Canvas vs Panel - Linen vs Cotton - Which Surface is Best

In this video I discuss painting surfaces. Cotton vs linen, panel vs canvas.
For more about the paint that I use visit:
genevafineart.com
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If you would like to be the Featured Artist in one of my future videos, please email the following to [e-mail]
-images of 3 oil paintings
-recent photo of yourself
-short bio
-website or link to where people
can see more of your work

[@jeffreydelisle7337]

I’ve been a self-taught artist for 20 years. I’ve watched two of your videos so far I’ve learned about 10 things that I didn’t know before. Thank you very much much

[@j0nnyism]

Yea I’ve learned things I was never taught in art class either. He’s a great teacher

[@VillinousMatters]

Hello good sir, I came to your video actually looking for Java Programming insight on some components of the language that are also called Canvas and Panel... or JPanel rather. That being said, I wanted to say I stayed for the jazz, the illustrations, and excellent explanation of the subject in question (albeit with different context). Very fine demonstration. Good day.

[@dez3332]

Thanks for another great video. Love the solvent free paint, canvas stain, brush dip and ALL the great education on painting. I just got back into oil painting after over 10 yrs and used your vids to get me thru to retirement and 'painting time'! Painting solvent free is a god send.

[@eileenjohnston6835]

Please cover framing. Do you make your own frames or do you have them made for you? How do you decide on the style of frame?

[@lisengel2498]

Great info and very impressive paintings from the chosen artist in the end. I liked especially the beautifull illution of the tactile in the feathers of the bird and the rose petals - so beautifull

[@belindahugheslifestyle]

This is a topic I never gave much thought to. Thanks so much for sharing your opinions and experiences. It definitely helps me going forward as I'm about to place an order for fresh supplies.

[@justmusic530]

Thank you! You are confirming my choices just as my portrait linen is arriving!

[@RMB.Atelier]

Informative and interesting as always! I definitely get flicks of glare in my darks and I didn't realize it's because of the cotton canvas I have been using. Thank you!

[@isaiahjohns1877]

He forgot to mention that "the flecks" are also due to not enough paint on the canvas. If you apply your paint in a very thin manner, then you should probably think about using more paint. You will notice in a lot of professional work that some of the canvas texture will show through in some areas while other parts will be covered and no canvas texture will be detected. It's a preference, but typically it's something you should notice while your painting in that if you see the glare "flecks", you should use more paint in that area if it's drawing unwanted attention. Personally I like some of the support texture to show through but only in the areas that I choose. I also like to prepare my supports to be smoother than most canvases you'd buy in the store.

[@johnswaim3919]

Stay well Mark. And keep the awesome vids coming, please!

[@alexandrayakovleva1438]

Keep on sharing your knowledge, Mark! Thank you!

[@markchandler7089]

Thoughtful discussion from a working artist, very helpful. Nothing lasts forever but we can do things to help preserve a painting. I tend do work in small size for a variety of reasons. Reinforced, prepared panel works in that scale. Love the elegant little bird, its magic!

[@sandrajohnson2489]

I wondered why a couple of my paintings look shiny. Thanks for the information. Several years ago I did a couple of paintings on linen and really like it. It's a bit more expensive.

[@brettwalsh8679]

Thank you. I went to a store today intent on buying wooden panels purely for the durability I presumed they had. I was likewise advised about the actual fragility (unlike a canvas, if a panel drops or falls on a corner it's likely finished) and inability to repair or as you point out transfer. Linen it is :)

[@bludaizee24]

Those paintings are so beautiful. I could've watched an entire video just of her paintings!

[@heidil7092]

I have been painting on aluminum panels and find it to be pretty easy to control paint. The ship Queen Mary II has magnificent paintings done on aluminum.

[@FrenchToast663]

Copper is also great

[@taliaarte]

Love this guys advice. Always honest and educated👏👏👏

[@bonniekuhn1366]

Nice video - I love your critique at the end.

[@zippyarnold399]

Quality content as always. Very eye opening information.

[@scotts6702]

Great info. Raymar panels are so well made, look them up. just excellent durable surfaces.

[@KathyBrooksArt]

Such a helpful video presentation, Thanks so much!

[@bouchraelazhar6318]

I love your art. Bravo

[@neosapienz7885]

This is so,incredibly helpful. Thank you.

[@ScottMiller-qv3lj]

Thank you for great info here. Some photographers call the white flicks specular highlights.

[@jay-by1se]

I’m a retired aerospace material scientist, who also loves to paint. I’ve been doing a ton of research into why we use canvas still as it didn’t make a lot of sense to me this video video. I felt perfectly encapsulates why. All very reasonable and good reasons. From a longevity point of view, aluminum and epoxy are going to outlast any other material. I’ve been just using epoxy and plaster to make an epoxy gesso that I cut everything in and then sand at 60 to create a Huge tooth. In 200 years, this material will not have aged a day.

[@amieinnovascotia8490]

I use book binding glue to attach linen to thin plywood or Masonite that has been treated with GAC 100. After the glue sets, I’ve been priming with acrylic gesso and it’s ready to use. Been painting with both acrylic and oils. Please let me know what you think. So far it seems to be working out. So far...

[@pg6318]

Thanks Mark. Great info - I still miss TCM website of old...and everything everyone achieved then, Peter

[@missluna]

Thank you for sharing this!!!

[@a-gogo5275]

Thank you for your kind words. God bless us all.

[@dez3332]

Do you do anything special to the Centurion linen canvas to add 'tooth' to the surface before staining? The last one I painted seemed not to be holding the paint as it should. Thx.

[@atbashmara]

Since i do not want to use any plastics in my works i cook my own traditional gesso and use it for every surface i'm painting on and then paint with egg tempera or oil colors.

[@lydieferrand6598]

Very interesting, thanks !

[@user-li1fb7hy8q]

What a great master, thank you

[@MrSilva960]

With the Gesso acrylic to cover all canvas, is one of my way to paint, if i don`t find linen, even in cotton.

[@j0nnyism]

Fantastic portrayal of the feathers. That’s not easy. Birds portraits are extremely popular

[@KpxUrz5745]

A small note on market value. In the art sales and art auction arena, there appears to be a premium placed on paintings on stretched canvas, as opposed to on flat panels.

[@vicwahbyphotography4866]

I'm interested. Is there a study on this? Otherwise, how have you concluded this is the case? Thank you!

[@KpxUrz5745]

@@vicwahbyphotography4866 In part I have concluded this because I placed a very nice early American landscape painting in an auction at Christie's. They assessed a certain value on it based on photographs and identification of the artist. I made an expensive trip to NYC to hand-deliver the painting. Once in their possession for inspection, they reassessed it at only one-third of the earlier value, and their stated reason had nothing to do with the quality of the painting, but purely based on their statement that it was a painting on "artist's board" rather than stretched canvas.

[@vicwahbyphotography4866]

@@KpxUrz5745 Wow. Thank you for that information. Very interesting!

[@crimsonred2009]

What brand of acrylic primer can you recommend? Or can you use any type of household primer?

[@nidaljabarin4743]

Thank you very much, but before I paint (egg tempera) much better to stick very fine linen on plywood, and make gesso on the canvas when stuck on the plywood? Which linen is the best I need by weight or thickness?

[@genreartwithjb5095]

I send my students this video. I did a book cover using a smooth MDF4 Board and while I loved the modulation of the edges I noticed in subsequent painting I did where the surface didn’t really have a tooth I had issues building up the color. For the last few years I have left a little bit of a tooth on my board

[@rachelsremedies2602]

i have learn from you that i feel i can paint anything, even though i'm not into realistic paintings.,

[@JustinAnville]

Mark, how do you feel about primed dibond (aluminum) panels?

[@barrybark3995]

Have u ever painted on Correx? ie. plastic signboard material? i stumbled into using this and enjoy it

[@Thedisgustingbeauty]

I like raw birch panels. I don't like primed mdf it gets too smooth.

[@SugarHue]

Hey new to the channel, love the content so far! Just wanted to share my extreme dislike of speedball gessoed boards. It says it’s ok for oil but it’s terrible! Anyone have success with these?

[@johnbloom1109]

The problem with acrylic is that it is a new material that has not stood the test of time and it is too flexible. So flexible to the point where it will allow the substrate (the canvas) to flex more than the oil paint film which can be problematic. Hide glue is very rigid like glass and is less flexible than oil paint so it helps to protect the paint that is bound onto it.

[@JohnKramer-artist]

What are your thoughts on Dibond? Big fan.

[@AdamBraus]

Oil primer seems pretty slick. Is there a risk for delamination there?

[@GrumpyYank26]

Have you ever painted on oil paper (Arches). I have been liking it but I don't actually know if it's a good idea to use.

[@mariospapadoniou7086]

Regarding panels, can't you shellac the entire panel to prevent the panel from absorbing moisture, thus preventing expansion and contraction of the wood?

[@najmeh5707]

In one of your videos, you suggested a forum. Could you please write it here? Thanks.

[@jaysondrona2819]

Did you smoothen tha canvass after priming tru sandpaper?

[@jamiewall5081]

So is there a possibility that my studio lighting isn’t what’s wrong? I’ve worked tirelessly for the past 3 days trying to prevent glare and it’s STILL THERE! Would a cotton duck canvas cause that glare I’m experiencing and if so what else do I resolve to

[@Kdogpiper]

If you put 5 or 6 thin coats of gesso on cotton canvas, and sand between coats, would that make the surface less reflective, or is the cotton canvas just a hard pass?

[@roshandangol2364]

Can I paint thick oil on 8 oz linen canvas ? Will it hold the paint as canvas surface is very smooth.

[@youmarc11]

Acrylic Primed Linen Canvas - best canvas I ever used.

[@katiebecker8354]

Marc Tonzillo what brand do you use?

[@youmarc11]

@@katiebecker8354 Master Touch

[@ArthurDubinsky]

Ive heard that acrylic and oils don't actually bond properly and wont survive without a protein bonding agent

[@khaledfazl6850]

Can paint on any type of linen ? I know there belgium linen but what about other linens ?

[@victoriatataryn1542]

Hi, Thank you for your videos. My question is, I primed canvas with oil primer about 2 years ago. By some reason it was untouched for all this time, however, now I want to start painting on it. First what I see when I took it from storage, it’s yellowed a bit, like off white-creamy. Now I’m thinking, will it influence colors of painting I will do on this canvas? Another one, I did a charcoal sketch on it, now have a dilemma, how I can proceed? It’s a big size drawing which I don’t want to loose at beginning stage, as I took some time to develop it, how I can fix it on oil primed canvas? Or there is no way to do it? Will appreciate your reply. Thank you

[@j.laycraft2483]

Try putting the canvas in sunlight. Linseed oil can become yellow when not exposed to sunlight. When this happens with finished paintings that have yellowed, the fix is to expose it to sunlight so hopefully this will help the primer as well.

[@jorey4565]

I will do oil paint on cave like caveman of Lascaux,this wil be the better way to preserve paintings !

[@johncowburn4444]

What about canvas glued to a wood panel?

[@annsalty5615]

You are better off with not buying pre primed canvas glued to a panel. Avoid avoid. Better to RSG size linen onto a panel and then prime it.

[@77eternalsunshine]

​@@annsalty5615what is RSG?

[@j0nnyism]

I find as long as you varnish the deep valleys surface you don’t have those problems. Acrylic primers seem to be more absorbent than oil

[@ElianaLemosArt]

I was hoping to mount my primed linen canvas to a panel but just recently I saw an MDF panel stored in my studio (garage) completely rot by green and black mold in just a few weeks.. it was truly scary to find it in that level of deterioration as I've just moved to a very humid region. I wonder how should I prime the back of my MDF panels, in order to prevent all my future work from deteriorating? 😪

[@artaddict2313]

your studio shouldnt be in your garage for starters. garages get too hot/cold depending on the season. but you can use PVA sizing.

[@Gyork_]

THanks for the video. on the "ISSUE" side boy oh boy I remember this time last year, that attitude didn't last long sadly..

[@jrob8624]

The Mona Lisa was painted on a poplar panel. It seems to be doing OK.

[@vaderetro264]

tubetardism 20/20 What he means is also the Colosseum is in good shape for its age.

[@isaiahjohns1877]

The biggest issue is going to be how you prepare your surface, and how you seal your panels. He's absolutely right in that the biggest issue is going to be moisture. If the poplar panel was prepared in such a way that it reduces moisture from getting to the bare support (unsealed canvas, wood panel, etc) then all should be well for many years to come...given the owner of the painting has great connections to professional restoration as is true with the Mona Lisa ;-)

[@Thedisgustingbeauty]

Don't buy mona lisa panels from speed ball. I had to fight to get paint to stick. Sand paper or steel wool can fix that though.

[@petetube99]

The Mona Lisa is in good condition, but the poplar panel is slightly warped and and has a crack in the top centre. The crack was stabilised with, wait for it, canvas.

[@arcanics1971]

I like a rigid surface, smooth but with enough tooth to grip the paint. Canvas panels are cool, but I prefer a well primed mdf or an ACM panel. It's not that I don't like linen- I really do, but I am not good at making my own canvas frames and buying pre-stretched of a decent quality is beyond my budget. If I could afford to choose, I would use a good linen on a panel. I use both an oil/alkyd primer and acrylic (not at the same time.) Jacqui's paintings are astounding.

[@jaysondrona2819]

how to become featured artist in your videos

[@tylerclark3045]

I like to paint on stretched split veg tanned leather.

[@astridtermaat3854]

The Mona Lisa from Da Vinci is painted on a wooden panel ☺️ Poplar wood

[@j0nnyism]

Many medieval works were painted on wooden panels which have caused a lot of problems for conservationists. It’s not an ideal surface

[@BackyardTattoo]

I use linen but I got those tiny glares you are talking about 😐

[@ArthurDubinsky]

use a oil base primer, its thick and will take care of that. Takes forever to dry though

[@jinxmas]

The larger of the white flowers are peonies.

[@yematosan8837]

I have no any canvas 😢

[@JWC-iw9um]

I have a colleague who is a sports coach who has lived in China for a number of years. He came home in December because of the Coronavirus but returned to China on Saturday. I asked him this morning what the situation is on the ground. The following is his reply: - Hi John, yes I’m back in my flat, although I’ve got to stay inside for 10 days which is a pain. It’s slowly looks like it been getting back to normal, metros are busy, restaurants are starting to get busier from what I’ve heard so I think within two weeks will be pretty much back to normal once the schools go back.

[@lunjiahu5159]

I am using masonite primed with rustoleum, I am probably doomed

[@Expressionistix]

Lunjia H It will last longer than the morons that make their own rabbit skin glue and prime expensive linen and then coat it with lead primer. I’ve seen videos of conservators that have to scrape that rabbit skin glue crap off because it always fails.

[@margaritahope4604]

Lunjia H I am doing the same thing. This type of panel was recommended by Stefan Baumann, PBS artist. The painting I just painted turned out beautifully but it was quite hard as the surface was so smooth.

[@Chamomile369]

Do you paint directly on the Masonite or do you glue canvas to it?

[@lizaalbalady8536]

It is possible to add Arabic subtitles to the video

[@A7Self]

Do you know pigments that are non toxic at all? I want to make my own paint with a glass slab and glass muler etc but can't find any suitable pigments. I have linseed oil and pigments from sennelier and Gamblin. But I am searching in nature for pigments. I live in Chile were we have a lot of blue pigment in the raw form of lapis lazuli but it is really hard to process. I am looking for brown tones in sediment, leaves and rocks but have no idea what I have to look for here. Kind Regards Alexander

[@bigdaveuk97]

Linen is unaffordable unless you're on commission. Even cotton canvases are incredibly expensive for practising.

[@chrisgriffith1573]

The new composites (for plywood panels) are only as good as their binders, (glues, epoxies, urethanes, whatever they use to hold them together) and if you do not know and understand their influences, (how they might be affecting the primer, or how to seal them with no adverse effects to either the primer or the glue OR materials of the composites) then you will not have any chance of knowing if your piece is safe over the long term... Many manufacturers have no clue about how long their product will last, they are making these products to out last that of regular wood products, and beyond a 7 year period, there are no guarantees.

[@profhannigan]

Is this video aimed at professional artists? It seems that way. If you're learning to paint linen is great if you're rich. I don't care if my paintings crack in five years time - they are my learning surfaces, I feel like they're disposable and that feeling actually helps me to paint more freely. A $50 linen canvas would seem intimidating and restrictive to me.

[@1974gladiateur]

We needed this epidemic to shock the planet and make them realize that we can’t take everything for granted.

[@marktwain2053]

I'm sure the Europeans thought the same about the Bubonic Plague 🙄

[@katehobbs2008]

I really appreciate your helpful blogs, thank you very much. Can I just say, you repeat a fair bit and are a bit wordy, for me, in this one, it makes it a little hard to watch. I found myself mini-fast-forwarding to the gems of wisdom.

[@byronbuchanan3066]

Proper panels last much longer than canvas.

[@PanzerMeyer]

It is Conservator, not Conservationist. That is a pet peeve of those in the field of art and objects conservation.

[@fanyart6799]

👏👏👏🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨👏👏👏👏💥💥💥💥

[@DrWhom]

done a fantastic job of not doing it

[@israeldiegoriveragenius2th164]

Photo painting, not art

[@parthsavyasachi9348]

let me guess, you are brainwashed by your art teacher? Whatever be the reason, its very subjective so if you do not think its art then do not paint from photos. Don't lecture others but.

[@psychiccrocodile3679]

Lol not everyones Kim Jung gi

[@eileenjohnston6835]

Oh puleeeez! (sigh!...with eye roll)

[@arcanics1971]

Opinions vary. Nobody gets to tell others what art is or is not. Your opinion is valid, but it isn't objective fact. And nor is mine. Personally I avoid any kind of rule that limits what I can or should do. Some people won't use black, others love to; some discount some varieties of art, others don't. I hope you enjoy what you do, but don't tell others that their things is not valid. It doesn't reflect well on you and that's probably unfair.

[@painterlybrushes4035]

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's not art

[@gibsonflyingv2820]

Not to be that guy, but why do you keep calling different binders for pigment and dye "primers" Those aren't primers... primer is an adhesive resin that makes paint stick to surface better. What you're referring to are binding mediums, the thing that carries pigment.