Friday, October 28, 2016

How to tighten your canvas


Among my paint art supplies you will find canvases.  I find when buying a pre-stretched canvas from a discount art store they are sometimes loose or flimsy. Let’s just face it, the canvas is not tight.

The very first thing I would like to remind all of our beginners is to remember to remove the plastic wrap from the canvas before you begin to do anything with your canvas. (Yes this does happen a lot)

Here is how to tighten your canvas.  Get yourself a spray bottle with water in it.   Now, turn your canvas over.  You should be looking at the back side of your canvas and you should be able to see the wooden frame.  Now, spray the back of your canvas with the water from your water bottle.  Next use your hand to rub the water around to help even the water.  Next use a paper towel to absorb the excess water from the back of the canvas.

At this point you can find a sunny spot and set your canvas there to dry.  Please remember if you lean your canvas, make sure nothing is poking or push in on the un-supported part of the canvas.  I use the wooden frame edges to support my canvas against something.

Am I always patient?  No! Sometimes I just want to paint now.  So I grab my hair dryer.  I use a Medium heat setting.  I never use Hot. I then dry the back of my canvas.  Why don't I use hot?  Well, it’s because I don’t want to form a bad habit.  For example, If I want to tighten a canvas that I have previously painted, I don’t want to take a chance of ruining the painting by using a hot temperature.

This technique also works on spots in your canvas that have been spot-stretched or dented. (When the canvas was leaned against an object and it stretches a dent in the canvas)


- OurArtSupplies.com

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