Preparing and Priming a Canvas

[mustech2]

visualthief is right. you have to stretch the canvas FIRST! .. . osean2 - the reason rabbit skin glue is used is as a preservative. A canvas lasts for hundreds of years with rabbit skin glue. Without, it probably wouldn't last a century. Oil paints rot the canvas as chordwayze says.

Cool intro to the video tho!! =D

[mikesartjournal]

My understanding is that there may be some long term corrosive quality to the canvas as it interacts with the dried paint. But that rabbit glue was needed as a means to keep the fibers from fraying around the edges, staples, future punctures. Basically to keep the painting from coming unweaved.

In my treatment above I have fully dried the canvas after glue application and then it's stretched and gessoed. No cracks there. No cracks long term. Keep in mind glue is stretchy even when dry.

[visualthief]

dude you have the STRETCH the canvas, either on stretcher bars or in a tension frame BEFORE you size the canvas with glue.  Otherwise if you paint on it and then stretch it later, I guarantee it'll crack

[mikesartjournal]

Lots of criticism on my not stretching the canvas first. Rolled canvas that you'd buy in any art store was glued (treated) gessoed before you bought it, before it's stretched. If you stretch any primed canvas too much it's obviously going to crack. But it does have some give.

Rabbit glue is great because when it's dry it still has quite a bit of malleability to it even though it remains taut. Some people who haven't worked it both ways think it makes the canvas brittle, like a cracker.

[griffybutt]

I dig this! Traditional oil painting techniques, yes! I wish there was narration during the gessoing, however.

[Chordwayze]

The size (rabbit glue) helps tighten the canvas and also prevents the solvents in oils from rotting the canvas. Primer can bleed through canvas, as can linseed oil. I always use size. Better safe than Sorry.

Regards

John!

[osean2]

I have never heard of using the rabbit skin. Why do it? What happend if this step is pmitted? I thought that using gesso is just fine with nothing eles.

[mikesartjournal]

Hi Osean2, Rabbit skin glue bonds each canvas thread together and still allows some flexability. A raw canvas with only gesso, in the long run, is much more likely to tear & start unweaving. Of course it's not required and many many paintings are done on canvas that only has gesso.

[savagemike90]

Very neat, I didn't know this much work was put into it. I like the intro too. : )