# Canvas that professionals use



## projecttoday (Sep 8, 2019)

I've been painting for quite a few years now and I think I've gotten pretty good at it. I would like to offer my paintings for sale. Naturally I want to do everything like a full-pledged professional artist. Question number 1: what type of canvas do professional artists use for their work? They probably don't all use the exact same type but I want to make sure I don't make a gaff by using the wrong type or one that is too cheap. There is the stretched-over-a-wooden-frame kind and the kind that is just a flat panel. There are various grades of each type. Please advise what type and what grade is expected of a pro.


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## noah (Oct 17, 2020)

If you are looking for a top-quality watercolor canvas, this Phoenix canvas is worth considering. It is manufactured from long-staple cotton with superb water-absorbing ability, a natural texture, and exceptional diffusion effects.


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## 3Eggs (Aug 15, 2021)

projecttoday said:


> I've been painting for quite a few years now and I think I've gotten pretty good at it. I would like to offer my paintings for sale. Naturally I want to do everything like a full-pledged professional artist. Question number 1: what type of canvas do professional artists use for their work? They probably don't all use the exact same type but I want to make sure I don't make a gaff by using the wrong type or one that is too cheap. There is the stretched-over-a-wooden-frame kind and the kind that is just a flat panel. There are various grades of each type. Please advise what type and what grade is expected of a pro.


Might we assume you're interested in painting with acrylics? Although there is some overlap, basically, each medium has its own requirements. Any time I paint with oils, I prefer and oil primed canvas. The better oil paints are not cheap, thus, I will attempt to use a much better canvas for oils than for acrylics. This can become a very broad and lengthy discussion. My preferred two canvasses are 1) pre-made by Masterpiece, either cotton or linen; and a good grade of cotton or linen canvas which I mount onto 3/8" thick plywood. (Keep in mind that the reason the Mona Lisa and others has lasted for *hundreds of years* is because they were painted on wooden panels.)
I affix my canvas to my presized plywood panel (materials and technique required), then I proceed with the appropriate primers, and then on to the actual painting. Suffice to say that oil painting on wooden panels is the most dimensionally stable over time.
Acrylic paint is by in large, less expensive, usually. Acrylic supposedly retains a modern "WOW!" factor because acrylic will stick to almost anything, and your brushes wash clean with soap and water. Be advised, that acrylic also dries fast, and once dry, some greater effort is required to remove it. Oil paint can be applied over acrylic. Acrylic will peal off of oil painted surfaces. Acrylic is less expensive to make (I've made it), it simply depends on how good your ingredients are. I painted "Road to Kigali" using pigments made from the actual unpaved road way. Could have made oil paint from that pigment too.
Watercolor is again, a different medium with different requirements. My best advise to anyone is that the artist should acquire the best supplies he/she can afford. The way I determine what my art work is going to be worth is to ask myself what my life is worth to me. Become your own critic and judge on that.


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## projecttoday (Sep 8, 2019)

Thanks to all who posted.

I am indeed focusing on acrylics (but open to anything).

3Eggs, do you use the same canvas for your acrylics as your oils?


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## 3Eggs (Aug 15, 2021)

projecttoday said:


> Thanks to all who posted.
> 
> I am indeed focusing on acrylics (but open to anything).
> 
> 3Eggs, do you use the same canvas for your acrylics as your oils?


Art 101
No, this isn't Art 101, it's about Materials and Methods, something that becomes almost 50% of a good artist's knowledge. Do yourself a great favor and find out much as you can regarding this topic.
I have painted acrylic on just about anything and everything with reasonably acceptable results. I'm mostly interested about the longevity of my hard work. This doesn't mean I paint on the most expensive supports. (Do you understand the word - support?) Much against my understanding of what happens to various materials over time, I actually have a framed piece of cardboard box that I painted about a year ago. It'll last long enough because I painted with acrylics. *OI*L is a different animal all together. I use cotton or linen supports primed with acrylic first and over the acrylic, several coats of white lead primer. You see, I'm looking for the best long term result. 
the Mona Lisa is painted on a board. It has lasted ~517 years. That should provide you with some value of painting on popular wood panel.
I purchase my canvas in rolls from a manufacturer in Italy. You can get it from Blick's. Using acrylic glue, I affix my canvas to 3/8" stabilized plywood cut to size. You could do the same, but just to start out, go buy a good medium grade stretched canvas. If you'll paint with oils, purchase a quart can of alkyd-oil primer and apply two coats of the stuff to your already acrylic primed new stretched canvas. If you're painting with acrylics, prime that same canvas with three additional applications of professional gesso (it's very thick). Then get to painting, or I should say emphatically, begin sketching on any kind of paper you desire. Dinner table napkins work well too, but do a lot of sketching/drawing, then get the corrected sketch onto your canvas. Paint. Good luck.


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## uncongoals (10 mo ago)

projecttoday said:


> I've been painting for quite a few years now and I think I've gotten pretty good at it. I would like to offer my paintings for sale. Naturally I want to do everything like a full-pledged professional artist. Question number 1: what type of canvas do professional artists use for their work? They probably don't all use the exact same type but I want to make sure I don't make a gaff by using the wrong type or one that is too cheap. There is the stretched-over-a-wooden-frame kind and the kind that is just a flat panel. There are various grades of each type. Please advise what type and what grade is expected of a pro.


Would love to know more and be able to follow your transition, do you contact through your own website or Instagram or something ?


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