Canvas Prep: The First Step in Your Painting Process

1. Canvas Prep: Introduction: Before you start painting, let me ask you this. Have you ever felt when you started on a canvas that the paint wasn't really behaving the way that you wanted it to behave? That's where prepping makes all the difference. Hi, I'm Anna Berns Vanune I'm an artist. I'm a professional mess makeker and I'm an online art teacher. It's my mission to make art more fun, playful, and accessible for anyone. I actually love this topic because prepping isn't just about protecting the surface. It's also about giving you the best possible start of your creative process. And be practical but fun at the same time. By the end of this class, you will know different ways to prep your canvas, more traditional ones, like gesso, or the more playful ones, for example, with collage or reusing a canvas, you will know that the way you prep your canvas can actually influence not only artwork, but also the way you experience the whole art process. This class is for anyone who wants to let their artwork shine brighter than before. When you're beginning, have never prepped a canvas. Or when you're more experienced and you want to learn more creative ways or alternative ways for you to get started on a painting. For this class project, I would love it if you would share your prep process. This could be your step by step routine. It could be your favorite materials, your best prepping tips, or just a photo of your finished prep work. This is a way to get each other inspired and learn from each other. I can't wait to see how you bring your canvas alive even before your first pain stroke. So grab your materials and let's get started. 2. Why prep: Can we just start painting instead of prepping? Yes, you can. Of course you can. But here's why I really recommend you that you prep your canvas. First of all, it gets more sturdy and is less likely to work. Second of all, it's more economical. Because there's a lot of suction into this canvas, it really would suck your paint in, and then you have to keep on adding a lot of paint to get exactly the same result when you prep. So it's more economical when you prep your canvas first, then when you start painting and slapping your paints on. The paint will adhere better on your canvas and your colors would look more vibrant when you really take the time to prep your canvas. You get control of how much texture, how much smoothness you actually want on your finished painting. A blank canvas can really feel daunting. When you prep it, give it a color or putting large materials underneath, for some people, it's much easier to start. Prepping your canvas is a great way to get into the flow of your painting. Actually, prepping is the first step you're already getting to know your canvas, what it feels like, what you're going to make. You're getting into the flow, you're getting into the painting. Prepping isn't always about protection? Prepping is also a part of the creative process. So when you start layering, when you start adding texture, maybe you start adding colors. This is where the fun starts. This way can get loose and creative. Here's a fun fact. Actually, prepping isn't just to get started with your creative process. Prepping is a part of your creative process. You can get creative with the first layer of your painting. You can have fun with textures. You can have fun with collage and with colors is not only how it's going to look, but also how the process is going to feel. You will always see this in your end result. When you think prepping is just a practical first step, yes, it is, but it's also a fun and creative part of your creative journey. 3. Prep Materials: Let's check our materials. First of all, we are going to use a canvas. I'm using a pre stretched canvas. You could stretch it your own, but prestretch is for this course because it's a basic course, easiest to do. Use this size is A four size because it's handy on camera, but you can use any size smaller or larger. It doesn't matter, it's about how we're going to prep the canvas. First of all, we're going to prep the canvas at the back of the canvas and at the back of the canvas, we're going to use those wooden sticks, and they usually come with the canvas itself. You don't have to bid them separately. They come with your canvas. When we're working on the back of the canvas, we're not only going to use wooden sticks, we're also going to use some acrylic binder and some water. If you don't have acrylic binder, you could use a diluted PVA glue as well. Because it's just a back, it's fine. It's just to let the canvas absorb the moisture and then seal it off. You can do it with a PVA glue as well. Then we are going to use some gesso. This is a container. I'm using this brand, but you can use any brand. I don't like working with the big containers for this project because it's a small canvas and I want to work with the digesso more swiftly. I use. I put this gesso in this mayonnaise container. Of course, it has been cleaned before, but feel free to do whatever you want to get them in tubes and containers, in bottles. Use Diesso you have. And to put the Jaso on, you need a brush. For the acrylic binder, you need a brush too. The different brushes we are going to use in this class are the acrylic binder brush. That should be a cheap brush, one that you were grown to throw away or that you use only for glue because glue is really hard to get out of your brushes, so don't use your best brushes. You could use the hardware store brushes, for example, or an old brush. For the gesso, you can use whatever brush you like. I like to use a wider brush, and that's because it's acrylic paint, you can easily clean it unless you do it right away when you're done, when you do it two days later, but you know what I mean? If you use a soft brush, you get less texture in your gesso than you would have we have an old brush or a bristle brush. It all depends on what kind of texture you want to see what brush you are going to need. But just take whatever you have on hand. The brush we're going to use, but that's later on in the process is our silicon brush, and we are going to use that when we're doing the collage prep. Doing the collage prep, you could also use acrylic binder as your glue. I wouldn't recommend to do the PVA glue, or you could do it if it's your art or just for your family or friends. If you're going to sell your art, PVA is not really archival, so I would rather go for acrylic binder or as I do. My glue is a medium, and this is a met medium, but I also use glass medium. It doesn't really matter. And you can spread out the glue with this silicone brush, or you can easily use a credit card or a room key just to press them down, get air bubbles out and to spread out your medium or your glue. You also need to brush when you're going to use some paint because we're going to put some paint on our underlayer as well. It doesn't matter what color. It all depends on your preference or what you're going to make, but you're going to see that in a later video. You can make a solid choice of what color you want to use. This color or the paint we're going to put on a palette and this is just a simple tear off palette but you can use ceramic palette or plastic palette just what you have. The reason why we put it on here is because we're going to dilute it with water before we going to put this on your canvas. Yes, we're going to use that pre prepped canvas like I showed you before, but we're also going to reuse an old artwork and that could be on a canvas like this, but it could also be on a Mason night board like I'm going to show you in this class. And last but not least, we are going to use some old papers. These are old papers for my collage from a collage prep, and I like to use those old road maps. You don't need to use old roadmaps. You could use different papers, but I like the thickness of this paper and I like that it already has those folds and those folds make a texture on your canvas. I have loads of these lying around. That's why I use old romps they could add to the story of your finished painting later on. Just in case you're making a mess like I do, keep these handy because I cannot do without kitchen towels or without some old rags. So let's type in. Let's get started. 4. Choose Canvas: Not all canvases are created equal. The one you choose depends on your goals, your wants, your needs, your budget. Here are a few things that you should consider when you buy a canvas. Size. Beer isn't always better. Just choose a size that you're comfortable working with. You could always go larger or maybe go smaller. It's more important that you finish your project than it is to start on a large canvas. Some canvases are created with linen and most of them with cotton. That's the texture you could see on the back of your canvas when this is a side that isn't prepped. The difference between linen and cotton isn't only the price. Yes, linen is more expensive, but it's also more sturdy because the tread is more dense, so it won't really wobble that much as it would with, for example, cotton. Cotton is maybe a bit more flexible, but it's more affordable. I don't really have a preference. I usually go for cotton, and I think that's a very solid choice when you're just be hobby creative or maybe when you're just a professional starting out. When you go larger, a lot larger, linen could be better because of the sturdiness. Otherwise, cotton is perfectly fine. It's just a preference. Try and see what suits you. Stretched pre stretched. You could stretch it yourself, and that's perfectly fine. For example, when you're a professional artist and you want to work on with certain dimensions that isn't really standard. But it's a lot of work and it isn't necessarily cheaper than a pre stretched canvas. So if you're comfortable enough with the regular dimensions, the way it's stretched, just go for pre stretched canvas. Pre stretched canvases from a store are super convenient. That's why I use them nine of ten times two. But there's really a quality difference between the cheaper ones and the more expensive ones. When it's cheaper, you sometimes find that they are stretched and they have the staples or the pins on the side instead of at the back. When you have them at the back, you can even stretch them at a later moment when your painting is just getting too wobbly or too flat, so you can stretch it out if you want to. The second thing is check your frame because your frame it could be that it's not straight, it could be that is just too cheap and it keeps on moving. And when it keeps on moving, it touches your canvas. When it touches your canvas at the back, you would actually see it through your painting when you're painting your final artwork and that's not preferably because it would really influence the way your painting will look at the front. Make sure it's stretched properly, you could test it in the store by just wiggling your canvas. And that is not touching the frame. You can always restretch it if you need. And when you prepare the back of your canvas, you could always make it more sturdy and work better for you because it's a fabric. It will always move a bit. That's not a problem, but if it moves just too much, it could influence your painting process. Do you go for the regular prestretch size or do you go for the l size? That's a little bit more wider? This is absolutely fine. Sometimes I choose the larger ones, the XL ones. Why? Some people think they're more sturdy and they actually are because the frame is bigger, the frame is bigger, so it could carry more and it could hold on the stretch even better. I don't really use it with smaller paintings when I go really large and I don't want to add an extra frame. Then I usually go for the XL size because then I would like to paint the sides and just leave it as is, hang it as is instead of framing it, which I would normally do when I go larger with the regular stretch canvas. There are 1 billion alternatives. You can use the stretch canvas, but you could also use canvas boards or you can paint on wood or MDF or Masonite board. You could also re use paintings. They could be on a canvas. They could be on a board. That's more economical and sometimes it's even more fun because the story of the old painting will just become a part of your new painting. There are lots of alternatives, and like I said, it depends on your painting process and what suits you. Choose wisely to fit your process. Don't overthink it. Choose the right canvas for you at this moment. It all depends on where you are in your creative journey. It all depends on what feels good for you and it all depends on your budget. You can always upgrade later or experiment with other ones. It's more important for you to get started, have fun and play and get creating. Remember, the prep that you will learn in this class will improve any service, even the cheaper ones. That's the magic of the prepping process. Don't overthinking, start creating. 5. Prep the Back: We'll start off with the back of the canvas. And we're going to do two things. First of all, we are going to grab these little sticks that come with the canvas, and then we are going to prepare the real back of the canvas. But like I said, we start off with those wooden ties, and, you know, I never used them in the beginning. I never used them. I didn't really know what they were for. But now I know, and now I'm going to show you. These are so you can tighten your frame, your canvas would be as tight as possible because if you don't do it, they will might warp and you don't really get a nice picture on here or a nice piece of art on here. That's why we use the sticks and how do you put in them. I just put this inside. And over here, you see those entrances. And when you look closer, you might see that they go in an angle. So if I would put it like this in here, it just won't fit. I need to put it in here like this because it's the only way it will slide in. But we also have to get it stuck in there. When you see there there's not one on one side, but there's also another side. First thing we do, we go into the lower one of the two. I'll show you. And for this one, it's here. If you can't see where you have the steep part and at the straight part, you always know that towards the back of the other frame is always straight. You always put in here and that will also be the case we put in here. We'll start off putting it in here and you can push it in. But if you want to be sure that it's really nice and tight, you grab a hammer. But sometimes you work with a smaller frame like I'm using right now, you could also use, for example, screwdriver and just hammer it in just like a hammer because sometimes hammer could be just too big and if you don't have a hammer, this will work. If you don't have a hammer, you can use the back of your shoe. You could use whatever you have just to give him that little pop so it goes really tight in there. You have this one in there. But you want to get it really nice and tight, you're going to put the other one in here and it goes on top. You slide it in as tight as you can, and then you Cammer in until you think it's nice and tight, you're going to do that for all the corners. Some people say when you do this one first, then you do the opposite side, second, other ones say you do the one next to it. You know what? I don't really have a preference and I've never noticed that it would be a difference. Do you would you prefer. But I'll show you how it works when I go to the opposite side. Put it in here, shove it in. And with this, you can hammer it in. And it's all nice and tight. We can go to step number two. Way by canvas, that's pre prepped with three layers of gesso. You notice the front is really white. You can see it over here, but the back isn't because this hasn't been prepped. This is still the raw canvas. But since it's raw, it can just move it still works, but you want to have this fixed because when you fix it, your canvas and your frame won't warp as much and it don't get too loose over time. That's why you want to fixate the back as well where you can use the gesso it's been done on the other side, but I like to use acrylic binder because it really seals. Before I use acrylic binder, I'm going to put my brush in water. And I'm growing to make it wet. When you make a fabric wet, it gets all stretchy. So it's nice and loose. When it's nice and loose, I can do the second layer. The second layer, I don't have to wait and I grab the acrylic binder. Acrylic binder usually comes in those big jars, but I don't think they're always too handy. They are, but I put them in here to make more workable. Now I did in condiment bowl put it on here. You could also dip your brush in the acrylic binder. But when you do it and when you use acrylic binder on here, the brush you're using, I mean, it is kind of a PVA glue. So it's not really good for your brush. So don't use your nicest brushes. And when it's in here, we can now let it dry and the back of our canvas is prepped. So we can start with the front of the canvas in the next video. 6. Gesso Prep: First way, I'm going to show you how I prep my canvas is with gesso. Gesso is a primer, an acrylic primer that will make the paint adhere to this canvas better. Why? Because there's already gesso on this canvas. I know there's already gesso on this canvas, but it's made with machines in a factory, it's probably not as neat or smooth if you want to. So we're going to make at least one layer. When it's not pre gessoed, you probably do more layers, but now it's pre gesso, so I can do one layer. And I always like to put my canvas flat when I put my gesso on there. Why? Because then you can, like, spread out em ly if you want to. Well, I'll have this large container. But when I work with it, I usually like to use this bottle. This is just an old mayonnaise bottle. There's gesso in here. And I'll just skirt it out on top of this canvas. Then I'll take my brush. I can take multiple brushes. For example, I can take a small one or a larger one. But why should I use a larger one? It's easier to spread it all out. But this one is really stiff. When it's really stiff, that could be good because then you will get lots of texture. But I think I'll start off with a little bit smoother. This is a bit smoother. I'll just put it on and at first, I'm just making sure that there's paint everywhere. I'm not trying to make it smooth or texture like. I'm just making sure there is so everywhere. And if you want to do it more economical, you can also add a bit of water to your gesso, um because then it's a bit more transparent, a bit more lighter, but also you could spread out more and use more. Use prep the sites too because the sites need some love too. I I when you've got just everywhere, it's time to spread it out. Like I said, you can use the heart bristles because if you do that, you get more texture. If I do this and I do more evenly, I can get it more flat, it's easier to paint on. I just just go over it until I get the right texture, the right consistency on this canvas that I want to have Okay. Oh, I see here. Well, you can leave it if you like the texture, you can take it out and just go until you got the consistency you like to have. Like I said, it just depends on if you want to have a lot of texture or if you just don't want to. But texture, use the bristle brush or just simply draw into the canvas or add some extra gesso and just Do it with a palette knife so you get the texture you like. It's all up to you. The beginning, the gesso is here to give the nice texture you like. Do you want it smooth? Do you want to paint to flow over your canvas? It's to get the adhesion better. But this is just depends on what artwork you want to make, how you are going to put it on. Well, I think I'm going to leave it as is. I think this is good enough for me. You see me putting white gesso on here, but you can also buy transparent gesso. You could also buy black gesso. You can even make a color gesso. The only thing you do then is grab a color and mix this color with a gesso and just mix it onto paper palette, for example, and put it on here. You don't have to if you don't want to. Because in the next video, I'll show you how to give your canvas a color before you start the rest of your artwork, the rest of your painting. 7. Color Wash: Now we can put the wash to our canvas. So I'm putting some paint on our palette. I'm just choosing the burnt sienna at this time, but you can choose any color you like. And I'm going to dilute it with water, and I'm getting a lot of water. And because I'm diluting it, you can choose to put your sketch underneath this wash layer or on top. It's just what you prefer. When it's diluted enough, I'm going to put this on the canvas, and my goal is not to make it nice and neat. My goal is to cover all the white. So there's not one scary white canvas staring at me. And you see those drips coming down, I actually like those strips. I like to keep those strips. And as you see, I take care of the sides, too, because they are going to be part of the canvas, too. So I'm making sure I'm covering all of the white. I like the drips because they can give an effect to my end result. But if you don't like it, just take them off, like I'm doing here, and you can do it with the brush. But you could also take a piece of kitchen towel and just make a texture or wipe it off. You can make it as thin or thick or smooth as you like, as long as there is a layer. And if you think it's just too light, you just grab paintbrush and add some more color. You do what you like to get the perfect end result for your painting. 8. Choose a Color: First of all, should I use a colored underlayer? Not at all. You don't have to. You could use white. But some things make it really hard. If you make, for example, a landscape with clouds and I try to do some white. You'll see some, but you don't see that much contrast and sometimes it would be a lot nicer if you would just go with a different color background. For example, blue, or gray. Those are both cool colors, but you could perfectly do it with the burnt sienna, which is a warm color or this one. It's neon pink and it's my favorite color and it looks really nice and looks really warm. Even my white looks a bit warmer, but actually it's a cool color. So the color underneath will always have an impact on the color which you put on top. It's not only about the colors which makes it warmer or cooler. That's only when you see it. And yes, I love to see it. For example, I'll take some greens and when you do this doesn't really touch the white yet. Then the colors look maybe the same underlayer. But you have those peekaboosT peekabos one of the things that I really use a lot in my art, the peekabos they make your art layered and interesting when I don't work too precise. Fample if I just make this, this, I like to make those dashes and work with a flat brush for a portrait, for example, you see those pea boots come through and I like those dash. I like the movement in the greenery, but also when I make portrait, for example. Yes, because the layers now bit thin, it's just still one layer. You see bits of difference. So the tone really makes a difference on the color that we put on top. But if you make them darker, they would probably look the same on each undercolor, but it's easier to paint with, for example, what I did with the white and it's more fun with the peekaboos. What I also think is that it's not only a personal preference. Sorry, there was still a bit of green in here, but don't really matter. It could be a personal preference, but it could also be is sometimes when you make it look cooler. For example, this, this makes the green pop. But, this isn't really a skin like color titanium buff light, but you will see a difference in how it appears to me and the difference it appears than the color that it looks like on the color palette because when it's on the palette, it looks a lot. Well, let's say, I'll show you. It looks more yellowish, and here it looks more pale. So when I start modifying this color, for example, when I do a portrait, when I want to get some red, and I'm not cleaning my brush, I'm adding some reds and the reds look cool too. So all of a sudden, it looks more purplish to me. I'm like, Yeah, that's not really the skin color that I was looking for. Try to It's a cool color, but I make it cooler bit white. No, that's not working for me either. I'll add some yellow in the mix. For some reason, I cannot get the right color for a portrait when I'm using neon pink, even though it's my favorite color of all times with painting, it just doesn't work for me. You see the mixture of colors? That's fun. Look at this. This is a real dark green. It makes a dark green pop. Is it. If I do this again on here. For example, the lighter green. See what happens. It brightens the green, it makes the green more fun. These are the bushes I would like to see. For me, this works for bushes. It doesn't work for a portrait. I'll just clean my brush here. You see here, I make the bushes too, but they look flat. It looks okay, but it looks flat and here it comes to life. Maybe let the end work when all the pink is gone, when all the white is gone, but it makes a difference in my experience. It makes a difference in my painting experience. Where I like the colors best, maybe, could be on gray maybe that is for you too. The reason why a lot of people work with gray is because this gray is a neutral gray. This gray just shows you the colors they really look like. That's why a lot of people also use a gray palette, for example. See the difference in this red. Since it is more neutral, this is a color of a palette that a lot of artists use, especially artists who work with portraits. But with portraits, a lot of artists also use this burnt sienna of burnt umber, sometimes even more because it's a warm undertone and a lot of skin colors have a warm undertone. Over here you see something really weird maybe, but that's because this color it is an opaque color. That's another reason why you could choose or should choose a color for your underlayer in a way that fits your painting. Because over here it's yellow, yellow I want to use. Over here, it gets more greenish, orangy. It all impacts the way my painting is going to look. I won't tell you what you should do, which one you should pick? Not at all, actually. But think of your painting when you start. Are you going to paint a field full of greens and you do it messy like me, you could definitely do the neon pink because it pops. But you could also say, what if I just make the underlayer totally green because green is the color that I'm going for anyway. Then use all my different colors that I want to put on top. If you use a portrait, and it is a warm skin tone, please use a warm undercolor. If you do the messy, do the popping things. If you don't do messy, do really tight, it doesn't really matter which one you do. If it's a struggle with choosing the right colors. Just go for gray because gray is always safe, gray is always neutral. Seeing how? I was filming this class and I was giving you a lesson. But while I'm doing the swatches, for me to see what works for you to see what works. I'm already making some kind of art, some kind of play. So this is your underlayer. Maybe this is your second layer because now I'm painting on top. And painting as long as not your last layer play should be fun. Play in a way that makes art speak to you, play in a way that art makes you feel alive, that it works for you, that you enjoy the process because there's nothing more important in art than the process, even more than the end result. When it's not your final layer, because you can worry with the final layers when you get there. Until then, just a fun and play. 9. Collage Prep: Another way to prep the canvas is with paper, collage paper. Because that way, when you put the paper on, you immediately get some texture, and because you glue them on, it's like sealed, so it won't really suck in the paint as much when it would be a canvas just like this. You could choose to do some gesso first if you don't want to spill your mad medium, for example, but I actually don't what you can do, I like to work with roadmaps because I have loads of them. When the navigation systems weren't really that and because I love watching the roadmaps and planning our trips just on a map, just on paper. Since I'm not doing it anymore and these are probably old, I use them in my art. Sometimes I use a particular roadmap, not that anybody would see it, but that's just because I like the vibe in it. When you put something on here and nobody sees it, it's there for you. You find your story in the painting. And there are different kind of roadmaps, so you can choose colors or vibes. I mean, this looks totally different than for example, this is just more like a city map. Or when I have, let me see if so many scraps over here. This is a US map. There are a few things you could consider when you're putting your papers down. I'll just start with scrap first. First of all, you're going to choose your adhesion. I usually use the gloss or the met medium, but you could just as well use your acrylic binder that you use to prep the backside with. This is a glue as well. Don't buy anything new, you don't already have or need or whatever. I use the gloss for now just because could put one big sheet on here. But if you do so you don't have that much texture. Yes, you would see those lines here, folds, but that's it, and larger pieces are really hard to adhere without them bugling up unless that's the vibe you're going for. I usually do multiple pieces just on the canvas. I do smaller pieces or more pieces when I want to have more texture. But nine to ten times the way that I start is just sample tearing them down and usually grabbing the corners, and I'm starting to put them down on the corner. So they're easily to fold and you already covered like the sides. So let me just put some on, and I'm never scarce with my glue because you really want to stick it on there. And it doesn't matter if it's too much because you are not only going to put it on the bottom layer, but also on top of the papers. So when I'm putting this down here, and you see me overlap it, you don't have to. But the reason why is because I love to paint my sides. But I yeah, I just want to give them the attention too. And if I paint my sides, they're like, now covered up. And I just put a layer of medium on top, so it will stick. And I could just glue them down like this, I didn't put too much here. You know, I quite often, I use my fingers. But when you're using your fingers here, fingers get really gluey and they're really hard to wash off. It works, but it's an effort. So be aware if you use your fingers. So use gloves or don't use your fingers. You can use cards because when you push them, you can really push the bubbles out and excess medium out. Don't push too hard because otherwise you would tear the paper. But since this is a bottom layer, it doesn't really matter because it will give some texture as well. So I took a side from this one. And I said I'm going to start with the corners, but yeah, you know, my rules, I can bend my rules. I'm just grabbing a side now here and putting this medium on. And here, I'm just using this silicone brush. But your fingers work well for this, I don't know if you see it really well. It's buckling here a bit, so I can just push the air out, push medium out and to get it more flat. I got it. The sides. And I know there's not that much medium on here anymore, so I just pour it on. Do the sides. I'm speeding this up. Because with just covering the first layer, you probably know what I'm doing. Oh, actually. Ah. There's something hidden over there. And when it's too long to fold over, it's fine because you could always trim it down later. So I just keep it there and take it off later moments. Buckling a bit still. When it buckles up, it's usually also because there's not enough medium underneath. And when it's still wet, you can still lift this. Take it off, put some medium on here. Don't wait too long because it's glue and you know what glue does, glue just adheres things. When you are too late, you will probably take it off and it will tear. But since it's your bottom layer, don't be too precious about it or too fussy about it. So And if you don't like to put your side, you like to put this on the side, it's totally fine. You could always get a new piece of paper and glue it on the side if you want to. Bit more on here. Quite a lot of you need quite a lot of clue because it's paper, and the paper just sucks it all right in. But also because the canvas isn't prepped, this is your prepping stage. It will take a lot of paper. Now just filling up those spaces. And yes, you could just go over everything else, or you could just carefully fill it up. It just depends on how much texture you want because if I put this down, it covers it up a bit. But you will also get a bit of this. You won't see it too much. It's not like that in your finished painting, you would actually see those squares. But you will see a bit of texture that is fun, that is nice. I mean, this is just a leftover from my patchwork art. So I wasn't going to do anything with it, so why not put it here? And Grab a piece. I'll put it here. And, you know, I'm using quite some force. And you could also see that I'm using a cheap canvas. Because it's wobbly. You can really see me. It's not really sturdy. This technique, I usually recommend on doing on old paintings because they're a little bit more stiff because there's already something on there. Use them on better canvases, or I use them on panels from masonite, for example. But now it's really flexible. But when the glue is not wet anymore and it's all set, it's getting sturdy, then your canvas isn't this flexible. And that's actually why you want to use this underlayer. See, now I got everything covered up. Give me a bit more. Everything covered up. So you can leave it as it is. But if you like to have more texture, you could definitely get more of these pieces of paper on top. But if you're not sure what you're going to make yet or what you're finished piece of art is going to be, leave it as it is. If you know that you're going to make something that is really textured. This is also the face that you could put that extra texture on. For example, get some tissue paper, crumble it up and stick it on here, or just keep on building with this or get some card stock, just piece of scraps. I love using scraps. Put it on here and get the texture done. But this already would give you quite a fun texture. If you're like, I want to keep it like this because I have enough paper on here. You could also put a bit more medium on here and just not wipe it out, leave it as it is because then you will get those small, what are they bumps? Yeah, I'll just call them bumps. Bumps in your base, and that will show up as texture as well. You don't have to gesso it when you're done to start your artwork. The only reason why you could do it is because this can be distracting when you start painting your painting. So if this is too distracting, let it dry, put some gesso on it, and you're ready to go. And when it's all dried up, you still get some bumps in here that you don't like because there's air in there, you could always just open it up a bit, for example, with a knife or scissors and glue that part down again. I'll just You know what? I'll just show you. Now it's still wet and things could go really wrong when I do this. Because, you see, now it tears up. Ooh. This is a good knife. And when this tears open, you don't want to have this happening with your nice pages. So if you're using this on an upper layer, don't do it because then with those nice pages, you would actually don't want to mess them up, it's better to when it's dry. You can just slice it open, put some medium in there and just go over it. The air goes out. I use my fingers, but you could also use your card and then pull it down again. This is how you start your painting, prep your canvas using collage. You have to let this dry for a few hours because for the touch, it's really dry it feels dry, really quick. But still, just let the canvas soak up the glue like you did with the backside, and then you can start layering. You see, this is not a piece of art. What I just made here is not a piece of art. But why did I do it this way? This is just a mindful way to get started with a painting. Yes, I had a texture first or structure but first doing the sides and then filling up the spaces in between. But other than that, I had no special intention or plan when going about this. Because when gluing this on, it could be mindful. Well, when I'm not talking to you, actually, it could be mindful. I'm getting used to the canvas. The canvas starts talking to me and our journey begins. It sounds really. Maybe it sounds weird, but this is just I have to get to know my canvas before I get started. Doing this and just being mindful and just gluing pieces on start to play is my start of starting a painting. That's maybe the most important reason why I use clause as a start. Now we're ending to let this dry. It's been trying a bit already. But even though it feels dry to the touch, let it dry a bit longer. Let it dry for at least a few hours or maybe let it dry overnight. I really sucks in the canvas and the glue really seals your canvas so you have a great starting point. The starting point isn't only the glue. For me, those maps are the starting point. Why? Because I have no plan. Yes, I had a plan that I wanted to start with all the corners and the sides before I glued down something in the middle. But other than that, this was just fun. Play was just mindful choosing my pieces. Well, it should be when I'm not talking to you and gluing them down and just get to feel with the canvas, getting to know the canvas, getting maybe some kind of relationship with the canvas. I could, this is the start of my journey from this artwork. It sounds weird maybe, but prepping your canvas is already important step start of making art. It's a step to the next phase. Never underestimate prepping your canvas and I can't wait for this to dry and see what it can turn into. 10. Reuse an Old Painting: Sometimes you have an old painting that you don't like anymore but you want to use the surface. This is actually not on canvas. This is a masonry board, and you could use these techniques I showed you on boards too, but also on old paintings to reuse them. A few things that you can do, but you don't have to. Some people just like to Send down the surface. You don't really have to, you can, so it adheres a bit better, but you don't have to. You could do this on acrylic. But I also use these techniques on old oil paintings. I mean, old they're like tens of years of 20 Well, actually, this one is about, I think, about 40-years-old. That's absolutely fine. You can use these paintings as well, these techniques. If you're in doubt, then don't do the gesso one. Do the collage one because you definitely know that will adhere good enough. But I've also used the gesso. Well, this one is bit center down, but you don't really have to. And if I put some of my gesso down, and I do it in the same way like I did with the other painting. You can do thin and you can do it thick. It's just that there needs to be a layer. So the next part, the paint will adhere better. This is why the gesso is important and that's why you don't put the acrylic paint down right away. I still needs to dry, but you see I mean, it's white, but it's whitish. There's still peaks shining through. That's okay. If you don't want to, if you work with light colors or pastels, please add another layer of gesso on top. Or if you don't like the texture that's in here, sometimes the old painting has multiple layers and you feel the texture and you don't want to texture, please add another layer of gesso and keep swiping swooping until it feels light and flat enough for you to work on. Actually, it works exactly the same when I would use collage. Because again, now I'm using the glass medium Again, I will get my papers, put them on, you know, I like putting collage on a board better than I do on a canvas because it tastes more flat and I can control a piece of paper more. But you can definitely do it on canvas. So yeah, these work very well on old paintings. And actually, this is why I use the old paintings, and this is why I reuse my old paintings. You know, this painting is actually not my painting. This painting is a painting from my grandmother. And you could say, Oh, why are you doing this? This from your grandmother. Why? It's something that's your heritage. You should keep it. Yes, but I would never hang it on the wall and nobody would see it. Nobody will enjoy it. When I use this old painting for my grandmother, I know it will go to good use. It will always be a part of this painting. It will be a part of the painting that the story that this painting is telling me. So don't be scared to use your old paintings or now it's my grandmother's old painting. Prep them so you can give them a new life. 11. Final Thoughts: And this is it. You learn different ways you can prep your canvas in a more traditional way with eso or acrylic binder, but also with a more fun and playful way like collage or colorful backgrounds. I hope you feel confident to make this step a part of your creative journey. And remember, it doesn't have to be perfect. I hope this will give you a creative and inspiring service to work from for the rest of your creative process. Don't forget to upload your project to the project section because everybody's process is just a bit different, and it's great to see each other's projects and each other's tips and learn from each other. Just go to the Projects and Resources section, add your project, at the pictures, if you have them, and press submit. If you enjoy this class, please leave a review. Doesn't only make me a better teacher, but it will also help others to find this class more easily. And if you want, just follow me here on Skillshare so you get updated on all my upcoming classes. And I hope to see you next time. For now, let's get creative.