What is the best canvas for oil painting?

 Painting with oil colours is a truly unique artistic experience. Its thick viscosity and slow drying creates artwork with an unmatched level of depth and texture that is harder to achieve with other popular painting mediums. The unique form of Oil Colours also calls for a bit of background on how to make the most of this medium. The most important being the surface it will be applied on. The right choice of canvas can make the process of oil painting a whole lot more productive with smooth application and excellent colour hold.

Let’s take a look at some of the most ideal canvas options for oil painting:

Stretched and Primed Canvases

These ready-to-go canvases are an excellent base for oil colours. Camel Stretched Canvases are hand-stretched to offer the ideal structure and primed evenly to offer the smoothest application. Canvases can be made either of linen or cotton. Linen canvases are extremely smooth and stiff but they are also tougher to stretch or prime further. Cotton canvases, on the other hand, are more versatile in terms of further stretching or priming while also being a more affordable alternative. Overall, these stretched and primed canvases are regarded as the gold standard by artists that are classically trained.

Canvas Rolls

These lengthy rolls of acid-free fabric woven from fresh cotton are ideal for large oil paintings. They are also pre-primed for smooth application and great colour hold. Artists that are comfortable with stretching their own canvases can stretch the roll on a wooden frame or paste it on a board for painting. The canvas can also be fixed with a masking tape on any surface before painting.

Canvas Sheets

Certain types of thick paper are also a great option for oil painting. Camel Canvas Pads are available with tearable premium canvas sheets that can hold thick and layered application of oil colours. This type of canvas is excellent for smaller colour studies or test the colours in terms of coverage, layering, and application with different tools like a palette knife. They are also an affordable alternative compared to other canvas types.

Canvas Boards

This type of canvas is recommended for outdoor oil painting. They take up less room and are conveniently portable. Camel Canvas Boards are made with acid-free medium grain fabric, coated with acrylic primer, and pasted on an acid-free board with safe adhesive. This means they offer the same quality of stretched canvases with the option to carry it around much more easily. Canvas boards are also easy to handle for oil painting beginners and experimental work.

Apart from these popular picks, oil painting can be done on plenty of other unique surfaces. These recommendations, however, are a fool-proof choice of canvas for oil painting.

Originally published at http://kokuyocamlin.wordpress.com on August 26, 2022.