A long piece of art canvas. You should get a canvas that is long enough to create your ideal canvas size. Four stretcher bars. These are wooden bars that have notches on one end. You should get two stretcher bars that are the ideal width you want for the canvas and two stretcher bars that are the ideal height you want for the canvas, for example, 16 x 24 or 11 x 15. A hammer. A staple gun. A pair of scissors. Acrylic based gesso. A paintbrush. Sandpaper. Palette paper.
Rotate the frame and pull the canvas very tightly on the opposite end. Then, attach the canvas to the other short side of the canvas with three staples. Leave the centre staple for last. Artist Kelly Medford notes that you can also use this technique if you are using a hammer and nails: “put one nail on each side and work your way out from the center towards the end, continually rotating each side while you’re doing it, so that way you should be pulling it evenly. Then, if you get really big bubbles or bumps as you’re going, you can just take one nail out and redo it. " Turn the frame to the longer side. Fold the canvas over the frame. You will notice a notch of canvas that sticks out when you fold the canvas over the frame. Use your index finger to gently push in this notch so it tucks into the fold. Then, pull the canvas up as tight as possible and push it down over the frame. Attach the canvas to the frame with a staple over the folded corner. Repeat these steps for the other corner, making sure to push down the notch, pull the canvas tightly and fold it over. Secure the canvas with a staple. Finish attaching the rest of the canvas to the frame by pulling tightly on the canvas and staple it down. You can put six staples on the longer ends of the canvas to ensure it is secure.
Start by shaking up the acrylic based gesso. Then, pour the gesso onto a sheet of palette paper. Use the paint brush to paint the entire area of the canvas. You should do one thick coat of the paint, making sure to get the sides of the canvas as well. Let the gesso dry. Then, use the sandpaper to sand the canvas. Sand the canvas using small, circular motions. Do one layer of sanding on the canvas and don’t worry too much about making it very smooth. After one sanding session, pour gesso onto the palette paper and use the brush to add another layer of gesso to the entire canvas. You can use a hair dryer to dry the gesso faster. Once the gesso is dry, sand the canvas one more time. Try to make the canvas really smooth. After a good sanding, the canvas is ready for use.
Linen or cotton canvas material. This usually comes in rolls and can be found at arts and crafts stores. A typical precut canvas size is a 21 inch (53. 34 cm) height x 50 inch (127 cm) width roll of canvas, which will give you two 20 inch x 24 inch (50. 8 cm x 60. 96 cm) canvas panels. Miracle Muck Glue Rotary blade and/or scissors Ruler Pencil Rubber paint roller Heavy rubber roller Paper towels Sand paper Rotary saw (for masonite, hard board, and/or birch plywood) Brown wrapping paper
If your board is non-buckle board such as Gator Board, use a rotary blade to cut along the lines you drew. If your board is masonite, hard board, or birch plywood, you will need to use a rotary saw to cut it down to size. Cut along the lines that you drew on the board. Make sure that you are in a safe area, such as outside or in your construction garage. Always wear goggles when cutting, and make sure that your hands do not get near the blade. No matter what board you are using, after it is cut, sand the edges down gently so that they are smooth.
For example, if your board is 20 X 30 inches, the rectangle you draw onto the canvas should be 22 X 32 inches. Cut the rectangle out with either a pair of scissors or a rotary blade. If you use a rotary blade, make sure that you are cutting on top of a safe surface such as a cutting board.
Then pour some glue onto the middle of one side of your board. Take the same roller and begin to spread it around. The corners and edges are especially important. The glue spread over both surfaces should be a relatively thin layer. Do not pour too much otherwise it will ooze out the sides when you place them together.
While you are rolling the board, you may have to readjust the board as it might slide. After you have rolled against the board, press down with your hands. Place one hand overtop of one another and apply pressure firmly and evenly throughout. This will further secure the board to the canvas.
If you have not already done so, transfer this pile to a safe location. This should be somewhere where there is not a lot of movement going on. Do not place this near a children’s play space. The best place is a basement, or a secluded room. Your canvas will need an entire day to properly dry and set. The following day (after 24 hours) you can remove the books/weights.
If you use the glue method, make sure that the glue is spread evenly over the entire strip so that it does not begin to peel away. The second method is to use sewing pins. Curve your edges backwards and stick two to three pins on each side, through the canvas and into the board. This method only really works on Gator Board; however, you can try to tick the pins into a harder surface.
Put two heavy books on top of the brown paper so that they cover the entire space. Put other heavy books and/or objects on top of those two books.
