Art: Preparing a Canvas to Paint

Louisa and I have been to an art club with some of our friends here in Mwanza! Miss Reynolds, Louisa’s school teacher, taught us. We had easels and frames made here and our friend bought canvas and acrylic paints when she was in Nairobi. Over five days we made our own canvasses and then did 3 paintings. I did one landscape, one of fruit and lastly, a leopard on a log (which is my favourite). We learned a lot and it was really good fun!

 

Here is how you can prepare your own canvas:

Collect a frame, canvas (or linen, khanga or a sheet), a staple gun, hammer and scissors, wood glue, water , white paint

Cut a piece of the cloth, just larger than the frame; it should be a rectangle shape

Staple the canvas to the frame, in the middle. Then staple on both sides of the first staple. There should be about 10 staples on the whole side.

Turn the canvas round and do the opposite side. First you must pull the canvas as hard as possible. Then staple it. Try to avoid making wrinkles.

Do both the other sides, but remember to pull first.

Paint the back of the canvas with wood glue diluted with half water.

Now paint the front when the back has dried. Do this twice.

If your paint has dried and your canvas isn’t white, then you can paint over it with the white paint. You are ready to start painting!

 

First, paint a light background. Then outline the main shapes of what you are painting. Block in the colour and finally add the detail!