Canvas Paintings

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame. It is also used in such fashion objects as handbags and shoes.

Physical characteristics

Modern canvas is usually made of cotton or linen, although historically it was made from hemp. It differs from other heavy cotton fabrics, such as denim, in being plain weave rather than twill weave. Canvas comes in two basic types: plain and duck. The threads in duck canvas are more tightly woven. The term duck comes from the Dutch word for cloth, doek. In the United States, canvas is classified in two ways: by weight (ounces per square yard) and by a graded number system. The numbers run in reverse of the weight so a number 10 canvas is lighter than number 4

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Canvas for painting

Canvas has become the most common support medium for oil painting, replacing wooden panels. One of the earliest surviving oils on canvas is a French Madonna with angels from around 1410 in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. However, panel painting remained more common until the 16th century in Italy and the 17th century in Northern Europe. Mantegna and Venetian artists were among those leading the change; Venetian sail canvas was readily available and regarded as the best quality.

Canvas for embroidery

Canvas is a popular base fabric for embroidery such as cross-stitch and Berlin wool work.^[4] Some specific types of embroidery canvases are Aida cloth (also called Java canvas^[5]), Penelope canvas, Chess canvas, and Binca canvas.^[6][7][8] Plastic canvas is a stiffer form of Binca canvas.

Canvas as a compound agent

From the 13th century onward, canvas was used as a covering layer on Pavise shields. The canvas was applied to the wooden surface of the Pavise, covered with multiple layers of gesso and often richly painted in tempera technique. Finally, the surface was sealed with a transparent varnish. While the gessoed canvas was a perfect painting surface, the primary purpose of the canvas application may have been the strengthening of the wooden shield corpus in a manner similar to modern glass-reinforced plastic.

Canvas types

• Dyed canvas
• Fire-proof canvas
• Printed canvas
• Stripe canvas
• Water-resistant canvas
• Waterproof canvas
• Waxed canvas

Canvas products

• Wood (Cedar) Canvas canoes
• Canvas bags
• Coated Canvas bags (e.g.
• Canvas covers
• Canvas shoes Canvas tarpaulins
• Canvas tent (e.g. Armbruster Manufacturing Co.
• Martial arts uniforms