I gathered some of my best supplies to stretch a beautiful canvas today. I used some copper tacks and a really nice tack hammer and some A E Art Canvas primed lead oil ground. The tacks that I used to stretch this canvas are nice, but they're not the best that I have. The tacks that I used are the Paris Professional Canvas copper tacks and some of them got messed up while I was hammering them (photo 3 in gallery below). I also have some copper nails made by Chauvin, which are made in France and I plan to test out soon. The hammer that I like is a C. S. Osborne & Co. uphoslterer's hammer. C. S. Obsorne & Co. has been making tools since 1826.
It's great to use high quality materials, but sometimes it makes it a little intimidating to work on. I always have to remind myself "Yes, this canvas is beautiful, but I'm going to paint on this and if I mess it up, it's OK." Treat your materials with respect and don't be wasteful, but remember that they're not sacred idols either.
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I got some new tools today that I'm pretty excited about. The first is a beautiful tack/upholsterer's hammer made by C. S. Osborne & Co. I bought this hammer from Lee Valley and it was shipped really quickly and came in perfect condition. I previously had been using a lesser quality tack hammer, but this new one is made in USA and is really nice. I also bought some new copper tacks and nails from Jerry's Artarama, which is a fantastic store and they have a great variety of materials. Below, you can see some images of the Charvin copper nails. These nails are 7/16" or 11mm in length. They have a nice point to them and they are made in France. They're more expensive, but boy are they nice. They're magnetic so you can use them with a magnetic tack hammer (see last photo in gallery below). These nails have a squared-off point to them which gives them a hand-wrought appearance . The next thing I got were these Paris Canvas copper tacks. These are longer (5/8") and have a cylindrical point. They're less expensive, but are sadly made in China. They have a nice point to them though and they're magnetic as well, so I'm happy to use them. I'm all about quality in my materials and I recommend all these tools for those of you who are looking to stretch your own canvas. To learn to stretch your own canvas check out my blog post:
Stretching a Canvas Step-By-Step! It feels like spring is here today. I got outside and stretched a new canvas for a commission and I ordered some new canvas nails to test out. I ordered two different types: Charvin copper nails and Paris Canvas Copper Tacks. I'm not sure which kind I'll like better so I'm going to try them both. They're both slightly different lengths also which is a good thing.
I ordered these from Jerry's Artarama because Dick Blick doesn't carry them. I'm becoming more and more frustrated with Blick's selection of products and their lack of variety. They seem to be trending more and more away from professional fine art materials and everything now seems to be "Blick Brand" products, but I digress. I'll write a review of these copper nails as soon as they arrive and I test them out. I was previously using cut tacks from the hardware store, but they're not very well forged and usually have a rather dull point to them, which is frustrating. It's also better to use copper since it protects against corrosion. I'm going to go back out and enjoy the weather. Have a great week! Just started a new self portrait, using a canvas that I recently made with Natural Pigments lead oil ground. The beginning is always rough and I'm not going for any detail at this stage. I think of the beginning like the understructure of the painting. Portraits have a lot going on, but they need to progress gradually. It's good to keep the beginning malleable instead of committing to some exact detail such as a highlight. The painting gets more delicate as more modeling is added so it's not good to jump to details right away. The beginning has some slight indications of general details, but nothing concrete in case I have to adjust some proportions.
As I said, I'm using a lead oil ground; lead oil grounds are very different from titanium oil grounds. Lead has a really nice level of absorption that also repels a good amount of the paint laid on top. I've noticed that titanium white grounds absorb a lot of the paint and it feels like you have to pile on the paint just to get any level of impasto. If you're a painter that likes thick paint applications then I encourage you to use a lead oil ground. I'm going slower with this painting and with more of my old intuitive approach. I still like alla prima painting, but I can't get the level of detail and modulation of tone with pure alla prima. I already paint fast and I feel the need to slow myself down and let it dry when necessary in order to build up the detail. I'm excited to work on this more and will post more as it progresses. |
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