How to Prime the canvas

Efficiently primed the canvas, as the guarantee of preserving the brightness of the colors and durability of the fabric. For self-priming of the canvas, the artist creates an ideal basis for future paintings.

The preparatory phase

Before you begin the priming of the canvas it must be stretched on a frame and secure using a stapler or furniture nails. The cloth should be tight and no SAG. Skilled craftsmen pull the canvas is wet, for added tension of the canvas.

Before priming the canvas you want to glue. The glue will prevent symptoms of primer and paints on the reverse side of the canvas. For the initial treatment of suitable PVA glue. If the canvas is chunky knit, the adhesive should be applied in a thick layer using a rubber spatula or palette knife.

The more dense the fabric (canvas, canvas) that can be processed with paste are homemade. For this purpose suitable conventional starch. In a pot of water is filled with so much starch to make a viscous mass, and is brewed to achieve transparency. Paste made of starch is applied with a broad hammers finishing brush or a clothes brush.

After complete drying of the glue must be sanded. Use fine sandpaper.

Compositions for priming the canvas

Primed canvas to save ink consumption, to facilitate sliding of the brush and to give the canvas a uniform color. Most often primed canvas in white. However, if an artist plans to paint a picture with a predominantly dark background – it can add in the ground color pigments to canvas any color.

Adhesive primer quite heavily absorb paint, brush strokes will be more bright and matte. Glue soil made from one part gelatine, four parts of chalk or whiting and 15 parts of water.

Gelatine soaked and boiled in a water bath, whiting or chalk is dissolved in water and injected into the glue, then add a few drops of castor oil as a plasticizer.

The emulsion primer is the most practical. The first stage of the emulsion preparation of the soil is the same as that of the adhesive composition. Then added to the solution of high-purity linseed oil or linseed oil and a few drops of an antiseptic (phenol). You need to pour the oil in small portions and intensively stirring the solution. A sign of the quality of the emulsion is the uniformity of the whole: should not be separated and float in the oil.

Oily soil are obtained by using special oil white. After applying several layers of white canvas is aged for a year and a half to consolidate the layer.

Rules primer

Apply dirt part should be a thin layer. Emulsion and adhesive primer was applied with a wide brush, oil – with a thin spatula. The movement should be along and across the direction of the threads of the canvas.

Drying the primed canvas should in a natural way in well-ventilated areas. You can't rotate the canvas to the sun or the battery.