Gearing up to my show now and am a bit behind because I have not even started the large canvas I had planned! However, I have more than enough work to fill the space so the pressure is all self generated. For the sake of symmetry, I had envisaged 2 large canvases opposite each other and adjacent to the large History Painting. I'll see what I can manage . . . .
Jobs to complete before 26th:
- Framing of final drawings I won't use them all I'm sure, but it's good to have a choice during the hang and they'll be ready for other venues.
- Order postcards. This depends on the quality of the ones I have ordered for publicity using the poster design:
Sorry this is a bit distorted: I tried downloading the pdf but for some reason it kept squashing it into a square, which was even worse so I ended up taking a photo of it!
- Order stretcher for History Painting: I need to check that the measurements we took allow enough canvas around the margins for stretching the painting up. I think I have, but I am stressing!
- Deconstruct two of my old stretchers that never got used, take them to the studio and reconstruct them, ready for stretching up the new large paintings. As I said above, I am hoping there will be two!
- Buy some new canvas pliers, can't find mine and they weren't all that good.
- Buy a good staple removing gizmo. Buy some narrow packaging webbing and some metal pins for stretching the paintings. (I'll explain why I need these later.)
- Carefully remove History Painting and the other large canvas from the wall. Roll History Painting onto a carpet roll as it is too large for the van I am hoping to hire: (I do make life difficult for myself! We will stretch it up in the gallery) Stretch up the finished large canvas using the method I have found on the internet. Stretch up, prime and paint the new canvas.
- Pack all the work ready for transportation on 26th.
While I was looking on line for some new canvas pliers for stretching up my paintings, I found a very interesting article written by James Bernstein, explaining why the best way to stretch a canvas is NOT as we all were taught, to start in the middle of each side and work outwards to the corners, but to mark up the canvas to make sure it is square, pin the middles of each side to keep canvas in the right place and then to begin stretching FROM THE CORNERS TOWARDS THE MIDDLES !!! This does go against everything I was taught but the explanation is totally reasonable so I am going to give it a go. I do realise that my really large canvases are going to be difficult to work on though. . .
Take a look at the article it is really interesting:
http://www.goldenpaints.com/justpaint/jp17article1.php I use Golden Acrylics, and this company has some really good tutorials online.
It is in this article where I discovered I needed some polypropylene packaging tape and aluminuim push pins. The pins are for setting out and placing the canvas on the stretcher before stapling and the tape is for placing onto the canvas to protect it from being cut by the staples and it also helps in the awful job of removing staples if a canvas has to be re-stretched, which will be the case with History Painting as it is so large I am going to have to store it rolled onto a carpet roll.
Worked on History Painting again today; it still needs more work but I think I'll be able to pull it off!
I did adjust the measurements for the stretcher so I shall be able to order it tomorrow. Before I went to the studio I dropped the drawings that need framing into Anthony Bentley and I gave him an invitation plus some for his shop. They were delivered a day early, which was great. http://www.printed.com is the company I used. The problem is, they don't use jpegs, which is what I have for all my other images and my IT skills are not up to converting images. Sigh.
I have reconstructed the stretchers but for some reason one diagonal is longer than the other on both of them, which means they aren't square. How can this be, when they are all knocked into place with the cross bars? Any suggestions anyone? Until I get them square, I can't stretch the canvas onto one of them for the new painting or the finished painting onto the other.
This post has too many words and not enough pictures! Oh and we had snow again today.
It is in this article where I discovered I needed some polypropylene packaging tape and aluminuim push pins. The pins are for setting out and placing the canvas on the stretcher before stapling and the tape is for placing onto the canvas to protect it from being cut by the staples and it also helps in the awful job of removing staples if a canvas has to be re-stretched, which will be the case with History Painting as it is so large I am going to have to store it rolled onto a carpet roll.
Worked on History Painting again today; it still needs more work but I think I'll be able to pull it off!
I did adjust the measurements for the stretcher so I shall be able to order it tomorrow. Before I went to the studio I dropped the drawings that need framing into Anthony Bentley and I gave him an invitation plus some for his shop. They were delivered a day early, which was great. http://www.printed.com is the company I used. The problem is, they don't use jpegs, which is what I have for all my other images and my IT skills are not up to converting images. Sigh.
I have reconstructed the stretchers but for some reason one diagonal is longer than the other on both of them, which means they aren't square. How can this be, when they are all knocked into place with the cross bars? Any suggestions anyone? Until I get them square, I can't stretch the canvas onto one of them for the new painting or the finished painting onto the other.
This post has too many words and not enough pictures! Oh and we had snow again today.
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