PREPARING A PRE-PRIMED CANVAS
For my experiment (below) I took a teaspoon of Artists’ quality oil colour and diluted it with one teaspoon of Wallace Seymour CoCo Bello Diluent, which I use instead of turpentine as a clean and sustainable alternative. I then applied the thinned oil paint to the ground using a flat hog hair brush, making a number of tests in this way to different painting grounds. I noticed that on all painting grounds the paint absorbed slightly, leaving the paint matt, but not a chalky matt. In all cases I have worked with the Wallace Seymour professional acrylic primers and professional acrylic gesso to test the absorbency of the support prior to painting.
The canvases that I am using have been manufactured by Winsor & Newton and they have already been primed but I find that the surface is rather plastic and lacks character. There is a big difference between how these canvases are primed and traditional priming techniques. Firstly, the pre-primed canvases are sprayed with a non-toxic, waterbased acrylic primer. To achieve a more desirable surface to work on, I primed my canvas with the Wallace Seymour professional acrylic primer. The primer should allow the weave of the canvas to be apparent and enable oil colour to become absorbed into the surface texture slightly, to achieve a good bonding. I thinned the primer down with water, although not too much as the primer can become too absorbent. It is best practice to use acrylic size as opposed to PVA or rabbit skin glue as the canvas remains durable and flexible. If working on wooden panels or hardboard, acrylic primers can also be applied although you must be careful not to add too much water as this can encourage the wood to swell. To avoid this, it’s a good idea to paint the edges first.