Art Canvas
Artists can save tons of money by purchasing their own art canvas rolls and stretching their own canvases. Canvas rolls can also be used to stretch your canvas into unique or ‘off-size’ canvas measurements for distinctive pieces that don’t fit the normally available sizes that you can buy on the shelf that are pre-stretched. This directory is meant to serve as a place for artists to be directed to the best canvas rolls available online.
Unprimed canvas, cotton canvas, linen rolls and raw canvas are made for artists who are serious about their work and need versatility in sizing and the ability to use many different mediums (oil, watercolor, acrylic) by being able to do their own priming of the canvas.
This Week's Featured Products in Canvas
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Best Hardboard Corners To insure that canvas corners remain square, nail one hardboard corner to each corner on the back of each canvas stretcher bar. Pieces are cut at an exact 90° angle, with pre-drilled holes for effortless mounting. |
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Fredrix Style 183 Raw Linen Canvas This smooth, light-colored fabric has an excellent painting surface and is often used by framers for decorative mats and liners. It comes in 7 oz unprimed rolls that measure 54 in width. |
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Winsor & Newton Linen Deep Edge Artists' Canvas Winsor and Newton Linen Deep Edge Artists' Canvas is a professional range of back-stapled , stretched artist canvas that is manufactured to the highest standards of quality. Made of 100% linen with a medium-grain surface, every canvas is triple-coated with one coat of acid-free sizing and two coats of highly pigmented acrylic primer, resulting in a balanced absorbency and tooth that offer improved adhesion and prevent sinking of oil colors. The 1-5/8" deep, staple-free edges can be painted so artists can display their finished paintings with or without a frame, on professional stretcher bars that assure strength and stability. These canvases are great for use with oil, acrylic, and alkyd colors, and for techniques requiring heavier applications of color. |
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For the new painter, getting all of your supplies together can be a daunting tasks. Choosing the right canvas for your future masterpiece is no small job, especially when you are led to believe that all canvases are alike. Although most canvases appear to be the same, choosing the right canvas for your piece is a learned “art form” in itself. Most amateur painters choose to buy a pre-stretched canvas, already primed for either oil or acrylic paint. Once you have experimented a bit with pre-stretched canvas, you are ready to move on to canvas rolls that are considered “raw” or unprimed.
To use a canvas roll, you’ll need the following items in addition to a quality canvas roll such as those made by Fredrix (an industry leader for many reasons) in your choice of cotton of linen: stretcher bars, canvas tacks, staple gun, and canvas pliers. Stretching your canvas into the size and shape you want is quite easy once you get the “knack” for it. One of the most important aspects of stretching your own canvases using a canvas roll is to maintain a consistent pressure across the frame to avoid sagging and wrinkles. The easiest to use and easiest to stretch canvas rolls are cotton canvas rolls, and they tend to be the most popular and the most reasonably priced of others available – such as linen or blended. Choose a cotton canvas roll that has the amount of texture you are striving for in your particular piece, as some are smooth while other canvas rolls have a more distinct texture to them – which can change the course of the piece you are creating.
Unlike the pre-stretched canvas that you buy already shaped and sized in most art supply stores, canvases that are custom stretched may need to be primed – unless you buy a canvas roll that has been primed already, often the case with canvas pads and panels. Many artists like to add additional layers of acrylic gesso or other medium to add additional prime to the canvas even if its been primed already during manufacturing.
Types of Artist Canvas
Not all artist canvas is alike. Canvas used by artists can be made from cotton duck, which is the most common and usually least expensive variety, or they can be made from linen, which is more costly but often thought of as being superior for painting. There are also synthetic fiber canvas, which is somewhat uncommon, but in use nonetheless. Canvas for artists is also sold as pre-stretched or on rolls, and primed or unprimed. Let’s look at the different types of artist canvas that are on the market in greater detail.
Cotton Duck Canvas
Don’t worry, cotton duck canvas has no relation to ducks whatsoever, but it is the most commonly used and least expensive artist canvas on the market. You can find cotton duck canvas in a variety of thicknesses or weight, as well as in different weaves. The weave of a cotton duck canvas simply refers to how tightly the individual threads that make up the canvas are woven. The cheapest cotton duck canvas is loosely woven, which can cause the fabric to distort when it is stretched if precautions are not taken. Looser weaves of cotton duck canvas can be filled in with gesso or primer to create a painting surface that is smoother, or the weave can be used to enhance the texture of the painting.
Linen Canvas
Most artists regard linen canvas as being better than cotton duck canvas because of the narrower threads and the tighter weave of the linen. After stretching and priming, linen artist canvas is less prone to shrinking or stretching, and the threads are less likely to distort or move. You can distinguish unprimed linen canvas by its dull brown color. A sub-type of linen canvas, portrait linen, is ideal for painting in detail because it features an even smoother surface.
Synthetic Fiber Canvas
Synthetic fiber canvas is not a traditional choice among artists, and has not been around long enough, in some artists’ opinions, to withstand the test of time. Any type of fabric can essentially be used as a canvas, as long as fibers are strong enough to bear the weight of paint and primer without tearing or distorting. To ensure longevity when using synthetic fiber canvas, be sure to use a rigid support so that the canvas will not bend.
Pre-Stretched or Rolls
Canvas can come in pre-stretched, standard sizes, or in rolls that can be cut to size and stretched by hand. Many artists prefer to stretch their own canvases, and famous artists usually have an assistant or apprentice who stretches their canvas for them. Stretching your own canvas can be beneficial, however, if you are looking for a particular shape or size. Standard pre-stretched canvas, however, makes it possible to purchase readymade frames.
Primed or Raw
You can buy both rolled canvas and pre-stretched canvas with or without primer already applied to it. Primed canvas is suitable for either oil or acrylic paints in most instances. The goal of priming a canvas is to protect the fabric from the paint, which is not usually a big issue with acrylics but can be with oils because they can cause fabric to become brittle and to deteriorate over time.
How to Choose a Canvas Type
Beginning artists often find it a bit daunting to choose the right types of supplies to create their first masterpiece, including the type of canvas that they should use. Some may even make the assumption that all types of canvas are alike, but this is certainly not true, even though they make appear similar at first glance. There are pros and cons of each type of canvas. Let’s look at how to choose the right canvas for your particular needs.
Types of Fabric Used for Artist Canvas
Artist canvas can be made from duck cotton, linen, a blend, or from synthetic fibers. Duck cotton is the most popular type of canvas by far, likely due to its lower price. Linen is more luxurious and thought to be more durable while providing a superb surface upon which to paint, although it is more costly. Synthetic fiber blends may be the best type of canvas for beginning painters. When purchasing canvas, thread count is important; the lower the thread count, the looser the weave and the more texture will be evident on the surface prior to priming.
Ready to Paint Canvas or Make Your Own?
New painters tend to always select a pre-stretched canvas that has already been primed, and that does simplify things a bit. You just purchase the product, unwrap it, and then you are ready to paint. No need for construction, stretching, priming, or waiting. Simply put, no technical know-how is necessary. However, you will need to choose pre-primed canvas that is primed for either oils or acrylics. Acrylic primed canvas can be used for all mediums, with the exception of gouache and watercolors. Oil primed canvas can only be used with oils, either traditional oil paints or water soluble varieties.
Those artists who have some experience under their belts and know a bit more about canvas may also elect to purchase stretched canvas, but they might go for an unprimed canvas. Priming the canvas yourself allows you the most versatility in preparing the surface. Primer or gesso is used as a primer to create a smoother surface to paint upon, and the more layers added, the smoother the surface will be. You can also sand the surface to create a smoother platform to apply color.
Professional artists often have very precise and exact needs or explicit desires and thus choose to stretch their own canvas. This allows them the freedom to be very versatile in sizing and styling the canvas, particularly when creating an abstract piece. Building the canvas from scratch necessitates the building of a frame, stretching unprimed canvas over that frame, and securing it. You can buy canvas rolls just for this purpose, both in cotton duck and linen varieties. There is a definite learning curve to stretching canvas, and taking a few lessons on the technique needed is usually a good idea.