Raw Linen

[Mike McCarty]

I love the look of raw linen. I've always thought that it would be great for a vignette, leaving all that beautiful brown weave just hanging out there. But, I've been under the impression that without the sizing (some sort of gesso or other goop that ruins the look), the oil and the linen either wouldn't marry up, or would divorce quickly.

I was at the art supply store yesterday staring at a Fredrix green label stretched linen canvas. I was wondering why you couldn't just peel the linen off the stretchers, flip it around and re-staple it.

Would the now primed back side give any longevity to this set up?

Always materially challenged.

[Michael Georges]

Mike:

Well, there is the age old reaction of oil to cloth - rot. Now, how soon does this effect take place you have to wonder - 1 year, 5 years, 25 years, or a century? I think that would largely depend on the humidity and temperature at which the painting was stored, but certainly unprimed, your painting will eventually evidence problems with canvas deterioration. Again, this timeframe may be in the decades of time, and you live in a fairly dry area of the country.

I am wondering if you can get the look of the linen with just using a size - either a PVA glue or rabbit skin glue. I think I know what you are wanting though and a size would darken the linen and mat down the nubs.

Also consider that raw linen would be a bit harder to stretch and maintain a tight surface than a primed one.

What is the painting for? If it is for a client, I think you may need to look to an alternative, but if it is for yourself or your family, then maybe the risks of using raw linen is worth considering.

[Mike McCarty]

So Michael, is it your opinion that the primer on the backside (the side they intended to accept the paint) would give little benefit to the now painted "raw" side?

I can see where if the linen were just raw on both sides that there would be no help at all, but maybe the primer locking in all those fibers from the back side would offer some help.

And maybe with some well considered varnish / sealer over the paint and raw linen you could get a couple of generations out of it. Maybe too risky for a commission, I wouldn't want my great, great grandkids to get sued by someone else's great, great grandkids. I just like the look and the color of the surface.

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Mike, I have been painting on raw linen (sized with three coats of rabbitskin glue) a lot last year, but got advised not to because the surface was drinking up all the colour and the paint was dull.
I found that toning the primed linen with diluted raw umber and a cloth was working quite well and allowed me to build up the layers fat on lean better.
This was the result halfway through a recent work on toned linen, I then ended up covering all the umber, but I think I could as well leave it showing.
Ilaria

[Mike McCarty]

llaria,

What do you think about the back side being primed? Would you imagine that it would have beneficial effect?

[Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco]

Mike, if it is primed it must have been sized too, so this should help on conservation matters. I wonder how hard it will be to stretch it properly though.
You might try, maybe, just to test how much of your oil is absorbed by the fibres.
As I said, my tutor set me on improving the way I managed the quantity of oil in successive layers: if I paint with less oil than the previous layer, the oil on top will be absorbed by the layer immediately under. If the canvas has already absorbed all the oil in the first layer you put down, then the next ones will just sink in. I like that luscious, rich aspect of oil paint, so priming is more suitable. With umprimed you get a more chalky quality, like Gwen John paintings.
This is all I know
Ilaria

[Carolyn Bannister]

Hi there,
I really like the look and colour of linen. I have seen some examples here http://www.parduestudio.com/portraits/bonnie.htm which looks like raw linen to me. Does anyone know anything about using pastels with linen?

Carolyn.

[Mike McCarty]

On January 7, 2004 Jack Pardue wrote the following in response to a similar inquiry:

Pastel on Linen


I have been asked to reply to some of the questions & comments about pastels on linen canvas. The canvas that I use is Frederick's Galactica 588. It's double-primed on one side & I use the unprimed side. I inspect this canvas prior to purchase to make sure there's minimal priming showing through to the unprimed side. I work on the linen canvas before it is mounted. I attach the linen to the wall with push pins & work on the piece until it's completed. After completion, I then mount the canvas onto Gator Foam or acid-free foam core, depending on how large the piece is. For very large pieces, I always use Gator Foam which is very very rigid. I use Super 77 spray glue. I've also used Elmer's Extra-strength Spray Adhesive which is acid-free, permanent bond. I mount it in my 40 x 60 vacuum press.

Pastels on linen are beautiful, but they are very fragile & do not ship well unless tightly sandwiched between two pieces of Gator Foam or something that holds them very rigid. They cannot be shipped in a frame. This has been a very popular look for my portraits. However, I'm also now using Wallis paper for my pastel work. It holds pastels like glue & is easily shipped. Working on linen with pastels requires mostly working in a linear fashion because the broad side of the pastel strokes do not work the same as on a sanded surface. But it gives a gorgeous neutral effect with the sepia background.

If anyone still has back issues of American Artist, I wrote an article for their Pastel Page for the August 1998 issue. This article discussed my pastels on linen.

I hope this answers any questions you may have.

[Carolyn Bannister]

Thanks for that Mike it cetainly does, maybe I'll just look for linen coloured paper, but it's really the grain I like the look of. Maybe.......I can find some heavywieght paper with the right grain/texture and tint it

Carolyn.