Artists develop a preference for mediums to use to create their artwork. Painters (acrylic, watercolour, or oils) tend to use either canvas or panel boards.
Canvas is often the first material artists use on their journey, simply because it is the more affordable option, and at one point, was the easiest to buy. Every craft store stocked them. Now, panel boards are just as easily accessible.
If you’ve yet to progress to more quality mediums, this post will shed some light on both options.
The Advantages of Painting on Canvas
Price
Even the highest quality brand names of Canvas come in at affordable price points. If you do a lot of painting, you can buy canvas by the roll and cut it to size.
For artists selling their work, the price advantage applies to shipping costs too because it is lighter. And you can give customers the option to have a rolled canvas print shipped for DIY framing, or unframed canvas prints. Then, all they need is to buy the stretcher bars and attach them.
Texture
Canvas, being a cloth, has texture. There’s no way around that. However, different canvases have different textures depending on the weave. A super-fine canvas can feel and look like working on paper, particularly, no grain linen. The texture of canvas can be used to the artist’s advantage, such as keeping the grid-like weave visible to create a sort of mosaic effect with the painting.
Ready to hang
Paintings on canvas are always going to have stretcher bars. They are needed to keep the canvas taught. The advantage that has is that the paintings are ready to hang. A nail on the wall is enough to balance the canvas. For better stability, a hanging hook and picture hanging wire can be affixed to the stretcher bars, or alternatively, put it in a canvas floating frame, which gives the added advantage of better protection against accidental bumps that could puncture the canvas.
Larger projects are more manageable
You can go larger with canvas than you can with board. Naturally, the weight of board will be off-putting, but more so for larger projects. For large paintings, such as those over 3ft, board is likely to be too heavy. Anything over 18 inches done on board needs to be primed and treated to prevent the board from warping too.
With canvas, you can go as large as you like, and the only thing that is required is to keep it taught. The larger the canvas is, the more strength will need to be exerted by the owner to tighten it on occasion.
The Advantages of Painting on Board
Durability
Panel boards are much more hard-wearing. If you knock against it accidentally when passing, it isn’t going to puncture a hole through it as it could with canvas.
With a wood panel, a slight knock may, at worst, chip the paint. The one downside is that if these are dropped, the edges are brittle and prone to cracking, chips, and dents. To alleviate the risk of damage, professional paintings on panels can be framed with an art board frame.
Create your own texture
With an art board panel, you can create your own texture, or have none at all. Gesso primer can be applied to untreated hardwood panels and then sanded down to create a silky-smooth surface.
Additionally, being solid, objects can be glued to board without it affecting the structural integrity as much as it would with a canvas. There’s more creative freedom with board. As an example, wool can be dyed and glued in place, rice could be soaked in water colour then stuck in to create an illusion of a textured rocky beach, or strands of spaghetti cut down, painted green for textured grass, or yellow, brown, gold to create an illusion of straw.
The texture is easier to manipulate on art board panels than it is on canvas.
Zero stretching equates to minimal maintenance
With panel boards, there is no slackening like there is with canvas. That makes it a firm choice for archival purposes, however, for that to be the case, the boards need to be treated, sealed and primed properly. Provided they are prepped for archival quality, boards are the longer-lasting option.
Better stability than canvas provides
Both mediums move in response to temperature, humidity, vibrations and the like. Board can handle changes more readily than canvas can. The more movement there is, the more the layers of paint are disturbed. The result of movement is cracking in the paint.
Layers of paint chip and flake can happen more on canvas than with board, simply because board has better stability. It is not immune though as board panels can warp. Particularly larger sized panels. Anything above 18 inches ought to be primed and treated on both sides of the board as a protection measure against warping.
There is an in-between, too
If you like the idea of having the texture of canvas with the durability of hardwood, you can have both by mounting canvas to a panel or by purchasing a ready-made canvas board.
In summary
Canvas is the better option for manoeuvrability, affordability, and large works of art. Board or wood panels are ideal for works of art intended to last decades without deterioration. Both have superior durability and both materials can be framed for added protection.
If you intend to try your hand at painting on panels for a piece that will eventually be framed, consider the thickness of the board before you start your project. The majority of art board frames are manufactured to fit specific thicknesses of panels. If you happen to paint on a thicker board and then try to find a frame, you may discover that the only way would be the pricier custom framing option. Standard thicknesses for art board frames are consistent with boards up to 5mm thick, which is suited to 1/8” panels.