Learn how to gesso a canvas directly on the wall. Everything you need to know about preparing a painting support directly on any wall, a versatile way to invigorate your art-making practice. While it may seem unconventional, this technique is used by artists from beginner to professional. When done correctly, your canvas can be stretched around a traditional wooden support for display.

Artists in this video:

Jace Lee
https://www.jaceleeart.com/

Brandon Secrest
https://www.thefullstudio.com/
http://www.sdsufurniture.org/brandon-...

Meg lubey
https://www.meganlubeyart.com/

Bonnie Mccormick
https://www.bonniemccormicksgallery.com/

Amani Williams
https://www.amanifrwilliams.com/

Jamie Brinker
  / omg.it.jb  






This video tutorial delves into an innovative approach to preparing a canvas for painting, bypassing the traditional method of using a wooden stretcher. It presents a technique where the canvas is directly gessoed onto a wall, offering a practical solution for artists seeking flexibility or looking to dive into their work without the constraints of preparing a traditional support structure. This method not only accommodates immediate artistic impulses but also caters to those interested in conducting experiments, trying new techniques, or producing quick studies without the mental pressure associated with the more labor-intensive preparation of canvases.

Key Highlights:

Unconventional Preparation: The tutorial emphasizes an alternative canvas preparation method, highlighting the application of gesso directly to canvas secured to a wall. This technique is ideal for artists without access to or the desire to use traditional stretchers, enabling immediate commencement of painting projects.
Flexibility and Mobility: It showcases how planning the dimensions of the artwork beforehand allows for later stretching onto a frame, ensuring professional alignment and presentation. This method proves beneficial for artworks that require mobility during their creation or before their final placement.
Psychological Ease: By eliminating the preparatory steps associated with traditional canvas stretching, artists can alleviate the mental pressure and high expectations that often accompany the investment of time and resources into canvas preparation, fostering a more relaxed and experimental creative process.
Practical Application: The video provides a step-by-step guide on securing the canvas to the wall using push pins or staples, emphasizing the importance of even spacing to prevent buckling once the gesso is applied. The application of gesso is discussed in detail, explaining its dual purpose: to create a non-absorbent barrier suitable for both acrylic and oil paints and to tighten the canvas, ensuring a taut, durable painting surface.
Professional Finishing Tips: Advice on demarcating a painting area with tape to facilitate future stretching and achieving clean edges is shared, alongside the recommendation to maintain the tape until the painting is complete for crisp, clean edges upon removal.

This innovative approach not only simplifies the initial steps of canvas preparation but also opens up new possibilities for artistic expression and presentation, including unconventional hanging techniques like the use of grommets.