Choose the Right Canvas for Painting

Choose the Right Canvas for Painting Discover the Different Types of Canvas and Canvas Prices ChaptersBlank Canvas: the BasicsPrices for Various Plain CanvasPricing According to Canvas SizesNobody ever said that being an artist is cheap. Nor does the ability to paint come to anyone overnight.Well, to anyone except maybe the likes of John Everett Millais or Kieron Williamson.So, does your canvas more resemble an abstract painting with every brush stroke, when you really wanted it to portray a human figure?Do even primary colours mix poorly on your palette?If so, you may benefit from drawing tutorials offered online or taking art instruction at your local community centre.In the meantime, let us talk about art supplies and how to choose the right materials and drawing tools for your medium.Why fill up your sketchbook when you can practice realistic drawing and shading techniques on a relatively inexpensive canvas?In using these prepared panels, you should beware of textures and quality: at best you could get decent canvas, glued onto an acid-free board.At worst: for a few pound s, you get cheap canvas that warps under pencil strokes and distorts as you erase errant lines.Still, they have some value to the novice artist, being as they are more stable, and may be cheaper than and easier to work on than canvas paper.A deep frame such as this one would hold up well to canvas pressures Source: Pixabay Credit: PDPPricing According to Canvas SizesStretching canvas for drawing art is in fact an art in itself.How are these frames for canvas constructed?Should the stretching frames be glued together, or more intricately composed: by means of tenon and mortise?That last is in fact the most popular way to build a canvas stretching frame.Rather than gluing the mitred pieces of wood together, creating joints in the wood provides a much more stable frame.Why is there such a difference in technique?Primarily because glued frames tend to be very weak. They do not move well and, once you apply pressure on the canvas, such a frame is more likely to warp or bend.As you might know, pressure on a canvas includes: drawing perspective lines, pencil sketching  (with any type of pencil), or any type of figure drawing that requires emphasis lines or shadows.Of course, your eraser stresses your canvas whether you use it to blend or obliterate.Another fact that speaks against glued frames is display: once you've finished your rendering, be it a still life or a portrait, you will want to display it.It would not do for your masterpiece to bow away from the wall. Or bulge, or sag. Or come apart, literally at the seams.The very last effect you want to add to your latest pencil portrait is a giant gash or crease, where the stretching frame came apart or tore through your canvas.Of course, if you were creating a digital painting, you wouldn't have to fret over torn canvases.By contrast, jointed frames are much more durable  and forgiving: of movement, of pressure, and of other factors such as humidity and light.What kind of cash outlay can you expect for such a sturdy canvas stretcher?Naturally, if you intend to ply your drawing skills on a 5 inch square canvas, you will pay a lot less than if you would render a perspective drawing on a one meter by one meter twenty canvas.Checking The Works for bargain canvas prices, we find some at less than £80 for a dozen 12x16 primed canvases.If you are after 9cm x 7cm canvases, you can get a dozen for right around £10.Another point to consider, as you investigate stretching frames, is the depth of the frame itself.Shallow frames tend to be unstable and prone to warping.To forestall this problem, many artisans cross their frames: brace them by placing a strut within the frame.Works done on this so-called traditional profile frame lend themselves rather easier to framing and displaying.Traditional profile frames can be used for any type of art, from drawing simple shapes all the way to complex subjects, like drawing animals.A rule of thumb is: the cheaper the canvas, the thinner the frame should be.If you prefer realistic drawings, maybe a hunting scene or an historic battle, you should perhaps invest in the more durable deep profile.You can take different drawing lessons online here.Such a canvas might be suitable for wrapping - continuing the colour around the sides Source: Pixabay Credit: AzazelokWrapped CanvasesIn art school, you might have studied enormous canvases whose sides are wrapped: painted as a continuation of the theme on the canvas.In fact, art galleries nowadays encourage artists to wrap the sides of their paintings, so that they do not have to be framed, as framing is fairly expensive.If you are into realism, or more of an illustrator, this might be an appealing solution for you.However, the best use of deep profile canvases is for larger pieces: an expanded family portrait, for example, or still lifes of nature scenes.Choosing your drawing and painting supplies depends on the type of art you wish to produce, but also on how much you have to invest in your art.You ca n buy top of the line stretched canvases to suit your needs or, if you are barely beyond drawing stick figures, you could wait until you learn how to draw people before investing heavily in your passion.This guide is meant to help you along in your choices.Happy drawing!