# How can I make my canvas pure black as evenly as possible



## Luca Amadeus (Jul 23, 2017)

Hello everyone!
My Name is Luca and I live in germany. I am currently facing a huge problem that I can not solve for myself. 
It sounds simpel: I want to make a pretty huge canvas (180cm x 120cm or 70" x 47") entirely black. 
The thing is, no matter how I try to do it, it always looks messy at the end. I cant find a way to have an evenly 
black painted canvas (Ideally so that you can't see the brush strokes).

You can see what I mean with 'messy' on the pictures I uploaded.

Here is what I have already tried:
1: I covored the first Canvas with black oilpaint and used a little bit of solvent. I tried to spread the paint very evenly but at the end I got those "shiny" spots as you can see in the first picture.
2: For the second canvas I used black gesso but that stuff dries so quick that I also got thicker spots when I brush over some places a second time as you can see in the second picture.

my Ideas for the next canvas:

I thought of toning my canvas by thinning the oilpaint, brushing it on and than wiping most of the color off using tissues. Than letting it dry and repeating the process so many times that I eventually end up with a pretty evenly coated black canvas.

Since I always run into trouble with paint that drys very quick I am pretty sure that oilpaint is the way to go here.

I would be so happy, if someone could explain to me how I could cover my canvas as evenly as possible with black paint, 
without getting those irregular structures.

Thanks in advance!
Luca


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## Knowuse (Jul 25, 2017)

This is what I use for a deep black base, you can mix it with just a touch of water. If needed I'll coat it twice. I find the flashing from brush strokes to be totally minimal.


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## M Winther (May 14, 2016)

The problem is that linseed oil is shiny. But you could apply matte varnish, afterwards. It makes the painting evenly matte. Or you could use matte acrylics. Another alternative is black alkyd primer paint.


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