I wanted to experiment with a canvas pad I discovered at the local art store in Richards Bay and see if it was any good. The red cherry seemed the perfect subject matter. I didn’t want to use a palette knife as I wanted to feel how the brush would respond with this canvas. It wasn’t what I was hoping for. I have to admit though, I wasn’t expecting great results, but this was awful!
380gsm A4 canvas sheet
The canvas felt very dead under the brush, even wood is more responsive, albeit in a different way, but still responsive. The canvas also kept curling all along the edges. In desperation i took tik-tak and stuck down the edges so I could work on the canvas without it flopping and curling while I tried to paint on it.
You can see how the canvas sheet curls up. Not fun to paint on at all!
I’ve painted this cherry successfully before. I had the photo in my stock file so decided to repaint it as an exercise to see how my work has developed. I also didn’t want to paint something new and exciting, and have what could potentially have been a good painting spoiled on a canvas disaster. I think if a framer could stick the canvas down on board and put a frame around it, the result would be absolutely fine, but the process of painting was a miserable one, and not at all fun dealing with a cheap errant canvas!
Cherry painted on 11 October 2013
The cherry painted today (3 April 2019) from the same photo reference as the cherry painting above. I would be interested to hear what you think. My assessment is they are 2 very different paintings. I deliberately didn’t look at my original painting so I would not be influenced by what I saw.
My feeling is the original cherry is very carefully painted. There is a tenseness to it whereas todays painting is more relaxed and confident, and I think has more character, because it hasn’t tried to be anything else other than a painting.
artbyeileen 
Definitely looser, Eileen! I like it! As far as the canvas sheets go – to prevent curling you need to tape them on all sides before you start, with painters tape. If it still curls or has any kind of warping when you untape it, the best way to go is to spray it lightly with water on the back and hang it to dry from one or two large bulldog clips. I got this tip from You tube and it worked wonders for me, it has something to do with being wetted only on one side and spraying the back and drying evens things up. The heavier the canvas paper the less this will happen…..or maybe you just decided to throw the whole pad out of the window already?! 🙂
Thank you so much Hilda! No I haven’t thrown it out yet, so will definitely do this. So many times one wants to experiment with something or a technique without using a block stretched canvas or a canvas board and these canvas sheets are perfect for that. What a great tip. I have plenty bulldog clips and painters tape. Will definitely give it a try. Thank you!
Give it a try! If it doesn’t work you’ll know for sure it’s the canvas paper and not you!!
I have used paper for acrylic and yes, it does need to be taped down. I think if one paints on paper, it needs to go under glass.
There is something more lifelike, living, in the new cherry.
This isn’t paper, it is a kind of year off canvas. I tried spraying the back with water and it curled even more and the underpainting of a mix of raw umber and whit took almost 12 hours to dry. I also prefer this cherry! As you say it has more vitality! 😊
Definitely sounds like a strange surface. When I said paper, I meant paper especially for acrylics.