Canvas Prints

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In my shop I offer 2 options for purchasing canvas prints: Handmade and Standard. You can learn about each option below to see which is the best fit for you.


Canvas (Handmade)

I make archival quality canvas prints of my paintings by hand in my studio. It’s common for most artists to outsource their canvas prints because of the skills, equipment, and amount of labour needed to produce them. I do that as well for my standard option. However, it’s also important to me to offer a truly artist made, no compromises, canvas print that I have complete quality-control of every detail from start to finish. 

Printing

The canvas I selected is a heavy-weight (370 gsm), poly-cotton blend on a 44” roll. It is acid- and lignin-free and meets the most exacting requirements for age resistance. It’s a natural white canvas that doesn’t use optical brighteners that fade over time, and has just the right texture. It represents colours vividly, has a rich depth of blacks, and reproduces details perfectly.

Building the Stretcher Frame

I build the wooden frames out of a 1.5" deep stretcher bars. This is what the print is stretched onto and supported by, like a canvas painting. The stretcher bars are cut, then secured with glue and screws, with addition of corner braces and cross bars for the larger sizes.

Varnishing

I varnish the print with three coats to seal in the image and protect it. I use an environmentally friendly water-based, clear, non-yellowing varnish with a satin finish. It is a protective coating specifically designed for inkjet media. It seals and protects from moisture, ozone, humidity and other atmospheric contaminants. 

Stretching

I line up the stretcher frame to the print’s crop marks. Using stretching pliers, I evenly stretch the canvas and staple it to the frame. The prints have a gallery wrap where the edge of the canvas completely covers the stretcher bars. The painting continues mirrored around the sides. This allows the print to be hung as is, without the need for framing. You can still have it framed if you want that look, but in my experience, most people hang it as is.  

Finishing Touches


The corners are tucked and secured, and finished with cushions that help the print stay connected evenly to the wall. I then install the hardware to attach the coated hanging wire. The final touch is penciling in the painting name and signing the back.


Canvas (Rolled) 

These are the same as my handmade canvas prints, except they ship rolled in a tube instead of being stretched around a stretcher frame. It’s a good way to get a large format canvas print, printed and signed by me if they need to be shipped internationally. And since they come with mirrored sides and crop marks, you can decide whether to have it stretched around a frame by a local framer or leave it flat and have it framed traditionally. 

Contact me directly if you are interested in ordering a canvas print that is rolled instead of stretched.

 

 


Canvas (Standard)

This canvas print option is printed by a professional printing company, not by me in my studio like my other offerings. I call them “standard” because this is how most artists offer their canvas prints, and I used this company for many years before I began large-format printing myself. To stay on top of quality control the selections are limited to my most tried and true paintings.

I like to offer these because they are a more economical option. I can pass on savings from the material costs and building time to you since I'm not constructing their stretcher frames, varnishing or stretching by hand like my handmade canvas prints. Additionally, since they are a large company, they get much lower shipping rates than I can. Which makes them great for US orders.

After setting up a print file for each painting, we go through a proofing process to make sure the colours and quality meet my standards. From there, each print is sent to you directly from the printing company.

See a collection of the paintings I offer as Canvas (Standard) here. 

Check out the Canvas Prints available in my online shop, or learn about my Fine Art Paper prints.