Choosing and preparing a painting support

We are often asked about the merits of different painting supports. Painters have a huge range of different surfaces to choose from; primed papers and canvas boards, ready-made canvases of all shapes and sizes, and for the more adventurous, the materials for making your own. In this article the Pegasus Art team go through some of the options open to artists, shining a bit of light on some of the more mysterious corners of the painting world.

Painting Papers

Primed painting papers are economical, good for practice, colour-mixing swatches and quick sketches. They have a canvas-like texture, can be cut to the size you need and taped to a board with masking tape.

For Acrylics... 

Daler Rowney System 3 paper is specially formulated for acrylics. It comes in pads of 20 sheets from A5 to A2. The 'ready to use' textured acrylic sheets have the look and feel of linen without being expensive. Ideal for working out compositions and making studies. 

For Oils...

Fabriano Tela is a fine grain oil 300gsm painting paper from the renowned Fabriano paper manufacturer in Italy providing an excellent surface bond for oil paints and oil bars. Available in pads of 10 sheets in the three sizes - perfect for art classes or quick oil sketches!
Clairefontaine oil paper is a high quality textured 240gsm linen paper. Also available in single sheets, the pads of 12 sheets are glued on all four sides making a stable and easy to use textured paper pad for oil paint. Simply use a craft knife or long nail to remove.

For something a little special we recommend the Arches oil painting paper. It's a beautiful paper with the look and feel of cold-pressed watercolour paper, 4 deckle edges and the Arches watermark. It has been specially developed for oil painting and is ready to use, needing no extra sizing or primer. Sheets are 56x76cms (22x30"), 300gsm/140lbs weight, and made from 100% cotton. An oil painting on paper that looks like an expensive watercolour paper is truly intriguing! 

Canvas Boards

Canvas boards have a similar surface texture to painting paper with the added advantage of being a firm a support. The smaller sizes fit into pochade painting boxes and are an excellent option for painting out of doors as they are easier to handle than canvas. (Top tip: Lay sheets of newspaper on the parcel shelf of your car to transport wet paintings. It's what the parcel shelf is for!).
I use boards quite often outside, giving them a preparatory wash over with thinned down burnt sienna or raw umber to knock the brightness off and give a warm or earthy tone behind the later paint.

If you are used to painting on paper or board, ready-made canvases are a good way to start working on a very different, flexible and responsive surface. It can take a bit of getting used to but painting on a lovely, tight springy canvas is like nothing else!

Stretched Canvases - Ready Made in Deep or Traditional Depths

Be careful about where you buy them; ready made canvases can vary hugely in quality. If you see a pile of them in a budget book shop window for a knockdown price, rest assured you will get what you pay for. Very cheap canvases have been made by literally cutting corners, using paper thin canvas and 'low-fat' primer. They dent easily and tend to slacken off when painted on - beware!

We have tried all the ones we stock ourselves and we can honestly say that they represent really good value. The best ready made canvases have well-made corners and good priming on a sturdy cotton or linen canvas. If you finish the edges of the painting neatly, the chunky, deep edge canvases don't need to be framed; they can go straight on the wall!

Make Your Own - Stretcher Bars, Canvas & Linen

If you are new to painting or simply want to try a different surface to paint on the choices may be bewildering. Making your own canvases might seem a bit daunting but it allows you flexibility to choose the surface that you like best, and prepare it yourself.

You have your stretcher frame: what do you stretch on it? 

The cheapest and easiest fabric to stretch is unprimed cotton canvas, also known as 'duck'. We stock
9oz and 12oz cotton duck. It is sold by the metre from a roll 274cms wide. 12oz cotton also comes in a narrower 183cm roll. (The mixing of imperial and metric seems to be a tradition peculiar to the art world).
9oz cotton  duck is a lightweight fabric which can be stretched evenly and tight without fear of tearing.
12oz cotton duck is a stronger, heavier weave and more durable... especially if you are a heavy handed painter!
Whichever cotton you use it will need to be primed before you paint on it. There are excellent acrylic primers available, suitable for both acrylic and oils. A couple of even coats and you're ready to paint!

If time is of the essence and you need to get on with it you can also buy ready-primed 10oz cotton canvas by the metre. This comes on a 150cm wide roll and has three coats of universal acrylic primer. It is a good surface for acrylics and oils, stretches well and is ready to paint on when the last staple goes in.

Traditionally the finest surface for painting has always been linen. Artists working on commission, portrait painters; anyone with an eye to posterity are prepared to pay a bit more for the beautiful grey-green fabric. Our linen comes from the Belgian company Claessens, a specialist who has been making fabric since 1906.

The 10-metre rolls are 210cms wide but can be ordered in 3-metre width linens for the occasional painter who wants to go BIG!

For most subjects, the 066 medium-weave unprimed linen is just right, but some portrait painters prefer a finer fabric and for that 012 unprimed linen is the perfect choice. Both of these fabrics need preperation before painting and are more of a challenge to stretch than cottons.

Fortunately Claessens have made the job a little easier with two ready-primed linens:
No166 medium weight, with a universal primed surface - even and smooth to paint on in either acrylic or oils.
Fine Linen No12 has three coats of oil primer and is only suitable for oils. It is a fantastic, resilient painting surface very much worth the extra cost. It even smells wonderful!

A message from Pegasus Art:

We hope you found this article interesting and useful, 

We tried to be helpful, thorough and truthful. 

But if you need further advice or have a question to pose, 

We're here waiting patiently for you to compose. 

By email, by message, by tweet, or by phone, 

Our artists can offload the thoughts that they own.

The details below will help you get in touch, 

So please don't let this poem put you off too much. 

Website: www.pegasusart.co.uk

Click here to email

Phone: 01453 886560

Twitter: @pegasusartshop

Facebook: Pegasus Art

Pegasus Art

Griffin Mill Trading Estate

London Road

Thrupp

Stroud

Glos

GL5 2AZ