Great explanation! Flax that is cultivated for top-quality fiber stock is planted with spacing that discourages branching, to produce a long, strong stem which yields fibers (called "line") which are very long, and incredibly strong compared to short cotton fibers. There is lower quality linen derived from combination seed/fiber crop, which are shorter and less regular; some of that fabric is sometimes offered for artistic painting, but it's really more for utility cloth (like feed sacks). That's absolutely correct that linen (a bast fiber) is grubbed up roots and all, and a lot of the processing (called "retting") is done by exposing the crop to natural condensation. Cotton, on the other hand (a boll fiber), requires heavier processing with chemicals. While we think artists are better off using high quality cotton over low quality linen, there's no contest- top grade linen is really a splendid painting support, and it brings the artist's work to its best appearance!
I really like your videos and information! Do you have recommendations for panels. I like to paint on wood but I’m concerned about archival and warping. I know there is soooo much that goes into this😆
My preferred surfaces are linen mounted to plywood and linen mounted to acm (dibond is the “Kleenex” brand). Copper is also an awesome surface to paint on. Artefex makes great acm and ccm panels. Linen mounted to plywood helps workaround the checking issue with plywood. I’ll make a video on it sometime soon! Thanks for the great question.
Thanks for the comment! Polyester has been shown to be a great choice for painting canvas. I’ve experimented with polyester and just have a preference for linen personally.
Dibond is great. I particularly like it as a support for linen, but it’s good on its own. When it comes to canvas specifically, I love linen over cotton hands down.
Great explanation! Flax that is cultivated for top-quality fiber stock is planted with spacing that discourages branching, to produce a long, strong stem which yields fibers (called "line") which are very long, and incredibly strong compared to short cotton fibers. There is lower quality linen derived from combination seed/fiber crop, which are shorter and less regular; some of that fabric is sometimes offered for artistic painting, but it's really more for utility cloth (like feed sacks). That's absolutely correct that linen (a bast fiber) is grubbed up roots and all, and a lot of the processing (called "retting") is done by exposing the crop to natural condensation. Cotton, on the other hand (a boll fiber), requires heavier processing with chemicals. While we think artists are better off using high quality cotton over low quality linen, there's no contest- top grade linen is really a splendid painting support, and it brings the artist's work to its best appearance!
Thank you for the additional information! I love the artist-first approach to materials and education you all put forth.
Super informative! Thank you! Everyone should know about this channel! I am learning so much from these vids.
I’m happy to be helpful. Thank you, friend!
This was amazing. I want to start my own stretching to save money and really appreciate this explanation
I’m happy to be helpful.
Good explanation. Cotton also deteriorates much faster, depending on how it is prepared.
Absolutely! Thanks for the additional information. Appreciate it.
Perfect explanation. thank you!
You’re welcome. Glad to be helpful.
I really like your videos and information! Do you have recommendations for panels. I like to paint on wood but I’m concerned about archival and warping. I know there is soooo much that goes into this😆
My preferred surfaces are linen mounted to plywood and linen mounted to acm (dibond is the “Kleenex” brand). Copper is also an awesome surface to paint on.
Artefex makes great acm and ccm panels. Linen mounted to plywood helps workaround the checking issue with plywood. I’ll make a video on it sometime soon! Thanks for the great question.
Thank you for your awesome explanation and assessment
You’re welcome! I’m glad to be helpful for any of your painting questions.
thank you so much, that was really helpful
You’re so welcome. I’m happy to be helpful.
I choose ultra-smooth P156U polyester canvas for archival reasons and the smooth surface suits fine detail.
Thanks for the comment! Polyester has been shown to be a great choice for painting canvas. I’ve experimented with polyester and just have a preference for linen personally.
I love Dibond panel light weight very archival I can take to the texture I prefer
Dibond is great. I particularly like it as a support for linen, but it’s good on its own. When it comes to canvas specifically, I love linen over cotton hands down.