Repaintable canvas

Post Reply New Topic

I have a bad case of being a perfectionist when I do art, so I've been wanting to get a medium canvas I could repaint and modify ad infinitum as a hobby. I don't know where to start though, since I haven't painted since high school.

What should I use for canvas?

What paint(s)/media can/should I use?

What are the cheapest materials I could use for this?

As somebody who plays with graphic art a lot I do a good deal of work on plain paper and scan it into Photoshop. Then I can print out extensive copies and modify them and rescan the modifications ad infinitum. You can then retain all modifications in file and rework or combine them any way you want. I have worked in other mediums but this is the most flexible. It permits reworking in all mediums before rescanning and Photoshop itself permits all sorts of distortions of form, line and color that can be kept on file for reference. I have never had any formal training in Photoshop but mere adventurous exploration of the software gives easy rewards.

Oh, that's a good idea! Thanks!

What paper could I use that would be good for printing and painting on?

I use the cheapest copy paper for experimental work and sketching but when I work with wet medium or wet the paper when trying to spread inks or watercolor to get interesting patterns to then work on further somewhat thicker thin cardboard works OK. When this is scanned and saved in file it can be printed out on either cheap copy paper or on glossy photo print paper which is more expensive. But when the special photopaper is used the printer prints out much better colors. Also the hue and intensity controls on the drop down menu in Photoshop under Image/adjustment let you do very interesting things to play with different variations. Also you can change the size of the work under Image/image size and copy it to a new page and increase the white area under Image/canvas size and then make additions or duplicate the pattern. Under Image/rotate you can manipulate the imge and combine copies in all sorts of ways. Final printouts are best on photopaper to get the best color. Color printers vary in the quality of colors and the ink cartridges are the most expensive part of the problem as the printer companies underprice their printers and make their money on the cartridges. Canon printers have cartridges that can be refilled but the substitute inks can sometimes give real problems with glopping up the printer so you should be careful. You can also print on transparent plastic sheets and make light boxes with several transparent sheets in separated layers for interesting effects. You can also copy bits of photographs and copy them into your work so there are many interesting things to play with. If you want to do very large original work you can photograph it with a digital camera and feed it into Photoshop and resize it to fit into your other work. And you can put photos of yourself or friends or pets etc. into your work. All work must be resized for printout so it fits on the paper but you can keep an original size on file in the computer as cutting the size fiddles with the pixel size.

Thank you for the tips! This will definitely be far more interesting than I initially expected.

This paper is looking right up my alley, but oh so expensive...
http://www.inkjetart.com/cart/illuminat ... _1162.html

www.ratemydrawings.com <--- if you're able to draw online (with a mouse or tablet), this site's very good.