Acrylic Painting on Paper vs Canvas

Question:

Hello Anna,

I am enjoying all the art I am painting with your courses. I am still having a challenge painting on canvas so I paint mostly on smooth surfaces.

I am using Golden Fluids and sometimes Amsterdam Acrylic on Arches Watercolor Paper (I like it because it is thick), Canson XL Mix Media and Canson XL Watercolor papers.

I guess it’s just going to take practice and more practice on how to apply paints.

I’m not giving up I was just wondering if you could tell me what brand of primed Canvas to use.

Do you have a suggestion for moving on to canvas without spending a lot of money? Do you use much water with the Golden paints?

You are a fantastic teacher and guide and love everything you paint and also it makes me “Happy”. (Editor’s note: I had to leave that bit in!)

LS (Shiny Happy Art Club Member)

Answer:

Thanks so much for getting in touch, L!

Most of my acrylic demonstrations are on primed canvas or canvas paper.

The papers you mention are great, for watercolour, but if you paint directly on them they will suck up your paint a bit which can add to brush drag (which is fine when that's what you want!).

I don't use much water with the Fluid Golden paints, but if you're painting on card (or an absorbent surface) the paint will flow differently (because it's being absorbed).

Be generous with loading your brush. And you're right, it takes practice.

I pretty much always wash and dry my brush between colours - that way you are more in control of the next mark... if you have a brush full of water and then add paint, the mark is more unpredictable.

Brand wise for canvas, it depends how much you want to spend and what you want to do with your painting when it's done.

If it's for sale, I believe the canvas should be higher quality, and therefore more $$$. Cheap canvases may warp, have thinner actual canvas (more likely to tear) and may have dodgy primer on them to start with (sometimes/rarely it can react adversely to your paint).

I now have canvases made, but in the past I've used Winsor and Newton, Mont Marte Professional Series, CreateART... are you in Australia?

Another option is to buy unstretched canvas and cut it up or tape it to a wall.

But the cheapest and most stress free options while you're learning is something like the Mont Marte Canvas Paper I demonstrate with. Most brands make 'Canvas Paper', but Mont Marte is the only one I've found to date that actually has threads in it. Using a pad means you can have fun without thinking about $$$, if you paint a masterpiece it can still be framed under glass or adhered to a board or another canvas, and it takes up a lot less space when you're painting a lot and learning and experimenting.

The supplies I use are listed here - https://kit.co/ShinyHappyArt

Let me know how you go :)

Anna