Large Artist Canvas Tutorial

I had the recent opportunity to stretch some more rather large artist's canvas for a client and thought I'd put the process up for a tutorial, or refresher course for anyone interested in painting in a larger format. I've been doing this for a while now. It became sideline to my regular job when I lived in Austin, Texas during the 80's and some of the 90's. I called it AK Canvasworks. Even after I'd returned to Colorado I'd heard that my ex was able to make some money from this abandoned business.

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In early attempts to help market my services I had a photograph taken of myself with some product while standing on a grassy knoll overlooking Austin, Texas at the Barton Creek mall, circa 1992 or'93. I was 33 at the time taking home cabinet facing scraps in oak that I ran in a lumber mill and used them for crossbraces. One client asked for eight more like this after I made two.

My client these days brought by two rolls of cut canvas at 52" wide and 68" long. This makes for a canvas 60" wide, or five foot wide. This is pre-primed and easier to stretch than un-primed canvas, which I will add another presentation on later.

I modify the profile on a rip saw, cutting off the little ogee of Atrium-style brick moulding on the table saw with the angle set at about 12 degrees, this is 1-1/4" x 2" in cross-section and can be purchased at many lumberyards for only $.69/ft. in finger-jointed style. I also run the inside edge across a router table to keep any lines from being created by pushing paint down over that edge.

I clamp these after cutting them to length at 45 degree angles on my chop saw, and then I glue and screw them together with 3" long coarse #9 counter-sinked screws.

I decided to try doing the stretching on top of a couple old 30" doors this time. Here is the canvas about to be unrolled to relax a bit.

I simple kept these together with a small mending plate top and bottom.

Something this big requires gussets and crossbraces to keep the frame from being distorted by the stretching.

In this case I shot some small 1"brads into the gussets and braces for positioning convinience, and then I used pockethole screws with a Kregs drill jig.

I also chose to put a flannel sheet on the table, spaced the frame on the canvas equally and then trimmed it to the inside edge for the final sizing.

I don't know how or where I found it, but I found my old stretching pliers  that I'd lost since 1983 and chose to use that this time versus the chrome-plated Fredrix one. I did have to go purchase another T-50 Arrow stapler though, thinking I could finally afford to upgrade to an electric one by now.

Stretching big is the same as stretching large, it just takes longer. Here the pocket-

hole screws are illustrated.

On the short sides I would stop at five staples, wait to catch up the long sides and then continue adding two staples per side working from the center outward.

Finally at the corners it is a simple hosptal bed sheet tuck.