Stretching paper over a canvas
ALTERNATIVE TO MATTING AND FRAMING WATERCOLOUR PAINTINGS
By Charlene McGill
This process can be fun and rewarding as an alternative to matting and framing your watercolour paintings. I prefer to use inexpensive primed cotton canvases. These can be purchased at all Art Stores, Craft Stores and even Department Stores. Buying the cheaper brands can be a little risky, because the stretcher bars may warp. The process seems to work very successfully with 140# paper. You can certainly use hot press which is very smooth, cold pressed which has a little bit of tooth, or rough which has a lot of tooth. Arches is good, strong paper and that’s what I’ve used in this demonstration. I’ll be stretching this paper over 8” x 10” canvases.
