Priming your canvas before painting helps in a few ways. This guide will help you understand why and how to prime your canvas.
What Does a Canvas Primer Do?
- Helps to make the canvas tighter
- Protects the canvas from oil
- Gives you a bright and even surface to paint on
- An unprimed canvas absorbs paint, which leads to clumping
Canvas Priming Technique
a) Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylic Medium White Gesso: quality acrylic resin, highly pigmented primer. surface prep for both acrylics and oil.
White gesso has the effect of making all the colours in the painting a little brighter
Equipment needed:
- A paint brush: stiff, short bristled brush
- Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylic Medium White Gesso
1st coat - Start in a circular motion to cover the surface completely. Can thin it with water to make it easier to apply and helps the gesso soak into the first layer of the canvas.
Allow to dry
2nd coat - Rub sandpaper on the first layer to smoothen the surface. Add your second layer in smooth strokes.
Allow to dry
After priming, you'll notice that the canvas is noticeably tighter.
Canvas priming tip:
You could also use a clear gesso to prime your canvas instead of a white gesso. A clear gesso leaves a more natural look to the canvas material and dries completely clear. You can mix acrylic colour with clear gesso which is a great base layer for painting (this technique is not suitable for oil painting).
A great clear gesso is the Winsor & Newton Professional Acrylic Medium Clear Gesso.
Priming a canvas for oil painting:
Priming is essential if you are using your canvas to create an oil painting. The oils absorb into the canvas, which leaves your paint with a duller and darker finish.
If yuo are using an oil primer, you need to coat the surface of the canvas with a size - like rabbit skin glue.
Sizing a canvas for oil painting
Why do you need to size a canvas?
Sizing fills the canvas' pores with material to stop leaks and stiffen the fabric.
What do you size a canvas with?
You can size cotton or linen canvases with rabbit skin glue or PVA before using an oil primer.
What happens when I don't size a canvas and use an oil primer?
If oil is applied to an ‘un-sized’ canvas the oil will eventually weaken the fibres and
the image on the surface may fade.
One last note:
When applying rabbit skin glue or neutral ph PVA size to cotton or linen canvas, the canvas must not be stretched too tightly. Because these sizes are so fluid, they make the fabric contract more and the stretcher bars could warp.
