: Hello everyone,

: I need to know just how tight is "tight enough" for the canvas
: skin, and where the line is between "enough" and "too
: tight". Do you all feel it is necessary to 'shrink' the canvas using
: warm water and a sponge, as I have seen recommended?

: Another question regarding the use of latex paint- I have seen several
: recommendations against using latex for canvas, based on the builders'
: feeling that the latex just will not penetrate into the weave of the
: canvas. I was wondering if the latex (it is thinned with water isn't it??)
: could not be thinned to a near-water state and then this might be used to
: shrink the canvas. Would this kill two birds with one stone-shrinking and
: adding the first penetrating coat at the same time?

: Kelly

No matter how tight you stretch canvas, it will still have some "give" to it -- up until it rips. The big use of water to shrink it is not to reduce the natural tendency to stretch, but to reduce or eliminate the little puckers and wrinkles that are formed if the canvas does not match the lines of the wooden frame perfectly.

you could make something that is as tight as a drum, but that would be so tight that any additional stretching -- such as that from hitting an obstacle -- would induce failure in the material ( In English: If you get it too tight it will rip when you bump into a log. So don't get it that tight.

Putz suggests dampening the fabric with water and then painting it with an oil bas paint while the canvas is still damp. Seems to me the water in the fabric would prevent the oil based apint from soaking into the cloth. How important is it that the paint go INTO the fabric as long as it forms a slid surface?

PGJ