Priming the canvas with gesso (without boiling)

In a previous post, we've talked about stretching the canvas. Today we're talking about priming  the canvas with gesso so you can paint on it just like paper. Priming the canvas is the process of painting the stretched cloth with a substance that makes it more suitable for painting, absorb less oil and colors and prolong its age. The color of the gesso differs according to artists' preferences and the subject of the paintings. It could be brown, black or the popular white. You can find ready canvas in the market but they're expensive and not very good in quality due to the their thin layer of gesso.  Usually gesso is a thick substance made of binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, and pigment. it usually needs to be put on fire for several hour, but today we're gonna use a traditional mixture that an artist family friend taught to me when i was young.

We will need the follwing:

a plastic container with its cover to keep the gesso from drying

a cup of water

3 table spoons of white glue

4 table spoons of zinc powder ( it will give the bright white color to the gesso)

4 table spoons of white lead powder ( it'll give the gesso its solid foundation after it dries)

4 table spoons of paint oil ( flax oil)

a medium size brush

and some cover to protect the surface we're working on from getting dirty

This amount is enough to prime  2 cnavas of 24x 43 size and 2 canvas of 24x 17 size 5 layers of gesso. 

 

put the water and the glue in the container an mix really well so that the glue doesn't leave chunks  on the stretched cloth. After that, add 4 table spoons of zinc and 4 table spoons of while lead and mix till the mixture is similar to thick yogurt.  

Then, add 3 table spoons of oil paint. It will prevent the gesso from absorbing a lot of oil and colors while painting. lay the stretched canvas on the cover and paint the first layer of gesso. Be sure to move the brush vertically and horizontally so the gesso gets into the cloth well. 

Don't forget to paint the sides.

After painting the first layer of gesso , close the container and wait until the it dries (it usually takes from 2 to 3 hours ). repeat the process 5 times to have your canvas ready. 

Notes:

1. the amount of gesso that you need to paint decreases towards the 5 layer.

2. put the canvas in a place where no dust or dirt can stick to gesso while it dries.

3. you can add more layers for a smoother surface ( be sure the brush you use is good)

4. make an amount of gesso that doesn't exceed your need because it turns to a stony substance after a month in the container.

5. if the glue doesn't dissolve entirely in the water, try using a mixer then wash it really good.

6. white lead powder is poisonous substance when it gets inside the body. 

7. Keep the spoon you used with your art stuff for next uses.

Wish you all the best

Ola :)

Stretching the canvas

For stretching the canvas you need a smooth linen or leather. Leather is more expensive than linen but it doesn't need to be prepared with gesso. Leather is also more resistible to weather conditions, damage, and fire. Linen is more flexible but leather is smoother. Linen is more popular among artists and it's much affordable than leather.

In the picture you can see the tools we need to stretch a canvas: the canvas frame, enough linen for all the frames you have, a manual nail gun, and safety gloves.

if you are a female artist, it's better to ask for a male's help because stretching the canvas needs physical strength and it might hurt your hands. you start by putting the frame above the linen and cutting the linen around the frame leaving 2 cm from each side enough to be fold around the wooden bars. After that you fix the linen on the back side of one of the short bars as following:

 after you finish this side you move to the opposite bar and stretch the linen as much as you can and fix the cloth from the middle of the wooden bar.

you continue stretching and fixing the linen on this side and then you move to one of the long bars and stretch moderately making sure that you keep some cloth for the obverse bare.

next you fold the extra linen on the corners neatly and fix it then move to the last side stretching the linen hard and fixing it from the middle then doing the rest without forgetting the corners. The result is a stretched canvas that has a surface similar to the one of a drum.

you repeat the same process to all the canvas frames that you have and wait to next Saturday to see how you're going to gesso these frames.

All the best
Ola :)

The Canvas: Size

The first step in painting using oils is knowing the sizes of the canvas you're going to paint on, structuring it, stretching it, and preparing it with gesso. Canvas shapes vary a lot. They can come in rectangular, round, triangular, square and actually any shape. A canvas could take the shape of the subject being painted such as a fish or a cat. However, rectangular canvas is the most popular because it fits the walls and furniture of rooms and it also can be used with landscape, portraits and abstract paintings.

Thus, all that you have to do is buying a ready-made canvas or follow me to know how to make your own canvas with these steps:

1. determining the size

2. stretching the canvas

3. preparing it with gesso

Today we'll talk about canvas size and frame. The size of canvas could be the sixe of a notebook , a wall or the facade of a whole building. The bigger the canvas, the more you can control the details in the painting and vice versa. when the canvas is small, it requires more talent, patience and preciseness. To make it easier for you, I'll show you the most popular canvas sizes that art collectors prefer.

 The table shows that sizes 27x35  & 40x50 are the most popular for small canvas whereas sizes  91x121 & 76x 101 are the most popular regarding a large canvas.  However, the criteria for choosing the size of the canvas is the subject of the painting and the size of the wall you want to hang it on. For your first paintings i recommend medium size canvas because they are suitable for different paining topics, you finish paining in relatively a short time, they don't need costly large size brushes and you can use any wall as an easel for them without suffering to reach all of the canvas parts. 

After deciding on the canvas size you need to ask the carpenter to make you a couple of canvas frame the sizes you want. You have to be aware of the following:

1. the wooden bars should be thick enough to endure stretching and thin enough to avoid marking the paining area.

2. the wooden frame should have corners to hold the sidebars together while stretching the canvas.

3. the corners should be similar to corners no4 for small canvas and corners no. 1 or no.3 for large canvas.   

corners no. 1 are really good for medium and not very large canvas

corners no.2 are usually used with small canvas but they usually leave marks in the clothe of the painting side.

corners no.3 are the perfect solution for really large canvas.

corners no.4 are the better substitution to corners no.2 and are suitable to small and medium canvas. 

Next Saturday we're gonna talk about stretching the canvas.

All the best

Ola :)