{"id":13975,"date":"2025-08-06T14:56:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T18:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=13975"},"modified":"2025-08-06T14:56:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T18:56:06","slug":"problem-with-a-canvas-surface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2025\/08\/problem-with-a-canvas-surface\/","title":{"rendered":"Problem with a canvas surface"},"content":{"rendered":"

I prepare my own lead-based grounds, and I am careful to ensure my painting medium is very drying. I want my surfaces to be TOUGH, capable of supporting numerous overpaintings. So when I use painter’s tape to make a straight line over dried paint, I almost never have problems. But it’s happened with my unfinished paint, “Bella.” (For the sake of scale, “Bella” is 42″ x 54″.) The red lines in the photo point to areas where the tape lifted off the underlying paint. Yeech! <\/p>\n

What you see here are tests to determine the extent of the problem. I’ve used several painter’s tapes, including special “artist tapes” that are intended for delicate surfaces. All failed. Normally, I can freely use painter’s tape a day after applying oil paint.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio Oct. 14 2012<\/span><\/a><\/div>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Here are close-ups of the problem. My guess for now is that something got onto the canvas surface or into the material I used for the ground. According to the notes in my studio book, I followed my usual procedure for “Bella.” <\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>Smooth Move—Smooth Painting Surfaces<\/span><\/a><\/div>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I prepared this canvas in November 2023 and let it cure before starting the painting. The only unusual thing about it is that I built the stretcher support myself.  I used to purchase the stretchers ready-made, but with the steep rise in art supply prices, I’ve reverted to building the stretchers myself. My normal working size is 40″ x 54″, which eats a lot of wood. Anyway, that wouldn’t have affected this painting.<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span>In the Studio—10\/28\/12<\/span><\/a><\/div>

I haven’t identified the problem yet. I’ll let you know if I solve the mystery.<\/p>\n

[Yes, I know that sharing images of unfinished artwork is a bad idea. But one of the reasons for this site is teaching.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I prepare my own lead-based grounds, and I am careful to ensure my painting medium is very drying. I want my surfaces to be TOUGH, capable of supporting numerous overpaintings. So when I use painter’s tape to make a straight line over dried paint, I almost never have problems. But it’s happened with my unfinished […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":13976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[208,24,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-materials","category-shop_talk","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/bad-dog.jpg?fit=1200%2C932&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8812,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2020\/06\/how-to-grounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":13975,"position":0},"title":"How to–grounds","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"June 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Most artists do not know how to prepare grounds for oil painting. I know this is true because none of my teachers were able to prepare acceptable grounds, and none of the commercially-prepared canvases that I've used have been acceptable. This is even true for vendors who claim the highest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to"","block_context":{"text":"How to","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/how-to\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/oil-grounds-compare2.png?fit=800%2C651&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/oil-grounds-compare2.png?fit=800%2C651&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/oil-grounds-compare2.png?fit=800%2C651&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/oil-grounds-compare2.png?fit=800%2C651&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13551,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2024\/05\/sinking-in-canvases\/","url_meta":{"origin":13975,"position":1},"title":"Sinking in (canvases)","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"May 16, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I always try to be as efficient as possible with my paintings. But I'm also cheap. The combination of efficiency and cheapness has frequently caused me headaches. Instead of saving time and money, I've wasted both in my often wrong-footed efforts to save money. I prefer smooth painting surfaces but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to"","block_context":{"text":"How to","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/how-to\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/come-along-scaled.jpg?fit=857%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/come-along-scaled.jpg?fit=857%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/come-along-scaled.jpg?fit=857%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/come-along-scaled.jpg?fit=857%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":186,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2012\/10\/smooth-move-smooth-painting-surfaces\/","url_meta":{"origin":13975,"position":2},"title":"Smooth Move\u2014Smooth Painting Surfaces","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"October 26, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"All artists are self-taught today. It doesn't matter if you have a masters\u00a0degree or never set foot in an art school--everyone is on their own. The most important piece of painting gear my last professor had was a pair of fishing boots. His technique was to cover the studio floor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Shop Talk"","block_context":{"text":"Shop Talk","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/shop_talk\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4414,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/12\/bad-craftsmen-a-cautionary-tale\/","url_meta":{"origin":13975,"position":3},"title":"Bad craftsmen–a cautionary tale","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"December 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"One of my pet peeves is subpar or crappy material marketed to artists at boutique prices. I will swallow hard and pay premium prices for premium material, but too often I end up paying top-dollar for unusable junk.\u00a0The art supply market is chockablock will hucksters, con artists, and amateurs. \u00a0Many\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/phantom.jpg?fit=466%2C526&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3685,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2014\/06\/correcting-painting-surfaces-that-are-too-slick\/","url_meta":{"origin":13975,"position":4},"title":"Correcting painting surfaces that are too slick","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"June 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"You know when your paint surface gets too slick and oil starts to bead? There are several remedies. Rubbing an onion over the surface works but has issues--obviously. A better method is to use denatured alcohol. A light application over the surface cures this problem instantly. Make sure to not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"denatured alcohol\"","block_context":{"text":"denatured alcohol","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/tag\/denatured-alcohol\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/pal-table2.jpg?fit=400%2C305&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4643,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/02\/in-the-studio-2115\/","url_meta":{"origin":13975,"position":5},"title":"In the studio 2\/1\/15","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I had my first painting session with Taking Note yesterday. Yesterday's session will be the first of 12 or so. I can't remember how many drawing sessions I had before I started painting--4 or 5 sounds about right. \u00a0Taking Note is 42\" x 60\" and it's a refreshing change of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/studio-2015-2-1.jpg?fit=444%2C611&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Gw6F-3Dp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13975"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13988,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13975\/revisions\/13988"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}