Today I want to share the surfaces I prefer to work on and how I prepare. I love to work on canvas board. If you are experimenting a lot, these are inexpensive and easy to prepare because they are already primed. Stretched canvas can be costly so we can feel a little 'precious' about messing them up. Canvas boards can bend as the paint dries, so they need to be stored flat. I use canvas boards because the surface is perfect for the effect I want. They are firm to work on and can take fine detail. I like a textured surface for some paintings. Here's a video of how I get my textures, also on my website www.lindabirkinshawart.net . I spread acrylic gesso over the board then press crinkled cellophane across the wet gesso. This creates a lovely texture to paint tree branches, rocks, undergrowth. Here I've used a wooden panel, another good surface to work on which is strong and can take lots of paint. But these are smooth with no surface texture, so I a...
