Everything That You Wanted to Know About Canvas Drawing Pads
When it comes to creating stunning artwork, the surface you work on plays a crucial role in the outcome. As children, we dabbled on the walls, growing into rough sheets of paper, and finally to an artist’s coveted surface AKA a canvas. If you are a seasoned artist (or a novice), the surface you use can make or break you. While you cannot carry a heavy canvas everywhere, you sure can take canvas pads for paintings everywhere you go.
What is a Canvas Pad?
A canvas pad is a convenient and flexible alternative to traditional stretched canvas. As the name suggests, it is made from canvas material, but instead of being mounted on a frame, the canvas sheets are bound together in a pad format, similar to any other book out there. Based on your requirements, you can get these canvas drawing pads in numerous textures, weights, and sizes.
If you wish to make a canvas pad painting and are in the market looking for one, don’t be fooled by canvas paper pads. A canvas pad is made of cloth canvases. However, a canvas paper pad is made of paper which mimics canvas and its texture. This will have a humungous difference in your artistic endeavour.
How to Use a Canvas Pad
If you wish to make canvas pad paintings, but don’t know where to start, this section is for you. A regular canvas drawing pad can be used with a variety of mediums. Here’s a simple guide on how to use a canvas pad.
- Select the Right Medium: Depending on your canvas pad’s thickness and weight, you need to select the medium. Thicker pads are better suited for oils and acrylics, while lighter pads go well with pencil sketches or watercolours.
- Prepare Your Surface: Although many canvas pads for painting come pre-primed, you might accidentally wind up with one without. Thus, gesso must be readily available, especially if you’re using oils.
- Sketch or Paint: Once your canvas pads are prepared, you can begin sketching or painting directly on the surface. Be mindful of the texture, as it may affect the flow and blending of your medium.
Et voila! Your painting(s) are ready on your exquisite canvas drawing pad.
Popular Canvas Pads on the Market
If you go to the local art supply store or online, you’ll be confused with the variety of canvas pad options. If it overwhelms you, let us tell you some of our favourite pads, to help you make an informed decision.
1. Mont Marte Canvas Pad
For your upcoming craft or art project, you can trust the Mont Marte canvas pad. The sturdy 280gsm canvas pad is acid-free and primed with gesso, allowing you to start creating right away with any medium. These canvas drawing pads are available in A3, A4, and A5 sizes.
2. Roy Fine Art Canvas Pad
The Roy Fine Art Canvas Pads employ acid-free acrylic gesso to prime each canvas paper sheet. It is ideal for pastels, oil, acrylic, and most mixed-media paintings. These canvas drawing pads are made of cotton fibres and are double white primed with acrylic Titanium. Additionally, they are fungi-resistant, allowing you to store them in the dark. These pads come in numerous sizes and two colours (black and white).
3. Camlin Canvas Pad
The Camlin Canvas Pads were first introduced in 2019 and have since become quite popular. These canvas pads use high-quality cotton made into 8 oz cloth, making it stronger and thicker. They come pre-primed without using an acidic gesso. With the price, they make for an inexpensive choice, especially when using acrylic and oil paints.
4. Fredrix Canvas Pad
With ten sheets per pad, Fredrix Canvas Pads are almost dirt-cheap and pretty convenient to use. These portable pads are ideal for plein air painting, workshops, and travel. The pages can withstand matting and framing under glass, mounting for display, and stretching over stretcher bars. Every page in this canvas pad is double-primed with an acid-free acrylic titanium gesso. The canvas can be used for spray paints, alkyds, paint markers, permanent markers, oils, acrylics, and water-soluble oils.
5. Artist Loft Canvas Pad
The Artist Loft Canvas Pads are another among our favourites. These ten medium-weight, acid-free canvas sheets allow you to make multiple paintings from a single pad. Before being painted with your preferred oil or acrylic paints, each archival-quality sheet is primed with titanium acrylic gesso. The papers are made of lightweight cotton duck.
Image Courtesy – St. Louis Art Supply
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