Why Make Your Own Canvasses

When I started painting many years ago, I would buy a pre-built canvas. If you only paint occasionally this is a good approach. However, if you get the painting bug, as I did, you should make your own canvasses for several reasons:

1 The quality is much better. 'Bought canvasses' use inexpensive materials - thin canvas - thin gesso.

2. Cost - there are several categories of cost. Discount canvasses are inexpensive, the quality is low. They often can be purchased on Amazon at $20 to $30 for a bundle of 12. There will be size limitations, especially for larger canvasses you want, you will start paying $16 to $40 per canvas or more. If you are just starting, these offer you a good, inexpensive starting point. Just do a search on Amazon and you will find many examples.

Why do I build my own canvasses?

1. Quality - I use heavy duty cotton canvas. It's much better than prepared canvasses. It is thicker, has better texture and is not expensive. You can go to a quality art store or order it over the web in 72 inch by 15 feet for a very reasonable price.

2. You can make larger canvasses than you can get over the web and make custom sizes that meet your needs

3. Buying stretcher bars for a 48 inch by 36 inch canvas will cost you $28 (see dickblick.com) and if you are like I am, I need to throw away 75% of my paintings before I get one that I really like. I can use the stretcher bars 4 to 6 times before I get the painting I really like. The cost per canvas, even large sizes goes down to $8. Prebuilt canvasses would cost $40 to $50 each and they are not easily reusable.

4. I control the gesso. Do I want it thick with 'direction', ie, a 'grain' supporting the painting I want to create. I can add texture to the gesso, sand, etc.

So my decision to create my own canvasses is based on quality, cost and flexibility.

After your first several canvasses that you build, you'll find it doesn't take much time. Also, I typically create 5 to 8 canvasses at a time.

Thanks, Greg