I tried painting on linen for the first time with these beach rose paintings. Ooh la la! No it doesn't mean I've sold enough paintings this summer to afford linen from now on, but I did discover what I was missing. I love the smooth and natural looking fibrous surface and I think the material looks classy even with minimal paint. It is also stronger and lasts longer than canvas apparently.
Oil on linen. 6x8"
Oil on linen. 8x10"
I noticed that Lois Dodd paints on either linen or masonite and I admire even her simplest works. However I've often found that I'm more pleased with the paintings I've done on cheap material and I think that's because the knowledge that the material isn't worth much gives me the freedom I'm after when it comes to marking it up.
In college I received a lecture about the value of using fine art materials from an art professor who discovered me painting on a piece of driftwood I picked up on Islesford. He must have forgotten what a college student's income is (-$$$$$/year). Still, another professor alerted me to the affordability of luan wood panel from Home Depot. They will even cut it to your size preference, but it leaves a ragged edge. I used this surface for years until I began presenting my work to a gallery and realized I felt embarrassed by this detail.
In college I received a lecture about the value of using fine art materials from an art professor who discovered me painting on a piece of driftwood I picked up on Islesford. He must have forgotten what a college student's income is (-$$$$$/year). Still, another professor alerted me to the affordability of luan wood panel from Home Depot. They will even cut it to your size preference, but it leaves a ragged edge. I used this surface for years until I began presenting my work to a gallery and realized I felt embarrassed by this detail.
When I was an art student in Aix-en-Provence I felt I couldn't afford anything. I had exchanged paintings with a family I found on couchsurfing.org for room and board. My parents had paid for my classes and my boyfriend (now husband) shared his hard earned savings for food and travel. I was there to paint, so I needed materials. I pulled a tablecloth out of the dumpster, found some forgotten stretcher strips in the art studio (which I returned once the painting dried) and primed my stretched tablecloth with acrylic. It was cotton, but not canvas so it didn't hold its stretch and needed several heavy coats of gesso and many re-stretchings. I brought it home rolled up in the bottom of my suitcase and put it in a frame with glass holding it in place so I can still see the fringed edges of the pink table cloth--and remind myself of a time when I had next to nothing and also everything.
