What is Canvas Painting

                Canvas painting is the most popular and most used painting technique. If you visit a museum or an art exhibit you will see a lot of works from famous artists done in this medium. Many of classic and world renowned artists painted on canvas. Canvas is a textile material and due to its texture it is great for painting on. It started being used in the Renaissance period and since then it continued to rise in popularity. Some of the most famous works of art are canvas paintings.

                Compared to watercolor painting, canvas painting is livelier and bolder. This is due in part to the fact that this type of painting is done with oil based paints. This gives the paintings a longer life and a quality that maintains over a period of time. They also allow for a higher degree of expression to go into the painting. And oil paints are water resistant. A painting done on a canvas with oil paints is very resistant to water damage and the degrading influence of time. Because oil paints sink deep into the canvas, a painting done like this can last for hundreds of years.

                The main impediment when an artist starts canvas painting is the fact that the texture of the canvas is very rough. On a smooth surface painting is easier. On canvas however a lot of pressure needs to be applied for the color to stick. Of course after a period of practice it becomes easier. There are two types of canvas to choose from. There is the stapled canvas and the spline canvas. The stapled canvas is usually used by beginners, because its edges are stapled and it has a clear delimitated shape. An experience painter would prefer to use the spline canvas, because he can do the delimitations himself.