Watercolor painters are always looking for a new surface to paint on. While there are many great watercolor papers available, there is a certain appeal to painting on canvas. Using watercolors on a standard canvas used for oils and acrylic paints is not going to work well and that is why watercolor canvas was invented.
Will watercolor adhere to a canvas?
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I’ve had some questions about the attaching of watercolor paper to canvas….so here is the kinda sorta way to do it. Let me know if any of you come up with anything different, quicker, easier….THANKS!! This is a Demo thread only, you may add comments to the original thread here.
[FONT=”Comic Sans MS”]C&C welcomed ALWAYS. Valri
www.valriary.com
October 16, 2008 at 8:03 am #1106317
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Attaching Watercolor Paper to Canvas (WITH PHOTOS) You will need:
any white glue that dries clear
spray bottle with water
a mixing bowl (old large yogurt container)
clear coat spray
UV varnish
large plastic bag or drop sheet
a dry painting
a canvas slightly larger than your dried painting 
painting and canvas 
some of the items needed for this project After your painting is dry you must spray it with a clear coat. You can buy this at any art store or home supply store. Some are UV, some are low odor. I go for the low odor. Spray it and let it dry. Iron you painting on the wrong side as flat as you can get it. Paint your canvas using acrylic paint. Let it dry. 
I never paint the entire canvas as that would be a waste of paint. I always sign the canvas again and then once the painting is overtop you can hold the whole thing up to the light and see you signature again. Plus of course, sign your paper as well. Using a white pencil that will rub off easily (the watercolor pencils work great for this) Mark the canvas as to where the corners of your painting will line up. I hand tear the edges of my painting so it doesn’t have to be 100% exact in the end or it will drive you nutty when it is off a bit!! Mix some glue in the container with some water. Not too watery though as you need to have some glue to make it all stick. But if you use the glue straight up it will dry too fast and you won’t have time to adjust it as you go.
Pour the glue onto the canvas in the area you will attach your painting. 
Using your spray bottle soak the back of the painting.
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Now comes the scary part! Put the painting on the canvas keeping your hands as clean as possible. Press out the air bubbles and there will be alot of them. Remember the paper has stretched some because it is wet but it will dry and spring back. The canvas is wet now too and it will become stretched as well.
Lay it down so it is lined up with the white chalk marks you made 
If you have gotten any glue outside of the assigned area for the painting make sure you wipe it off before it dries. You can always touch up the canvas a bit if some seeps out. I almost always use black gesso for my canvas as it seems to be the most hardy to deal with this kind of treatment. But that is not to say I haven’t done colors and swirls of regular acrylic paint. 
Using your ‘really dry and really clean’ hands press down the paper to get out the air bubbles MAKE SURE you pay close attention to the edges of your painting as it will start to dry quickly. Put rocks or bottles or something with a bit of weight on the edges to hold them down while you get the air bubbles out.
WALK AWAY for about an hour….really you have to at this point to let it dry a bit. Put down a sheet of plastic and then turn the painting over and work the back of the canvas pressing your hand on the painting and canvas to make sure the bubbles have flattened.
I put my website and sign the back of the canvas again at this point using a sharpie Put some heavy books or tiles on it so that there is a constant pressure on there. WALK AWAY for another hour or so. **I do this all just before bed so I can not fret too much about it. It is like babysitting and I try to save up a bunch of paintings to do this all at once. Once it is all dry you will be amazed at the bubbles you couldn’t get out will be GONE! The paper will have shrunk and the canvas will have sprung back as well and magically they will have stuck together. Try this on some smaller canvas’s to get the hang of it. I have never had this fail although along the way it seems like every single one of them will. The thinner the wc paper you use the better it sticks BUT in saying that then the lesser of a painting it is….for me the thicker the paper the better the colors are.
SO…once all is stuck, I spray the painting again with clear coat and let it dry. Using some UV varnish and a little water I gently brush it on. Make sure you are in good light to cover the entire surface. You can do 2 coats if you like. Letting it dry completely between coats.
And that’s it! Hope you have fun doing this and let me know if you have any questions…..just shoot me a PM!
What is Watercolor Canvas?
Watercolor canvas is a recent addition to the surface options available to painters. Unlike standard canvas, this has been primed with a special formula that allows the canvas to be more absorbent and accept water-based paints.
As with anything, there are advantages and disadvantages to a watercolor canvas. Even experienced watercolor painters will find that they need to develop and employ a few different watercolor techniques.
The Advantages of Watercolor Canvas
The many textured watercolor papers available are great, but they don’t have the exact look and feel of canvas. The papers can also tear easily if you’re an aggressive painter, accidentally get a spot too wet, or work it too much.
Canvas, on the other hand, is more durable and less likely to tear or rip while painting. It allows the artists greater freedom and less fear of damage.
There are some great advantages to using watercolor canvas:
- The paint can be lifted off very easily. You can even ‘wash’ the paint off a watercolor canvas completely and start again.
- Watercolor canvas will cope with harsher treatment than paper.
- Watercolor canvas stays wetter longer than a sheet of paper would. This leaves the paint workable for a longer period of time and does have its advantages for blending.
You will also find that it is easier to display a canvas than watercolor paintings on paper. If properly finished with a protective spray, a watercolor on canvas can be hung directly on the wall and no frame is needed.
Manufacturers like Fredrix offer a variety of watercolor canvas options, including stretched and roll canvas as well as canvas boards and pads.
The Disadvantages of Watercolor Canvas
Painting on canvas is a different experience than paper, no matter which medium you choose. Yet, watercolor paints come with their own set of challenges which painters will need to work around.
At the root of all of these issues is the fact that canvas is not as absorbent as paper; watercolor needs to be absorbed into the surface. That is why the special coating was developed for watercolor canvas.
Nothing is perfect and watercolor artists need to compensate for a number of problems:
- It is difficult to move paint around the canvas without ‘lifting’ the previous layer of paint. The fix: You will need to ‘fix’ a layer of paint with a clear acrylic medium and allow it to dry completely.
- Watercolor paint can pool on the canvas because it is not properly absorbed. The fix: Do some testing with your paint and use less water than you may use on paper.
- The paint does not stick to the canvas, even after an acrylic medium had been sprayed on it. The fix: This seems to be the greatest problem and a lot of trial and error is necessary to get it working for you.
If you are considering the switch to the canvas, it would be best to do a test painting before you put any great effort into a ‘real’ painting. Use this to experiment with brush strokes and paint concentration and to test the watercolor’s ability to wash off as well as your best approach to layering and blending paints.
When you’re done with your tests, be sure to try out an acrylic spray varnish or medium until you get the protection needed. It is very important that the protective coating is sprayed on (not brushed) because the brush will likely pull off and smear your watercolors.
