Stretching a Watercolor after it's Done!

This is a little clip about how I stretch my watercolors after they are painted! I do this since they will buckle during the painting process no matter how tightly the paper is pre=stretched.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Susan
• Kennedy
• watercolor
• painting
• instruction
• demonstration
• floral

[bdmandel]

I didn't get a chance to see how you started the painting on watercolor canvas. I am having a difficult time trying to paint on the canvas after working on Arches paper. Do you have a demo I can view?

[susankennedyart]

I guess you already saw the watercolor canvas video...(sorry for the late reply)...I don't have any more video of watercolor canvas paintings, but I do recommend a much lighter touch with washes, as the slightest amount of brushwork will lift previous layers of paint and make a muddy mess! Simpler paintings with fewer layers seem to be the best option for this product (to me). Thanks for looking!

[herbison]

Great work! Why don't you just turn your work face down wet the back, place a drawing board over it, and apply some books for weight. Leave several hours or overnight to dry. It will be very flat, ready for framing. No tearing.Janese

[susankennedyart]

That's actually something I do quite a bit; usually the larger works, often done on heavier papers, still have problems, so this sort of thing will be my last resort.

[Rainy68]

why would you make this extra work for yourself, especially when you endanger the finished piece by stretching it?

[susankennedyart]

Honestly, because I messed up and am trying to mitigate the mess! Perhaps 50% of the time no matter how well the paper seems to be prestretched, I'll have to try to remedy a buckling situation.

[mizzyAt]

I wish i could paint like that....:(

[Reesfun]

You don't find that the foam board bends as the canvas dries?

[DrenchedCoyote]

I'm totally gonna try this!

[susankennedyart]

I've found that with the large amount of water I use in painting, there is always buckling occurring, no matter how tightly I stretch beforehand. So I've gotten good at keeping the water off of the surface of the painting, and at judging the strength of the paper. If you are using an all-rag paper it is very strong; if there is wood pulp content, you are risking a tear doing this.