What kind of painting support should I use?
When you are first starting to explore oil or acrylic painting, and continue to improve and create better quality artwork, one of the major decisions you have to make is what support to use for your painting. The old masters could only paint on stretched canvas or wet plaster, but we now how many more choices. You can go with the traditional pre-stretched canvas or linen on wooden frames, or you may prefer to paint on canvas or linen that is glued to a panel. Another traditional approach is hardboard coated with many layers of gesso (the old masters used oak, but modern panels are made from birch or mahogany plywood, or even hardboard. See our “How to” section for learning how to create your own pre-stretched canvases or gessoed panels.
The following table should help you decide what to use at different stages of your career.
| For . . . | Use . . . | |
| Sketches, studies, or practice pieces that are not for sale. |
inexpensive |
|
| more expensive |
|
|
| Work for sale | inexpensive |
|
| more expensive |
|
|
| Work for sale in high end galleries |
|
|