30/6/2008 - Canvas Painting Basics

Canvas is the commonest base support for oil painting. Painting on a large canvas is very interesting though there are some challenges that come with it. You many need to paint on a large canvass instead of the smaller size because the object would not look good on a small canvas. Large canvas paintings is only for ambitious  painters who want to have a long lasting impressive painting jobs.

   One important factor that should be considered in canvas painting is that , you need to  find a balance between the subject of the painting, the size of the painting and the style you wish to use for the painting.  The best way to paint on a large canvas is to move back and  forth left and right using the bigger brush to express your styles. As you are painting, make sure you don’t sit or stand in one spot and stretch the edges of the canvas, this will only result in the elements of your paintings curving downwards especially through the way you move your arm.

    You will definitely make use of more paints when working on a large canvas. You definitely need to more paints. The best way to handle this is to ensure that you don’t squeeze more paints that necessary from the tube. If you don’t have sufficient finances to mix more colors, you can consider the student quality paints for blocking in initial colors and making use of your painting skills for the outer layer or you can limit your selection of colors to the cheaper pigments .

  The size of a painting canvas can be overwhelming to some artists. If you think the canvas is too big for you to make your paintings, you can divide it into 4 equal parts, you can finish the paintings in a section per time instead of spending much time on the whole canvass at once. This idea is very useful if you want to blend the colors before they dry and you are working with Acrylics. You can also make use of mirror  sited at the opposite direction if your painting studio does not contain enough space for you to step back and access your paintings. This will ensure that you can turn around and view your work from the reverse angle.

   Painting on big canvas require much longer period of time and patience, and if you don’t poccess these qualities ,then you have to forget about big canvas painting or you adjust and train yourself in getting used to it.

  Another problem most painters do face in canvas painting is transporting  their paintings to their clients. If you plan to transport your painting masterpiece or you have a gallery that wants to show case your talents but you have difficulties in moving them, then you can hire a truck and when you get to the entrance of the gallery or client’s place, you can remove the paintings from the stretchers and roll it up  and put them in the stretchers again when you are inside. The stretchers ensure easier mobily of painting works .