Canvas and stretchers

There are not so many possibilities. In term of composition, it is very simple: the canvas are made of cotton or flax.

Cotton

The cotton made canvas is difficult to extend. Its surface is a little too smooth to be able to paint over the first layer. If painting becomes drudgery, there is no interest...
Unless they are used to make fast drafts or composition tests, we thus do not recommend the cotton made canvas.

Flax

The flax is the best support. You can find them with various weights and textures. Its weight depends on the number of fibers by cm², while its texture depends on the size of fibers. If you buy an already coated canvas (what we recommend), you do not have to worry about it since the majority arises in a standard average texture.

Two principal kinds of coating exist: oil coating (fatty) and acrylic coating known as " universal " (Thin). One never paints thin on fat. Consequently the beginners will choose the canvas with a universal coating for their first works.

The canvases are generally tended on frame, standard or with key. It is better to use the wooden key frames for a better long-term tension.

It is possible to buy linen sheet in roller, to tend on frame and to coat it oneself. But it is an advice we will not give to beginners! If you wish to paint on a standard format, you have to know that the cloth-lined frames proposed in the shops are of excellent quality and accessible at a ridiculous price.

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Standard formats | Compositions

You will find in French shops several standard format of canvas. Considering that, you will find the names "Figure", "Paysage" or "Marine".

Figure

Paysage

Marine

The format of a canvas is measure in pixels. Ex : a canvas with dimension : 55cm for the length and 33cm for the width will be called a 10 "Marine".

As nobody needs to remember these corresponding values, here is a matrix summarizing the standards you could find or need to find :

N°	FIGURE	PAYSAGE	MARINE
0	18 x 14	18 x 12	18 x 10
1	22 x 16	22 x 14	22 x 12
2	24 x 19	24 x 16	24 x 14
3	27 x 22	27 x 19	27 x 16
4	33 x 24	33 x 22	33 x 19
5	35 x 27	35 x 24	35 x 22
6	41 x 33	41 x 27	41 x 24
8	46 x 38	46 x 33	46 x 27
10	55 x 46	55 x 38	55 x 33
12	61 x 50	61 x 46	61 x 38
15	65 x 54	65 x 50	65 x 46
20	73 x 60	73 x 54	73 x 50
25	81 x 65	81 x 60	81 x 54
30	92 x 73	92 x 65	92 x 60
40	100 x 81	100 x 73	100 x 65
50	116 x 89	116 x 81	116 x 73
60	130 x 97	130 x 89	130 x 81
80	146 x 114	146 x 97	146 x 89
100	162 x 130	162 x 114	162 x 97
120	195 x 144	195 x 130	195 x 114

::: The biggest paintings of the world :::

The Paradise ... painted from 1587 to 1590 par the Tintoret and his son (Venice, Doges Palace) : 22m long, 7m high.

The Cana weddings ... from Veronese (1528 - 1588) (Louvre museum in Paris) : 6,70m x 9,75m.

The Gettysburg battle ... (North Carolina, USA) : 125m x 21,3m for 5,5 tons. This painting has been finished in 1883 after 2 years and a half of work by Paul Philipoteaux (French) and 16 assistants.

The Atlanta battle ... (Grant Park, Atlanta, USA) : 121,9m x 15,24m for 8 tons. It has been made by two german artists between 1885 and 1886.

The Mississippi panorama ... (City Art Museum, St Louis, Mississippi, USA) : 106,07m.

The Electrical fairy ... (ordered by E.D.F. (the French national company for electricity) to Raoul Dufy for the Universal exhibition in 1937) : 60m x 10m.

The St Antoine temptation ... made by Claude Maresse in Vézelay. 2m high for 20m long.

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