A $6000 Lesson (Part III)

Here is the canvas once we've finished streching it. Ideally, the canvas ought to be tight as a drum, but, in this case, mine isn't. This canvas didn't get stored in the best place and became wrinkled. The wrinkles did not stretch all of the way out. In this case, this is good since it gives me an excuse to show you a trick my wife taught me.


Prime the back of the canvas with gesso. Try your best to push the gesso all the way to the edges of the canvas even thought there isn't much room between the stretcher and the canvas back.

Give it a second coat of primer if needed. In this case, only one coat was necissary. This canvas was preprimed, but you can add an extra coat to the front if you feel the need to do so.

Now, the canvas is ready to paint.