imaGINAtion ART

DAILY PAINTING: Make your own canvas panels

10-20-15: Art is part of who I am, and I wouldn't want to do anything else; but art is not all fun and exciting. Sometimes you have to do fairly mundane things like make your own canvas panels, which is what I'm doing today. Artists are all about being frugal, so we not only stretch our own canvases (rather than buy ready made--have you seen the prices!), we also create hard-backed panels, which I like to use for studies.

I thought you'd like to see how it's done. I'm going to create a group of 8 x 10" panels, a good size for studies (you can complete them in one sitting). I prefer using heavy duty illustration board (I had a 20" x 24" piece to start with), which I cut into (6) 8 x 10s. No waste.

I also buy canvas by the roll, which is 54" wide, so I measured out a 14" strip (allow more than the 8 x 10" panel dimensions so that you'll have enough canvas to fold over the panel edges and then secure it on the reverse side. The 54" width allowed (5) 10.5" pieces. I wanted 6, so I cut two rows (save the rest for the next batch).

I always coat both faces of the illustration board with gesso to seal it from moisture (a good idea since I live in Florida!). The canvas I use is already primed on one side. Once the gesso is fully dry (overnight), use a good quality glue to attach the canvas. Be sure to press out any air bubbles, fold and trim the edges. Then let that glue sit overnight. Voila! You're done.