Artist Acrylics Colour Paint Tips Technique Acrylic Color Brushes Canvas Painting Mediums Art

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ACRYLIC

Setting Up an Acrylic Studio

Establishing an art studio to work in acrylic is a great opportunity to explore many products available to artists by contemporary manufacturers. The fast-drying characteristic of acrylic makes it the ideal medium for artists who enjoy heavy textural work, those who enjoy using a variety of substrates, collage artists, those who like to include a variety of materials in their paintings or anyone interested in easily blended colors, soap and water cleanup, no fumes and ease of transport of materials and finished works.

Basic supplies that are needed to work in acrylic include some sort of canvas or heavy watercolor paper, paints, brushes, charcoal or pencil for sketching, painting medium and various containers for water. Sponges, an easel (either tabletop or standing) and a work stool and table are also very handy items.

The surface upon which you work can be canvas--stretched or panels--or heavy-bodied watercolor paper. Canvas is considered by most acrylic artists to be the preferred substrate; but works on paper offer the opportunity to mat and frame under glass, while canvas works are most often put into a frame without added embellishment. Although acrylic can be used on almost any surface--including wood, metal, and some plastics--canvas or paper are the favorites of most artists. Sized canvas is ready to go and can be painted upon without pre-surfacing. Paper is often coated with a smooth layer of gesso to create a surface that is less absorbent and a bit easier to control. Paper also wicks water and makes the soft paints harder to manipulate. Lightweight papers can be used for studies or quick sketches but are not well suited to heavy applications of acrylic pigment.

The paints you might select can be anywhere from student grade to professional quality. Permanency and strength of pigmentation increase with price and, when possible, it is recommended that you select a professional grade of materials. This is especially true if your works are for sale. Craft paints are interesting and fun, but lack the high pigment formulation of professional paints. Most national brands of paints are created with good qualities of pigment and permanency.

Brushes are essential to your work. The type of brushes you select will depend on the type of work you like to create. Impressionistic and styles that use rich applications of color can be very well executed with bristle brushes, but these same brushes do not perform well on most portrait or other smooth realistic styles. Synthetic brushes do well with virtually any paints and are easy to clean. They make a great intermediate graduation between less costly brushes and higher costing sable or sable blends. For the best in smooth strokes, sable still rules, but the newer blends of synthetics are very useful.

Charcoal or pencil work is usually needed to establish the scene or design on your canvas before you begin painting. Charcoal virtually dissolves into the paint and does not create lines that will show through the painted surface. Pencil lines sometimes do show, but can be an interesting element in an acrylic painting. When creating thickly applied techniques, either works well. Both drawing instruments are great to have so that you can make the decision as you start your painting.

Medium selection is one that will greatly influence the finished look of your work. Because some paints dry to different sheens, it is wise to include medium in your paint blending. The use of mediums - either matte or gloss - will insure an even sheen on the surface of your painting. Additionally, should you so desire, you can do a final coat of medium after your painting is complete and dry. Sprays are easy to apply. Brushing on coatings gives a thicker coat and will better cover uneven shininess.

Water containers and cleanup tubs can be collected from recycled items. Plastic ice cream cartons, topping bowls, large butter tubs and such make great water containers because they hold a lot. Washing paint from your brush at each color change will keep your colors clean and clear. Use more water than you think you need. Large containers such as plastic bus trays, mop buckets, detergent and pet food buckets make great cleanup helpers.

These same containers also double as storage for many of the smaller items involved in maintaining a studio. Sponges not only help with cleanup but also can be used to create a speckled or dappled texture when pressed into a pool of paint and gently rolled onto the surface of your canvas. Other found objects can be used to create textures too: grasses, crumpled newspaper, crushed foil, etc.

An easel is very helpful when the size of your work grows, since it's very difficult to paint on a flat surface when your work starts to enlarge. Easels for tabletop are very handy, fold into a very small size and can accommodate up to approximately 20 x 24 inch canvases. Standing easels, either of wood or metal, hold works all the way to four or five feet. Some can be folded, but the most sturdy and steadfast are not portable and do not collapse. Their strength and ability to grip large-scale works make them indispensable. They can also hold smaller works and allow the artist to either sit or stand.

A work table for supplies and a stool are both very valuable. Spreading out your supplies so that you can see all your materials is helpful. Brush caddies, paint colors, mediums, containers and the other miscellaneous clothes and tools, etc., take up a lot of room, and a table will help you quickly find what you want.

Setting up an acrylic studio can be an enjoyable experience and need not be costly. Paints, brushes and canvas represent the greatest costs, but recycling can help save.

How to Stretch Canvas

Stretching your own canvas is fairly easy once you know the procedure and have the proper tools and materials. Note that the canvas referred to below is pre-primed; but you could also use the following procedure with raw canvas and, after it has been stretched, prime it with two coats of acrylic gesso. Please read through all of the instructions first, since certain steps must be prepared for in advance.

First you will need to gather a few tools and materials: canvas pliers, stapler/staples or hammer and tacks, stretcher strips, and canvas. In addition, a T-square is convenient to help you insure that the stretchers are square. Then follow these steps to stretch your canvas:

Select the appropriate-sized stretchers for the canvas you want to build. Your art supply store has a variety of pre-cut wooden frame rails (or stretcher bars) that have interlocking mitered edges.
Once your stretcher frame is assembled on a flat surface, you should verify that it is square. Do this by taking a tape measure and checking that the diagonal distances from both opposing corners are equidistant. (They almost always will be.) If you encounter an offset, you can correct it by attaching a small metal right-angle brace on the inner frame corner. A small plywood right-angle triangle attached to the rear frame corner will also help correct any shift.
For frame rails longer than 36 inches, an interior brace should be inserted between these rails to support them from bowing inward after the canvas has been attached. This will also protect against frame distortion during periods of fluctuating humidity. If this type of support rail did not already come with your pre-cut frame, you should cut a piece of similar wood and attach it with the type of braces detailed in step 2.
Take the canvas and lay the primed side down on a clean, flat surface. Place the frame atop the canvas and then cut away any excess material so that there are two inches of excess canvas bordering the frame on all sides. It is important that you leave this border material because this is what you will use to grip, stretch, and attach the canvas to the frame.
Fold one side of the canvas over one of the shorter frame rails and then attach a canvas tack at the center of the outside edge of that rail.
At the opposite side, use canvas pliers (which are similar to regular pliers except they have a broader gripping area) to grip the canvas at mid-rail. It may be helpful for you to set the frame upright while doing this. With a firm grip, pull the canvas until a straight crease is formed to the tacked end. While keeping tension on the canvas, insert another tack at the center edge of the rail, just like the other side. Note that you may also use a staple gun/staples instead of tacks. (The Arrow JT-21 is easy to use.)
Move to the next frame rail (one of the longer ones) and repeat steps 5 and 6. As you do, you will notice a triangular canvas crease as you attach the third side and then a diamond-shaped crease when the fourth tack is attached on the remaining mid-rail.
Now, place temporary tacks at all four corners. Starting with the center of one of the long rails, grip the canvas tightly with the pliers and fasten tacks at 2" intervals. Repeat with several tacks in both directions (from center) and then switch to the opposite side and repeat this process. Continue working from the center until both long sides are completely tacked down to all but one inch from each corner, stretching the canvas evenly as you proceed.
Once both long sides are finished, remove the temporary tacks that you fastened in step 8. Now repeat the same fastening process for both of the short sides, working out from the centers. For smaller canvases, one entire short side can be fastened first, followed by the opposite side. Larger canvases should be rotated several times to evenly stretch the material over the frame. Note that a primed linen canvas (oil-primed linen, in particular) will normally require that the tacks be placed closer together, due to the limited stretch of this material.
Fold and pleat the corners of the canvas and then neatly wrap them around to the rear of the canvas frame. Keeping tension on the material, tack all of the excess cloth to the rear of the frame so that it is neatly secured. Then place tacks on all four outer corners. This excess material is important to have in case you ever need to restretch or remount the canvas.

Any remaining canvas indentations or ripples can be reduced by moistening the affected area with a damp sponge. Be careful not to saturate, and allow the canvas to dry completely in a well-ventilated area.

Keep in mind that it is easier to stretch primed cotton and Polyflax canvas than it is to mount a primed linen canvas, since linen fibers do not stretch as much. Oil-primed canvas requires the most attention when mounting on a frame because it has virtually no stretch. When working with this type of canvas, you may have to remove tacks in wrinkled sections and then restretch and retack.

By following the above steps and using proper materials and a few tools, you can easily build your own canvas. With a little practice, the process becomes much faster and easier, almost to the point of becoming routine.

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