Tagged: art supplies

How to Choose Quality Canvas for Painting

Artists have used several materials of canvas in painting such as linen, jute, hemp, or cotton. Nowadays, linen and cotton are the most popular fibers in canvas. Linen is more expensive compared to cotton and is often used by professional artists who have years of experience in perfecting their craft. For beginners, a cotton canvas is more appropriate since it is less expensive.

When choosing a canvas, you must consider these two important factors: the support and ground. Support is the material where paint is applied while the Ground is the gesso or primer. These two are important to the success or failure of your painting. The support and ground are determined by the type of paint and method of applying the paint. For example, if you are using a staining technique in painting, when you do it on a raw canvas, it will give a different result when you do the same technique to a primed canvas.

The Support
Choose a canvas that offers strength and stability, depending on your needs for a certain project. As you paint, the support will have to undergo much movement and stress from the environment such as temperature, humidity, and constant stretching/restretching.

Canvas is available in different weights: lightweight (4-5 oz),  medium weight (7-10 oz), and heavyweight (18 oz) per square yard. Support with lower weights are not as smooth or sturdy as heavier weights. Medium weight is a good weight for painting since it gives good support to your painting.

The Ground
Why ground is important in a canvas?

  • Protection of support. Ground protects your canvas from being damaged by harmful ingredients in paint. Natural fibers such as cotton absorbs moisture and when the paint dries, it will release this moisture, causing swelling and shrinking of the canvas. If you are using oil, the fibers will absorb its moisture, leaving the surface brittle.
  • Adhesion of paint. A properly primed canvas allows sufficient adhesion of paint to the support. A correctly primed canvas should accept paint and give a degree of absorbency. Too much absorbency can soak up all the oil from the paint while a non-absorbent ground can leave a weak paint film that can be peeled off. Good thing, pre-primed canvas is available online and in art supply shops.
  • Color enhancement. If your project involves transparent painting technique, the ground provides a white background that intensifies the colors. Ground is useful when you are underpainting, or applying the first layer of paint to a canvas.

A chosen canvas varies depending on an artist’s needs. Some may use raw canvas, pre-primed, or a heavyweight canvas. Keep in mind that whatever canvas you choose, it has a big effect on the outcome of your painting.

Tips When Air Traveling with Your Painting Supplies

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Traveling is part of an artist’s life. Artists travel due to professional commitments like to teach a class or speak at an engagement; for a change of venue; to get inspiration; take a vacation, and so many other reasons. Road travel is not as complicated as traveling by air and when traveling, an artist must consider how he would bring his art supplies with him. Here are some tips that you can use when traveling via plane:

1. Create a list of the art supplies you will bring. List each essential item that you need when painting on location so you won’t get frustrated once you get to your destination. Avoid forgetting your paints, brushes, tripod, canvas pad, palette, etc. by including your supplies in the packing list but don’t go overboard. Don’t bring all your paints and just settle with a few colors, 5-6 would suffice since you can mix colors to achieve another one. Just list those items that you can’t paint without.

2. Familiarize yourself with the airline’s regulations. Know beforehand which items are accepted and prohibited to be hand-carried inside the plane. Mineral spirits, solvents or thinners are not allowed. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued on its website a list of prohibited items when traveling by air, which items can be declared as carry-on, and those to be checked in.

3. Pack your art supplies in a separate bag. This makes it easier for airport security to check your luggage if all your painting supplies are in one location. This will make it easier for both you and the security guards when doing the mandatory checking your belongings. Don’t forget to put your paints in plastic resealable bags to prevent accidental leaks from staining your other stuff.

4. Use water-soluble oils. Since air travel prohibits you from bringing your solvents and other flammable supplies, using water-soluble oils in your painting is beneficial. Cleaning is done easily and the painting dries quickly. If you need to travel again within a short period of time, it would be no problem with these kinds of paint since the drying time is faster.

5. Ship your art materials to your destination beforehand. If you don’t want the hassle of packing or answering the questions of airport security if your supplies are hazardous or not, you can opt to send your supplies ahead of you. Couriers can deliver your supplies anywhere in the world, just make sure you insure the package.

Image source: http://www.abeautifulmess.com/

Tips on Saving Money on Art Supplies

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Painting can be an expensive hobby and profession. Art supplies may come at exorbitant prices so you have to be smart about purchasing the things you need so you won’t go broke in the process of doing what you love.

Here are some tips that I use so I can save some money when buying my supplies:

Tip No.1 – Stock most commonly used art supplies. As much as possible, when I go to the art store, I buy all the things I need now and in the near future. For example, I don’t wait until I ran out of paint. If I go to the store at the last minute, I will most likely buy other supplies which I had no intention of buying in the first place. I go to the store buying paint and I go out with bags full of other stuff. Sounds familiar?

Tip No.2 – Keep art supplies in good condition. It’s hard to keep my studio and tools clean after painting but it’s wise to take care of the things I use in my art. I clean my paintbrushes and other utensils after use and I make sure they are dry before putting it in storage. There are trash bins inside my studio so waste materials have their own place, too. Art supplies cost money and throwing them away because of mishandling and carelessness also means throwing away money.

Tip No.3 – Buy online. I get great deals shopping at online art stores. Bigger art retailers offer their extensive range of supplies online and it’s fun to browse through them. The websites also have a Sale section so I can see discounted art materials. ebay and Craigslist are also great in finding deals on art supplies, you just have to be patient and check these sites regularly.

Tip No.4 – Subscribe to mailing lists. Art shops offer great deals and incentives through their mailing lists. They send discount coupons and sale announcements to members so join every mailing list of art retailers near you.

You can also consider getting a membership card from the art shop which you frequent. Store members can get discounts and other incentives and these little savings can add up.

Tip No.5 – Buy in bulk to get wholesale prices. Buying one piece of an item costs more than buying it in bulk. Art stores offer wholesale discount prices when you buy in bulk. You may think that it will cost you a lot of money but if you compute the price per piece, you’ll realize that buying wholesale is still cheaper than buying retail.

Image source: http://www.guidetooilpainting.com/