Studio
4 min read
Stretching linen for the big ones
The largest canvases I have made came off the stretching table this week. A note on linen, sizing and patience.
Why linen
I paint on Belgian linen because it is strong, it moves less with the damp sea air, and the weave catches the paint in a way cotton never quite does.
The big Harbour Light canvases are 100 × 140 cm, which is about as large as I can carry down the loft stairs on my own.
Sizing and priming
Each canvas gets two coats of rabbit-skin glue size and three of oil ground, sanded lightly between coats. It takes three weeks before I can paint on them, which is a good lesson in patience.
N° 01 — From the studio
More notes
Exhibition
Harbour Light opens at Gull Street
Six new paintings and a wall of morning studies are now hanging in St Ives until 15 November.
Press
In Coast & Country this spring
A six-page feature on the Tideline paintings and the beach studies behind them.
Event
Open studio, 6–7 December
The net loft opens its doors for one weekend before Christmas: new work, prints and mince pies.