The Many Uses Of Canvas

Artists have been using canvas as the quintessential surface for painting since at least 1410, which is the date of one of the earliest surviving oil paintings on canvas (a French Madonna with angels that is housed in a Berlin gallery). However, fewer people are aware of the many other uses of canvas, including use as material for sails, canoes, and tents or the other artistic uses such as photo printing, business cards, etc.

Modern canvas is most often made of cotton and comes in two types: plain canvas and duck canvas. In duck canvas, threads are more tightly woven. Early canvas was made of linen, which is derived from the flax plant, not cotton. Since canvas is an extremely heavy-duty fabric, early boat makers utilized its strength in the making of sails. However, canvas has a tendency to stretch with wind pressure so modern sail makers use more advanced fabrics and synthetics.

Canvas is still used in the making of canoes. Wood and canvas canoes are made by stretching a water-proofed canvas shell over a wooden hull frame. These are derivatives of early birch bark canoes. Commercial wood and canvas canoes were originally developed in Maine and have seen a resurgence of popularity in recent years.

Because of its strength and durability, many older tents used canvas in their construction. Because cotton absorbs water, it can become very heavy when wet. But the swelling caused by the water closes minute holes, making wet canvas more waterproof than dry canvas. Often these tents were treated with paraffin to enhance their water resistance.

In recent years, canvas has been utilized in other artistic means besides oil painting. With the development of specialized digital printers, canvas can be used as a surface for the printing of photos or reproductions of original paintings. This process is usually referred to as Giclee.

After the photo or painting is printed on the canvas, it is trimmed and glued to stretcher bars. It can be displayed in a frame or as a gallery wrap, a print that is designed to wrap around the edges of the stretcher frame. This is often referred to as full-bleed print. This allows for a frameless finished product with an enhanced three-dimensional look.

Some artists use small pieces of stretched canvas to make miniature works of art to use as business or trading cards. Others use canvas as material for the printing of marquees and signs for advertisements. Canvas, though often thought of as nothing but a surface for an oil painting, has many uses thanks to its strength and durability.