How to Stretch a Canvas Painting

Canvas painting and pictures can be great pieces of art but can also be quite expensive. A great way to mitigate the cost of canvas is to buy rolled paintings and stretching them by yourself. The process is quite simple, not too many tools are required and the results look spectacular, all at a fraction of the cost. Professional looking results can be achieved with about 20 minutes of your time.

Step 1 Gather Materials

All of the tools suggested to complete this project are listed below. Items in parentheses are substitute tools that can also be used.

• Canvas Painting/Picture

• 1” x 2” boards

• Quarter Round Moulding

• Tape Measure

• Pencil/Pen

• Stapler with 1/2” Staples

• Hammer

• 1” Panel Nails

• Nail Punch (Not necessary but helpful)

• Paper/Tissue Paper (to protect the face of the painting because it will be upsidedown at times)

• Miter Box and Saw (Miter Saw for quicker results)

• Canvas Pliers (Regular Pliers can also work)

Comments

[l8nite]

nice job, to make the canvas "drum" tight, mist the back with water and allow to dry, repeat until the desired taughtness is reached. I do this with my primed but not yet painted on canvas's , you can get it pretty wet with no complications