Lisa McShane Art

I love making progress on the tasks. This weekend I stretched 3 canvases and this morning scrubbed the sizing onto them. On the top is a closeup of the Best Pro stretcher bar, stretched and sized (note the clean corners!). The Best system is essentially an aluminum frame with wood for stapling and wrapping the fabric. It was easy to put together (except the pilot holes for the corner pieces aren't large enough for the screws they provide.) It's a little pricey but it's for a 26" x 36"commissioned  painting that will be shipped to Arkansas. I've had a little trouble lately with warping and there's some humidity down there so this is my insurance. After I stretch the linen so that it's as tight as a drum*, I scrub the size into the fabric with a large bristle brush. I use Gamblin's PVA for this and scrub it on front, back and on the sides. Tomorrow I start applying the oil primer. Notes on materials: The oil priming brush that I'm using...

When I turned into my neighborhood at 5 this afternoon the UPS truck was a block away. By the time the brown van pulled up in front of my house I was waiting in front with the dog. "Is that for McShane? Is it from Vasari? Yay!" The UPS man laughed. I love getting new paints. In the box, top right, is Cadmium Yellow Deep. When I was a kid, taking painting lessons in Germany, I painted a fall landscape using Cadmium Yellow Deep for the leaves. I can still picture the paint on the canvas. I can't wait to open this tube.