Tips About Selling Your Canvas Paintings

Canvas paintings are one of history greatest art forms. It is a great hobby and it can also make you a bit or a lot of money if you have the talent and determination. Although most canvas painters do not have the know-how on selling their paintings so here is a simple article guide to anyone who is wanting to understand and make it in the canvas market.

Step 1. Firstly since you can not be carrying your paintings around with you while looking for the right buyers, a suggestion of taking a couple of photographs of your work can be ideal to carry with you at all times. This move will show that you are serious about selling your art work.

Step 2. There are many craft selling websites on the internet today. Creating an account with one of these websites and posting the photos of your work could lead to selling directly to an interested buyer. Or another proposal may also arise where you may have customers getting in touch with you about doing commission work for them. If this avenue arises your name will surely start getting on the up and up.

Step 3. Visiting local stores, for example, like coffee houses, restaurants, bars or hotels mainly where paintings are hung from the walls can open an avenue of interested people. And depending on what the theme of your art work is you may just find a curious buyer that will want your work. Some business owners also get excited about having local original pieces for work and are ongoing buyers.

Step 4. If you are unsuccessful on selling anything through local business or on the website, donating some of your work to charity or to hospitals, doctors surgeries, etc, where there are a lot of people that move through that particular place. This will, in turn, be free advertising and it will promote your art work for you, free of charge. Many people like to look at a nice art pictures especially when sick, it make them feel better.

Step 5. Competitions are a great source of advertising, although you may have to paid an entry fee, if selected for the finals or even if you are selected the overall winner, this will help boost your artistic profile and may just help you sell your paintings to a larger audience.

Step 6. Taking your art work to local shows and exhibitions can also boost your profile and popularity. Showing your work around the local districts can give you the exposure of your talents to the public. Most times than enough art buyers are on the lookout for new and upcoming artists.

All in all canvas paintings are a great addition to any house, business or even just for self indulgence. A canvas painting done right can make a room light up and make someones day. So if you are serious about selling your art work, follow the steps above and you will be well on your way to becoming a sought out professional artist.

Canvas Painting For Beginners: How To Prime A New Canvas

Beginner artists must learn how to prime a new canvas before even a drop of paint is applied. This process neutralizes the material’s natural tan hue so that it does not undesirably alter the overall coloring of the final painting. Priming also serves to create an even look to the final painting by making the surface smooth and non-porous. Here are simple instructions and tips for learning how to prime a canvas.

The Materials and Tools Needed For Priming a Canvas

1. Gesso – is a thick white liquid canvas primer that can be found at art supply stores. While there are other primers that are clear or color tinted, the white variety of Gesso, as described in this article, is the most common.

2. Paint Stirrer – used to thoroughly mix water or some other thinning agent with Gesso.

3. Plastic Container – this needs to be large enough to allow room to add a thinning agent if desired.

4. Gesso Application Brush – this brush has nylon bristles that can be easily washed with soap and water when finished.

5. Thinning agent and water are used to make the Gesso spread more easily and produce a smoother surface than would be possible using it straight out of the bottle.

6. Fine Sandpaper and a soft cloth – this is to be used to sand a dry, hardened layer of primer on the canvas before applying the next layer. The dampened soft cloth is used to remove the sanding dust before applying another layer of primer.

Instructions For Priming a Canvas

Tip: It is important to note that the Gesso formula commonly used today behaves in a similar way to fast drying water soluble acrylic paint. When Gesso dries it is no longer water soluble. This means that you need to keep your brush damp with water to prevent the primer from sticking to the brush as it dries. Also do not dump excess primer down the sink’s drain because when it dries in the trap it can produce a serious clog. Paint fast and clean your brush immediately after and you should not have much trouble.

Dilute the Gesso -  For a relatively rough texture apply only one coat of undiluted Gesso right out of the bottle. For a smoother finish apply two thin coats of slightly diluted primer to the canvas.

Water is usually used to thin the primer. The ideal ratio of Gesso to water mix should be indicated on the bottle label. Too much water can cause the primer to crack on the canvas when dry. It is possible to use a 3-way mixture of water, Gesso and a special medium that prevents cracking. Ask at a local art store for recommendations.

Tip: To prevent contamination, never dilute the Gesso in its original bottle or pour unused primer back in the bottle. For the same reason do not dip the paint brush directly into the Gesso factory container. Instead pour only what you will need for one canvas into a separate plastic mixing container. Throw away what you do not use instead of returning it to the bottle.

Brush Pattern: The first coat should be painted with left to right parallel brush strokes. The second coat should be brushed from top to bottom.

Sand after the first coat: sand the canvas with very fine sandpaper after the first coat of Gesso has dried for an hour or so. This is then followed by wiping off the fine sanding dust with a slightly damp soft cloth before applying the next coat.

Drying Time: Depending on the humidity levels in the studio, let the first coat dry at least an hour or two. The second or final coat should be allowed to dry for 24 hours before beginning the painting. Always let the canvas dry while laying flat to prevent the wet Gesso from running.

Preparing a canvas to last for many years requires special priming techniques like adding a dilute formaldehyde solution to the back of the canvas to prevent bacterial decay. It is interesting to note that some of the old Masters would actually let a primed canvas stabilize for 6 months to a year before adding paint. However, these advanced techniques for learning to prime a new canvas are beyond the scope of this article.