Renaissance Canvas

Paint like a Renaissance Artist! Before canvas took over, Renaissance painters in places like Florence and Venice had easy access to poplar, oak, and linden. They’d glue planks together and coat the panel with gesso (chalk + glue), sand it smooth for a glass-like surface that was perfect for tiny details, ideal for tempera and early oil painting. Canvas didn’t become common until later (especially in humid Venice wherewood warps more).

Advantages of Wood Canvas:

• It holds fine detail like crazy

Artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Sandro Botticelli used hair-thin lines, layered glazing and precise facial details.

• Better for gold-leaf

Religious paintings often used gold backgrounds. Wood gives a rigid base; canvas would sag

• Rigid

Wood panels don’t flex like canvas, so brushstrokes stay exactly where you put them.

Wood’s downside

Warps with humidity

Cracks over time

Heavy

About the Wood

Our Cattywampus Sycamore wood is coated with tung oil and acts very much like a primed canvas. Using a wet-on-wet technique? Simply add more oil. Linseed oil and tung oil work equally well with oil paints. The flecked grain of Sycamore and its amber hue can look like a sunset, so artists can incorporate the canvas right into the their painting.