Successfully stretching pre-primed linen.

[Mark Lovett]

Garth,
Thank you for posting your pictoral canvas streching instructions. As usual you did a fine job, and I learned alot from it. I do have a couple of questions that I hope you will answer, and I have a problem canvas that I am faced with.

Do you find your heavy strecher bars a pain to frame? I used to use heavy bars but framing was difficult.

I studied Morgan Weistling's video of his streching technique and this is of course quite different than yours.

I have completed a painting that I am very happy with on a 36x40" Clausens type 13 pre-primed fine weave Belgian linen canvas that I strechted on slightly heavier than standard strecher bars. Now that finished painting has these pesky ripples on the sides that I am having problems removing.

When initially streching the canvas it seemed difficult. The canvas felt very stiff, and with this large size, it was dificult getting the result I wanted. After working on streching quite a while I eventually decided to use the canvas as is, and if the painting was successful, and if there was a slight rippling problem, I would re-strech it later.

Well I finished the painting, and it was a good one, and ripples were noticable so I removed the canvas, checked the stretcher bars for correctness, than began re-stretching. After several hours and attempts I am still not satisfied. I took my remaining canvas to a local supplier and they told me that they thought the canvas may have imperfect rippling in it, so to be safe, I sent the canvas back and it was relaced.

In any case, Im still stuck with a painting that I cant get the ripples out and Im not sure what caused the problem to begin with. I have other large canvases that dont have this problem so Im at a loss!

In addition, I learned that pulling the canvas tighter may have even seemed to increase the ripples. The ripples are along the sides and appear only when hit by certain lighting.

I would appreciate any of your your feedback Garth as well as from other who read this post.

Thanks so much,
Mark Lovett

[Michele Rushworth]

Hi Mark,

I use the same type of canvas you do and restretching after the painting was done has always worked for me, if there were ripples from the initial stretching. Garth's technique (of pulling and tacking the corners very tightly as soon as you've put one staple or tack in the middle of each side) has made a big difference. One of the most well known artists in Seattle has suggested canvas-tightening spray that she buys from online art suppliers that may help. I don't know the particular brand she uses.

[John Reidy]

Regarding a drying spray, I usually will use plain tap water after stretching a canvas (linen) and then allow the water to dry. When it dries it reoves any wrinkles.

I have done this on a client's painting after delivery due to them. They rested the painting againsy a chair where part of the chair pushed against the face of the painting, waiting for hanging. Unfortunately they didn't notice and by the time they were ready to hang they discovered a indentation. I took it a "magically" removed the depression.

[Michele Rushworth]

Regarding a drying spray, I usually will use plain tap water after stretching a canvas (linen) and then allow the water to dry. When it dries it reoves any wrinkles.

I don't think this is advisable. The water can have an impact on the linen, but more importantly can harm the adhesion of the gesso/lead white/etc that is on the other side of it.

[Richard Bingham]

Garth, many thanks for posting this with such care for the photos. A picture is truly worth 1,000 words!

A couple of things, no doubt it depends on what the makers recommend, but in the past, the "dust" that's apparent on the surface of rolled pre-primed linen was likely to be talc, applied as a precaution against fresh primed surfaces sticking in a new roll. It's a good idea to wipe down the surface with a clean rag dampened with denatured alcohol after stretching. You still want to wash your hands, though!

A word about those pricey copper-plated tacks: They look nice, and give you the feeling you've gone the extra mile, but the truth is they are actually less resistant to rust than common blued upholstery tacks. The reason is, there are two processes for electroplating with copper. One, which deposits a thick enough coating to prevent corrosion requires an acid electrolyte which immediately attacks steel. The other process uses a cyanide electrolyte solution which does not attack ferrous metals, but deposits a mere "wash coat" of copper only a molecule thick, just enough to enable steel parts to withstand the acid electrolyte until a significant layer of copper is built up. Guess which single method is used on these tacks?

A few years ago, I ordered a run of solid brass tacks at a stateside mill . . . they cost less than the "art store" copper-plated variety, and were sharper, and harder.

[John Reidy]

Michele,

Thanks for the heads up regarding the water. I use the water sparingly in a spray bottle, not to the point of run-off. Plus I only do it on those pesky wrinkles that I hope I won't have to deal with (with the exception of my related story) using your's and Garth's method of tacking the corners.

Thanks again.

[Julie Deane]

Garth,

I'm resurrecting your post to thank you for it. I've had such trouble in the past with wrinkles in the canvas. I've used your method, and it works very well.

In my case, I think part of my problem was that I was pulling too tight from the get-go. This time I stretched the canvas with a light pull, then after it was in place and wrinkle-free, went back, took the staples out in small sections at a time and re-stretched as I went, working from side to side as originally. I was able to pull the canvas even tighter this way, with not a wrinkle to be seen. It seemed to me that the (linen double-primed) canvas relaxed a bit after sitting for a while in-between stretching sessions.