Do it yourself canvas panels

A question I’m often asked - "What do you paint on?" Over the years, I’ve painted on a lot of different supports – gessoed masonite, wood, stretched canvas, watercolor paper, cold press board, etc. But currently, the majority of the time I’m painting with oils, it’s on linen panels. I very, very rarely paint on stretched canvas anymore. I started painting on linen panels years ago for plein air work, but I now paint on the panels for even my large studio pieces. They’re archival, light, easy to manage and you don’t have to worry about poking through the canvas or leaving ‘dent marks’ if they lean against something. Usually, I buy them already made from Wind River Arts -- because of the time factor. But you can make them yourself fairly easily and the smaller ones are certainly the ones to attempt first. You can purchase all the parts you'll need from Source Tek. Since I’m planning to do some smaller paintings soon, and I have all the parts to make my own panels right here, I thought I’d whip some up.... and give you a quick demo on making your own canvas panels while I'm at it.

You'll need:

 - primed linen (I purchase mine from New York Central in large rolls.)

 - gator board (purchased and cut to size from Source Tek)

 - Miracle Muck - archival glue (purchased from Source Tek)

 - Brush (I like to use an old watercolor wash brush, or something similar.)

 - Brayer (purchased from Dick Blick)

Before starting, I cut my linen to about 1/8" larger than my gator board, just to give me a little room for error.

Now that you have all your pieces, we're ready to go.....

First I put my gator board down and start to spread the 'Miracle Muck' onto it. (Feels like thick Elmer's Glue.)

Be sure to get the 'glue' all the way to the edges.

Then I use the brayer (ink roller) to press the linen onto the gator board. Press firmly. You don't want any air bubbles.

Finally, I put all those big hard cover art books to good use. I stack them on top of it all and leave it overnight to dry.