Canvas Imperfections - Now What?

Leslie Ficcaglia · 11-23-2002, 10:15 PM

I use a wide range of canvases but prefer the medium to the finer portrait texture. Occasionally I will find when I'm well into a painting that there is a slight imperfection in some crucial spot in the form of a small bump caused by the weave of the canvas. I can usually work around it or conceal it but I'm wondering whether there are tricks that others have come up with.

Michael Fournier · 11-23-2002, 11:15 PM

Yes the trick is to always buy the best canvas you can get and inspect the surface before you start. Other then that the only thing you can do is apply the paint extra heavy in that area to cover it or if it is a bump try and use a palette knife to scrape it off, or just work around it as you say.

Chris Saper · 11-23-2002, 11:50 PM

I buy terrifc canvas. I inspect it all carefully. Murphy's law says there is always a slub in the wrong place.

Michael Fournier · 11-24-2002, 12:35 AM

Well yes, Chris, even with the best canvas this can happen. But I suppose I just meant that to keep it happening to a minimum I do my best to avoid it. But in the event it does the only options are scrape it off or cover it with more paint or let it stay as a happy accident. Personally I do not like accidents so I always buy pre-primed linen then apply 1-2 coats of gesso then sand the surface and then really inspect it before I start. I never just stretch a canvas and them start to paint. And if there is a bump or area I missed, since I prepared the surface, there is no one to blame but myself.

Also, I use cheap duck canvas for studies and oil sketches and even on this inferior surface with some preparation it can be avoided or kept to a minimum. I really fill the weave with my ground so just a hint of the weave shows. I always use gesso now but lead primed is nicer to paint on I just don't want to deal with the lead and the dry time. Also I can use some acrylic mixed with the gesso and get a tinted base that is dry and ready to work on in a few hours not days.

Well, I am getting off topic so maybe someone else has a trick I do not know about.

William Whitaker · 11-24-2002, 02:11 PM

Leslie,

Let me second everything Michael has written; extra gesso, lead, sanding, filling the weave, the works!

Linens are esthetically wonderful, but linens have variations in the weave which can be both an asset and a liability.

Also beware that linen can eventually break where it has been tightly creased. For that reason it is always best to round the corners of your stretcher bars where you wrap the linen over to sides for tacking.

I favor UTRECHT 66J linen which I prime myself with lead. I work far ahead and date each canvas. I usually wait six months before using a new lead primed canvas.

I also like CLAESSENS 13SP. I

Leslie Ficcaglia · 11-24-2002, 02:25 PM

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. One of the problems may be that I don't stretch my own canvas, nor do I add extra gesso before I begin to paint. I would probably be more likely to take that kind of care were my prices higher but it's not cost effective to spend so much time on preparation at my price level. However, if I'm not willing to take those extra steps I shouldn't be complaining about the surfaces I use, doubtless. I was just hoping to find some handy tips!

Karin Wells · 11-27-2002, 08:46 PM

I once bought some canvas (Yarka) that had "pinholes" in it, i.e., if you hold it up to the light, you can see teeny weeny little holes. Anyhow, I did not notice them and nearly went nuts half way through my painting because my paint could not cover them...and the flaw became really noticeable to me then.

I eventually tossed the canvas and had to begin again. Now I check all my canvas very carefully. I don't mind ordinary slubs, but am very careful they are not positioned to fall in an important area of the canvas, i.e., the eye, nose.

Leslie Ficcaglia · 11-27-2002, 10:29 PM

Karin, the prestretched canvas I bought for a portrait commissioned of our governor turned out to have a flaw in it which wasn't obvious until I had unwrapped it and put the first wash of ground on it. Then it was clear that there was a thinner section, apparently due to a crease in the canvas before it was stretched, which let the light through. I had to go out and buy a new canvas before I could proceed.

As I mentioned, I like a more textured canvas than the portrait type so I have to put up with some slubs (good word, that!) I too try to position them so that they don't form a bump on someone's forehead, or something equally obnoxious, but once in a while one rears its ugly head in the wrong place.

Timothy C. Tyler · 12-01-2002, 12:12 PM

Once you've got the surface as nice as you can, then place the best part up. Then try to use and hide those imperfections. The places that will get lots of pigment anyway.

Joan Breckwoldt · 01-19-2003, 12:07 AM

Hi Leslie,

I just came across your post. I thought I might add my two cents. I stretch my own canvas because I actually enjoy the process. Somehow it's meditative, I think about what the painting will be as I am stretching, mixing and applying the sizing, then a couple of coats of primer. Somehow I love to have my hands involved in that process. I suppose I feel already connected to the canvas by the time I actually start painting.

I have never sold a painting so the price of the painting doesn't factor in for me!

You probably have this figured out, but you can spread out the linen and cut out the best pieces for use. I do six or so canvases at a time.

Hope this helps, maybe you'll give stretching your own canvas a try and find that you like it!

Joan