In the studio

I spent a good part of the week stretching and priming linen.  The first step is to roll out the linen to fit with about 4 inches on either side of the wooden stretcher bars.  Even though you can make your own stretchers, I didn't make them this time.  These were from the art supply store.  I must confess that I don't really like to make stretchers.  I am not even that fond of stretching my own linen or canvas.  However, the finished product is so much better than anything you can buy pre-made.  I have had this roll of linen, sitting in the corner of my studio for AGES.  It was time I put it to good use.

The staple gun and canvas pliers are in the bottom of the photo.

 Once you have cut the linen out, you use the trusty canvas pliers, and starting in the middle of one side (the longest side, if you are using a rectangular frame), you staple the linen to the edge of the stretcher bar.  You then move to the opposite side and pull the linen taut directly opposite your first staple.  Staple that tight piece to the frame.  Then, you move to the next side, pulling and putting a staple in the middle.  Proceed to the opposite side, pull taut (with the pliers) and put another staple in the opposite side.  Once all four sides are tacked on, you can go to the first side, move about 3 inches from the first staple, pull and put another staple in.  Do the same thing to the other side of that first staple.  Basically, you want to move from the middle out, pulling tight each time.  When you get to the edges, you tuck the corners in and staple those down too.  The main focus is to avoid any wrinkles in the linen.  Wrinkles are bad, my friends.

You can click on the image to enlarge it.

The raw linen is such a beautiful color.  I have used a clear acrylic primer on it before, but for these bigger stretchers I wanted to use oil primer.   Before priming with oil primer, however, a coat of hide glue must be applied.  I use rabbit skin glue, and no, I am not killing rabbits and making it myself.  I buy it in bags, and it looks like large, golden sugar granules.  It has to soak in water overnight and then more water is added before it gets melted in a double boiler or glue pot on the stove.  Once it cools a bit, you can brush it onto the stretched linen.  The hide glue prevents moisture from penetrating the linen from the back of the painting, and it also serves as a barrier between the linen fibers and the oil paint.  (oil paint will eat the fibers away over time without this layer of glue.)  What I like about the glue is that the linen will become REALLY tight once the glue dries.  For some reason, I find this drum-like tightness really satisfying.

The part that complicated matters for me this week was that the glass mason jar I used to heat my glue in cracked, and when I lifted the glass jar out of my water bath, all I got was the top part of my jar.  The glue and the remaining part of the jar remained in the water bath.  I had to start all over again!!!!  (yes, there was cursing.)

Once the hide glue is dry, the oil primer can FINALLY be applied.  I am experimenting with only one coat of oil primer on these.  I am hoping to keep some of the texture of the canvas this way.  (I am also nearly out of my oil primer.)  I applied the oil primer yesterday, and I am still waiting for it to be dry.  So you can see this is a rather labor intensive process.  Now you know how it's done.

I leave you with a sneak peak at a work in progress - a brand new series!  Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

This is painted on oil primed linen, from a previous session of stretching and priming.