Step-by-step guide to building a new painting support (part 2)

[ previous part | tutorials home ]

Ok! have staples, will travel etc.

Step 6: loosely tack the four corners of the canvas onto the corners of the stretcher using your stapler. This is just to stop the canvas from flopping everywhere when you are turning it round stretching and stapling it.

Tip: if you rock the stapler to one side so you are not stapling perpendicular to the plane of the stretcher, you will have less hassle getting the corner tacks out again later.

Quick word about staplers: an expensive stainless steel gun stapler like the one shown is just that -- expensive (i.e. closer to NZ$100 than NZ$20) -- but it will last you a lifetime with very little or no maintenance. A good investment.

Pro-tip: don't forget to flip the stretcher over before you begin so you are not stapling on to the bevelled side! And see how I have labelled each edge with a point of the compass? That'll come into play shortly.

Step 7: so what you're going to do first is staple four anchors (1), one midway each edge. Do them in this sequence: S, half-turn, N, quarter-turn right, W, half-turn, E, quarter-turn left back to home. That sequence is what you'll repeat over and over.

Just wrap the canvas around the stretcher bar on S but wrap and pull the canvas taut on N, W, & E. How taut? You don't have to stretch the shit out of it -- especially because the canvas will tighten when you prep the surface -- but when you're done you'll want it to sound a low note like a big drum. You'll see what I mean when you're finished. Just make sure to use the same amount of force equally as you progress. This is also where the considerations of size vs. tautness and lack or otherwise of cross-bracing (as raised in the previous part) comes into play.

And some people like two close-together (3mm spaced) staples as anchors -- this can be good for larger stretchers and / or heavy canvas.

Step 8: to the right and left of your anchor staples and at a distance of about an inch, add a second rank of staples. S 1 2, half-turn, N 1 2, quarter-turn right, W 1 2, half-turn, E 1 2, quarter-turn left back to home. Again, stretch the canvas taut as you put in each staple.

Hey look here's a pic of the process partway through, showing S & N to the left and right, while W & E still to be done. The anchors are labelled 1 and the second rank staples are labelled 2:

A quick note about staples: use deep staples i.e. at least 8mm or 10mm -- they are easier to remove because (unless you have it cranked to maximum) the force of the stapler is insufficient to drive them in flush to the surface and leaves a little lip. Yes, you need to be able to remove staples* -- for example, right now when you remove the original corner tacks.

* This pre-supposes you will be wanting to eventually remove the canvas from the stretcher for the purpose of framing and mounting. If you intend to show and (hopefully) sell your work as is, then ignore staple advice. Go for 6mm shallow staples, and nuzzle the nose of the gun right into the canvas each time you let rip, to try to get those suckahs as flush to the surface as possible.

Also don't staple too close to the outer edge of the stretcher bars. Staple near the inner edge of the stretcher bars as this makes it easier to cut the canvas off (same reason.)

And also: what fool called it a screwdriver and not a staple remover!

Step 9: to the right and left of your second-rank of staples and again at a distance of about an inch, add a third rank. S 1 2, half-turn, N 1 2, quarter-turn right, W 1 2, half-turn, E 1 2, quarter-turn left back to home. Continue to stretch the canvas taut as you put in each staple.

Step 10: repeat, heading towards the corners, adding more ranks until you are about 1 & 1/2 inches away from the corner. If the ranks don't divide neatly into the length of a side, just add another rank (or even just another staple) where necessary -- it's definitely better to have more staples and non-floppy sections of canvas than the alternative.

Step 11: do the corners. I considered trying to explain how to do the corners, which is a non-trivial exercise, but I decided against it. (Ok I'll post a guide if somebody pleads for it in the comments.) Look it up on the internet or just use your instinct. You can do it. Just make sure you keep the canvas taut -- nobody likes floppy corners, do they.

Here's one I prepared earlier:

Important note: what I am showing here is not actually best practice. I was in a hurry. You actually want to fold the corners so that the tucks are symmetrical / facing each other, rather than this "round-the-world" schema. This is important because the tuck adds tangible mm to the side of the stretched canvas, and non-symmetrical corners make it fun to try to sit your canvas square on a horizontal easel, or hang it on a wall. (Read: no fun. Annoying.)

Step 12: now you can choose whether or not to trim the canvas away with a knife or scissor. I choose to. "Isn't it a bit awkward in those corners?" I hear you say? Yes it is, so just use your common sense and you won't wreck anything.

You might have a word with yourself about the overlap you budgeted for in Step 4 (previous post). You will have a feel now for whether 100mm is too much and how much you actually need to be able to stretch a canvas using your tools and technique. You learn and adjust this stuff over time.

And you're done! Again, pay no heed to the "round-the-world" corner tuck arrangement -- fold your corners so that the tucks are symmetrical / facing each other. Like this:

Step 13: now gesso the bastard. My rule of thumb is: three coats on the painting surface, two on the sides, and two on the back to seal. Use housepaint or some other sealant on the back if you don't want to waste gesso, which technically it is. Try to avoid getting gesso / housepaint / whatever all over the stretcher bars if you are concerned about things like that.

What's the gesso for? An acid free acrylic ground / primer, it seals and protects the canvas, creating a good surface for the paint to adhere to. The paint is absorbed into the gesso primer, not the canvas fibres.

Finally: yellow acrylic over the gesso on the painting surface, for additional luminosity and chromatic fun-n-games.

Cool. I hope this was useful. As I mentioned earlier, plead in the comments if you want a tutorial on doing the canvas corners.