What type of archival glue can be used to glue roll canvas to a board?

[artquestion]

I am trying to find a way to make my own custom canvas and have heard of artists gluing roll canvas to a board. What type of glue is used and how is this done? Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Vicky

[Bringer]

Hi,

Why not paint on the board itself ?
You don't like that ?
Rabbit glue and latelly PVA glue are being used for canvas sizing. I guess they can be used for the same purpose that you mention.
I guess you could have more answers at the oils forum.

Best regards,

José

[artquestion]

I have a 24x36 pre-stretched linen canvas that has a small tear in it near and edge. I would like to salvage the canvas by pulling it off the stretcher bars and gluing it to a board.

[mick11]

Hi Vicky,

What type of board are you going to be using

[Einion]

Originally Posted by artquestion

I am trying to find a way to make my own custom canvas and have heard of artists gluing roll canvas to a board. What type of glue is used and how is this done?

Hi Vicky, the archival thing makes this a tricky question to answer definitively. Many adhesives will glue very well and last a long time but being reversible is often considered to be a worthwhile characteristic, much like with a final picture varnish.

It also depends to some extent on what's available where you are, but probably the simplest choice is acrylic medium. If you could find a high-quality PVA glue that's a worthwhile alternative and may be slightly better in the long term (easier to reverse without harm to the paint layer). There are other unusual types of glues that one can use for this sort of application but they're fairly specialist materials and can be hard to find.

Spreading the glue evenly is vital to a good result, you can brush them on but other people use a flat tool of some sort - a wallpaper scraper with the corners rounded off is good but an old credit card actually works pretty well!

This article might help:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/Articles2/532/110/

As Mick says you can actually paint on the board itself - many artists do - but if you want the weave of the canvas to show in the painting, without using stretcher bars, this is the way to do it.

Einion

[gunzorro]

I agree with Einion -- acrylic medium. You can get plenty on without it soaking either the board or canvas. A heavy coat applied to the board should be sufficient. Make sure you press a flat weighted surface onto your canvas until dry (overnight). Or face down on very smooth cement or flooring, with weight applied from the backside (gallon buckets of paint, etc). make sure the weight is applied evenly. After it is dry, trim the small amount of excess acrylic from the sides. Canvas and linen shrink so be warned -- it may scallop on the edges unless you us enough medium and pressure. That's it.

[colin]

another option is wheat paste glue - regular old Golden Harvest wallpaper glue from the hardware store . It too is archival and reversible and is nice thick consistency . If you use a thin glue like PVA it tends to not cushion the canvas on a nice, even layer of glue and you get little flat spots and a lumpy effect which looks like hell .

It will take a surprising amount of weight to squish down any kind of sizeable canvas so be prepared ahead of time wi yer weights - its no fun running madly around the house tryin to find weights when you know yer glue is setting up !

[studemobile]

What about Miricle Muck?

[Einion]

Originally Posted by studemobile

What about Miricle Muck?

There are questions about whether Miracle Muck is archival.

Einion

[tomnackid]

I've had good luck with "Yes" archival adhesive. Its basically a highly refined wheat paste. It is acid free and reversible. It is NOT waterproof like acrylic media though so I wouldn't use it for panels you intend to use with water media and lots of washes that might soak through the canvas and weaken the glue.

[agergasko]

What about Elmers Glue is that PH nuetral?

[Merlion]

For gluing canvas to board, I use 3M spray adhesive. I spray on both, wait, and apply the canvas on the board carefully, spreading eveningly to avoid void bubbles.

The canvas is gesso primed in the usual way.

[Steve Collins]

I was taught to use acrylic gesso. The process involves the following steps, and assumes that the board is 1/2" or greater thickness (birch plywood works well):

1. Cover the board with a relatively think layer of gesso; you want enough to make sure step 2 works, which is to:

2. Immediately, yet carefully lay the canvas (linen or cotton, but I prefer linen when I can afford it) over the wet board

3. Use a putty knife (plastic cheapo is perfect) to press the canvas onto the board, working from the center out, pushing out bubbles, smoothing, and working the gesso up through the fibers of the canvas as much as you can.

4. While it's all still wet, which means work carefully, turn the board over and, for one side at a time:

a. lay some gesso over the edge of the canvas sticking out on one side, along with the edge of the board,

b. pull the canvas gently up and against the edge of the board

c. if you have enough to do it, apply gesso and pull the canvas over the back of the board too (an inch or so is perfect)

d. For each corner, fold under as carefully as you can, laying in more gesso as needed to get it uniformly covered and to aid in working the canvas into place.

e. Do the above for all edges and corners, but do opposite sides as pairs, so the corners are done uniformly

5. While everything is still wet, flip the board over again and apply a coat of gesso over the top and edges.

6. Wait for it to dry, sand and apply another coat of gesso. Do this at least 3 times, but more if you want a smoother surface to work on.

This is a bit of an art. You need to move fairly quickly to keep things from drying before you want it to. And the corners are a bit tricky to get right. But the result is a wonderful surface to paint on, IMO. Because of the nature of the process, it works best for relatively small boards. The bigger the board, the harder it is to get everything done before it starts to dry.

Anyway, I learned this process from a teacher who's been doing it for years.

I would not use Elmer's glue. It's permanent, which may not matter now, but may well matter later.

Steve

[Steve Collins]

On my initial reading, I failed to notice that the original question was about gluing a canvas that's already been sized and/or painted on. In that case, the process I described doesn't apply.

[mick11]

No you were right the first time Steve. The OP was about gluing roll canvas to board. Your answer sounds spot on to me.