What is Canvas actually? How is it used?
What is Canvas?
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making tents, Marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. Artists also popularly use it as a painting or printing surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame. It is also used in such fashion objects as handbags, electronic device cases and shoes.
Origins of Canvas
The word canvas is derived from the 13th century Anglo-French (canevaz) and the French canevas. Both may be derivatives of the Vulgar Latin (cannapaceus) for "made of hemp," originating from the Greek (κάνναβις)
Early canvas was made of linen, a sturdy brownish fabric of considerable strength. Linen is particularly suitable for the use of oil paint. In the early 20th century, cotton canvas, often referred to as "cotton duck," came into use. Linen is composed of higher quality material and remains popular with many professional artists, especially those who work with oil paint. Cotton duck, which stretches more fully and has an even, mechanical weave, offers a more economical alternative. The advent of acrylic paint has greatly increased the popularity and use of cotton duck canvas. Linen and cotton derive from two entirely different plants, the flax plant and the cotton plant.
How Is Canvas Used
Canvas has become the most common support medium for oil painting, replacing wooden panels. One of the earliest surviving oils on canvas is a French Madonna with angels from around 1410 in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin. However, panel painting remained more common until the 16th century in Italy and the 17th century in Northern Europe. Mantegna and Venetian artists were among those leading the change; Venetian sail canvas was readily available and regarded as the best quality.
A canvas print is the result of an image printed onto canvas which is stretched, or gallery-wrapped, onto a frame and displayed. Canvas prints are often used in interior design, with stock images, or customized with personal photographs. Canvas prints are intended to reproduce the look of original oil or acrylic paintings on stretched canvas.
Different Types Of Canvas
1· Dyed canvas
2· Printed canvas
3· Stripe canvas
4· Waterproof canvas
5· Waxed canvas
Canvas These Days!!!
Reproductions of original artwork have been printed on canvas for many decades using offset printing. Since the 1990s, canvas print has been associated with either dye sublimation or inkjet print processes (often referred to as epigraph or giclée respectively). The canvas print material is generally cotton often used for the reproduction of photographic images.
Modern large format printers are capable of printing onto canvas rolls measuring 1.5 meters (49.5) or more. The Epson stylus Pro 9900 is capable of printing directly onto canvas. Printer such as this allow artists and photographers to print their works directly onto canvas media, with slow print speed settings available to ensure print quality is not diminished. Printed canvas for wall art is generally of a weight around 400 gsm and should be 100% pure white cotton for a more exact color representation. The life of the print is more than 50 plus years. The ink used in this printer is Ultra Chrome HDR inks and it reproduces wide gamut of colors.
