas from the front and make sure it is to your liking.  If it is not, remove the staples and begin again.  You will want a picture-perfect medium to make your art upon.  Now that the fabric is smooth and ready for your paints, fold the corners of the canvas, staple them and trim any excess material away.

Your canvas is ready to be turned into a work of art.  Should you work in a studio or in the plain air?  Is your painting to be a studio portrait of someone who has commissioned your work or is this piece to be a lovely landscape?  The subject will determine the venue for your hours of work.  Unless you use an alternative way of painting such as the drip method of Pollock, your easel is the next tool to prepare.  Adjustable for either a standing or a sitting position by the artist, the easel must be placed for maximizing the use of light.  No glare, just enough shade to keep the colors true, easel placement is an art in itself.  If you’re working in plain air, you must give thought to moving the easel with its precious work quickly in case of a thundershower, too!   You balance this possibility against the pluses of working indoors in a studio, where you will have the smooth north light to work in and no thundershowers to think about.  Each way of working has its advantages.

It’s done.  Your work graces the canvas, your hours of distilling the essential elements of your subject has paid off.  Now what to do?  If your work has been in acrylic paints, it is well on the way to drying and if the work is in oils, then you are the best judge of when exactly the paint will not smudge, according to the instructions you received from the friendly art supply store clerks.  Many artists will want to secure their hard work even more by applying a fixative or clear acrylic layer to the artwork.  Finding a place to hang your work is more subjective, that is, if it isn’t a commissioned work.  Commissions may be sold ready for hanging and in fact most purchasers prefer the work that way; it makes giving the art as a gift or preparing a space for it in their own homes that much simpler.  The art supply store has time-honored hints for hanging a canvas painting, as well, from placing small strips of thin wood to the frame from underneath in order to make is stand out further from the wall, to using the proper lighting when your piece rests at last in its final home.  Making canvas paintings yourself turns you from a dilettante in the art of painting to a full-fledged enthusiast.