How to Prime a Canvas

You have a canvas, and now you want to 'prime' it so that you can paint on it. This article will tell you how, step by step.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• A wide paint brush (2-5" depending on canvas size)
• A plastic water container, or small bucket
• A water-based Gesso product
• A plastic spray bottle
• A stretched, raw canvas

1. First it is important to understand that before you begin painting your canvas needs a water-proof, oil-proof protective layer. This will alow the paint to adhere better and will prevent the canvas from rotting. Everything done at this stage needs to be water-based.
   
   First, lay the stretched canvas flat on the floor, preferably on a drop cloth.

2. 
    
   A cheap plastic spray bottle like this is really useful in the paint studio.

   TIP: Spray the canvas surface lightly with water from the water spray bottle. This will make the water-soluble gesso sink into the canvas fibers when you paint it on.
   
   Now, use the paint brush to apply a nice, even coat of Gesso. It should be an opaque white and not transparent. Apply the coat evenly, coating the edges as well.

3. Smooth out any uneven parts of the coat with the brush. Then leave the canvas flat, face up to dry in a place where it will not collect dirt or dust. Give the canvas a day to dry before you begin painting.

4. 
    
   Yellow Ochre paint is a great tinting agent for gesso or for under paintings

   GREAT TIPS: Save your time and enjoy painting more by priming several canvases at one time.
   
   You can experiment with mixing in small amounts of water-soluble acrylics or even water colors to 'tint' your gesso layers. Yellow ochre and cadmium yellow medium make a nice 'warm' undercoat.
   
   If your canvases appear streaky or inconsistent after they dry, you may need to apply a second, slightly thicker coat to the canvas surface.

Resources

• Utrecht art suppliers

[utrechtart]

on 6/3/2009 thanks for using us as a resource. Wanted to let your readers know that many of our unprimed cotton canvas items are on sale right now along with our acrylic gesso. So if someone wanted to give this a try right now, they can save some $$. To see the items on sale, they can got to utrechtart.com/dsp_view_promotion.cfm and browse from there.