My New Video Gallery "Still life and Flowers"

Katya Held Painting Demonstration. Hydrangeas

Canvas Sizing. Do it yourself!

Many years ago when smell of turpentine, dammar varnish and raw linen began to inspire me to work in oils, I came across a book about oil painting materials by Kiplik. It contained very thorough explanation of chemical side of the materials. For expl., the author described what pigments in oils create unwanted chemical reaction and must not be mixed.

The book probably gave a little bit too much information for a beginner painter to comprehend. I concluded that without knowledge of chemistry, one should not dare to paint in oils. So I quit working in this medium without starting.

I still have that book somewhere in my European studio but I hesitate to open it even now after years of working in oils. I feel a bit guilty about it, however, I realize that it would be impossible to follow all the rules of chemistry that will distract from a creative side of painting.

Imagine that before mixing oils on a palette you have to check the chemical table and figure out if it is ok to mix the pigments you need to reproduce colors in front of you? The palette I use (Nelson Shanks palette) contains about 30 colors. Each one has 2 or 3 pigments to begin with. Now do the math. You see my point?

I have been experimenting and learning about oil painting materials and their properties for more than 20 years of my professional life. This will continue to be an ongoing journey, since more material are introduced to art market. There is a lot to explore.

I am generally comfortable using top quality materials for professional  painters,however I carefully read labels in the back or call manufactures,  if information about ingredients is missing.

I use traditional materials (supposedly those that old masters used) and new ones like acrylic size for expl., which archival properties are better than those of rabbit skin glue and gelatin.

I believe it is crucially important to understand properties of your materials and invest time into studying them. It is worth while to keep notes of what you use, how you use it and what the results were in order to avoid repeating same mistakes in a future.

Attending masterclasses, taught by restorers, is one of the best time investment for a professional
artist. Nobody knows the materials and their archival issues better then experienced museum restorers. They work with selected manufactures that have budget for a research and creating the best formulas for materials that restorers use to preserve the masterpieces.

Last few years I have been struggling with oil primed Belgium canvases. Some had poor sizing, that allowed oil ground to drip through. Others had too absorbent grounds that cracked during stretching. Unfortunately manufactures in Belgium no longer prime canvases by hand, and quality of size and grounds they use has been significantly declining.

Although use of pre made canvases spares artists time for creative work,  I no longer buy them. I can't trust quality of  machine primed canvases that most likely will go bad in some future. So, the past few years I have been buying quality raw linen (with smooth texture for portraits and more textural for still life and landscapes) and preparing them myself. I use Gamblin PVA size (recommended by maestro Shanks) or Golden GAC 100 or 400.

I put linen canvas on a flat surface. Keeping in mind that linen shrinks after sizing, I cut it few inches larger than the actual size of a stretcher frame. I apply the size with a brush and sometimes push it in with a ruler in order to make sure that size penetrates deeply into canvas weave and protects threads from acid in oil.

I make sure the first layer dries before I apply a second coat of sizing. I have to note here that GAC 400 could not be applied on top of other GAC size in order to prevent cracking in future. It is stiffer than 100 and should be used as a first coat. GAC 100 could be the second coat. Some recommend to use GAC 100 for both first and second layer.

After the size is dry, the canvas is ready to be stretched for priming.