When you look at a painting, you probably think it’s a cakewalk for any painter. But it’s not, considering the amount of hard work that goes into it. Yes, painting is sheer hard work coupled with patience. And artists can endure all of that only because they are too passionate about art. And it’s not just painting that is difficult, even the preparation that precedes the prime painting phase is a lot of hard work. Take the canvas for instance. It needs to be prepared well before any paint touches it. If you are a budding artist, you might want to know what preparation the canvas has to go through. Well, you can find all the details here. Here we have some Useful Oil Painting Tips for Beginners. Read on-
How to Prepare a Canvas for Painting Step-by-Step
Wetting the Canvas
Don’t sit wondering How to Prepare a Canvas for Painting Step-by-Step, first wet the canvas. For that, use a damp sponge.
Stirring is Important
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A lot of people wonder How to Prepare a Canvas for Painting Step-by-Step. They don’t probably know the nitty-gritty involved. To be honest, it’s not an uphill task. All you need is a good quality gesso, which needs to be stirred well, while it’s still in the jar.
Take only as much as is Required
Take some gesso out in a cup, preferably made of plastic. This gesso should be poured in a limited quantity as you can’t pour the leftover back into its original container. After all, gesso dries fast. And for the same reason, you should replace the lid of the gesso container as soon as it has served its purpose.
Now, you Need Some Water
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In the process of learning How to Prepare a Canvas for Painting Step-by-Step, the next thing you need is a little water. Yes, this water is needed for thinning the gesso. Add around 20% of water and stir well. This diluted gesso should be used for the first coating on the canvas. The second coat could be a little thicker.
Make use of Paper Towels
You will need them to clean the stirrer and any spills that might get caused. If you fail to be quick to clean spills of gesso, you will have a hard time cleaning it later. It’s not water-soluble, after all. Here is a complete guide about tips for painting with acrylics for everyone that will help you begin your artistic journey.
The Application Part
Apply gesso on the canvas with a 1” or a 2” brush. Make sure the gesso spreads evenly on the surface with horizontal strokes of your brush. Let the gesso dry.
Sanding
Depending on how you want the priming to be, you can sand this first dried layer lightly and then apply another coat of gesso on it. But make sure your canvas doesn’t have any particles on it after the sanding has been done. The next coating will have to be done with vertical strokes if the first used horizontal strokes.
For Additional Layers
If you want to coat your canvas with additional layers of gesso, simply repeat the process of sanding and coating.
When to Paint?
Once you are done with all the layers, you can start painting on it. But make sure your gesso is completely dry before you touch it with your paints.
The reason why you need to prepare your canvas for an oil painting is that you wouldn’t want the chemicals in the paint to damage the canvas. And the reason why you need to prepare your canvas for an acrylic painting is that a non-primed canvas will absorb a lot of your paint. So, now that you know How to Prepare a Canvas for Painting Step-by-Step, there is no reason why you should go wrong in this respect. Here we bring the marvellous Canvas Painting Ideas for people who have that artist to throw colours on the sheet portraying the thoughts running into mind.
