has anyone had a canvas that has turned out to be the devils spawn to paint on?

[Timoat]

http://www.marcdalessio.com/page/2/

Marc Dalessio shares his thoughts on the matter here.

[OOzOO]

As a student, I buy the cheapest canvases possible for my classes. I know they're going to suck anyway. I have real canvas and make my own stretchers from 2x4s for my real work, but the classwork gets expensive and they are not keepers.

I buy the cheapest possible crap canvas, preferably in multi-packs, from Hobby Lobby or Micheal's, using the 40% off coupon they generously supply online. You don't even have to print it if you have a smartphone, just show it to them on your phone when you check out. Then I apply 2-3 more layers of gesso, sanding in between, and this usually smooths out even the cheapest crappiest canvas enough to smack some paint on in class.

I did have one canvas that was a nightmare during my first class, but it was really my own fault. I didn't cut the stretcher bars properly, and ended up using store bought ones until I could cut more. Then I unstapled the canvas from the store bought stretchers and transferred it to my corrected stretchers after it was gessoed, so my instructor wouldn't yell at me (she had a thing about making your own canvases from scratch). Of course it wasn't an exact fit, so there were lines where the original stretchers were, and the painting was cursed from that point forward. It warped, the canvas is becoming unraveled at the edges, and it's not worth painting over.

I'm really glad my other instructors didn't care about store-bought canvases.

[lumerence]

Originally Posted by JamieWG

The worst canvas nightmare I ever had was when I bought a three-pack of relatively inexpensive, 18x24" stretched canvases from an online, major retailer. I added more coats of gesso as always, painted all three, ordered custom frames for them, and then discovered the canvases were actually 18 1/4 x 24 1/8. They didn't fit in the frames. You could have heard my scream in the southern hemisphere. You can bet I never ordered any store brand canvas again.

Jamie

Thanks for sharing this! I'll be measuring them from now on!

[judylu]

Yes! absolutely. I bought a 3 pack at Michaels, very cheap, just to practice on. It was not canvas. I don't know what it was but, even after using gesso it was like painting on paper with acrylics in hot weather. I was using oils. Be careful of the deals. One I can tell you is not of good quality is "YES sold by most online retailers but I had a terrible time with it. I stick with Creative Mark now, I never have to worry. I want to move to using board, Which ones?
thanks
judylu

[OOzOO]

I get masonite cut down at Home Depot, sand it and gesso it. Much cheaper than prepared panels, and you can do custom sizes.

[Aires]

In a way, yes. I bought a box of one dozen yet unlabeled 20X24 stretched canvas directly from a West Coast manufacturer, who at the time was advertising on eBay. My only reservation was that I found the gesso to be "scratchy-rough," making it hard on brushes and difficult to work with. I struggled with the first one to which I had not added extra gesso but the remedy was easy and quick. Rolling on a couple more coats of gesso and/or adding a couche to slow absorption solved the problem.