When we do our painting parties, we paint on stretched canvas. We usually buy it in bulk from either Michael’s or Blick. Now you don’t have to used stretched canvas. I’ve painted on canvas panels, and wood panels before as well. If you plan on letting your creative genius run free, you might find yourself going through lots of canvas, and storing stretched canvas can be a bit of a paint because they take up so much space. Canvas panels are perfect for the beginner, and they are easier to store.
Here are a few options you might want to look into!
Canvas Panels
Art Supply 24 Pack Canvas Panels on Amazon. These panels are 11 x 14, which is kind of the perfect size when you’re just starting out. More bang for you buck! You get a lot of panels for under $40. You can’t really get that price anywhere else. We generally paint on 12 x 16 stretched canvas, but 11 x 14 works great too. We don’t generally go bigger than 12 x 16 unless requested for a private party, because the cost is so much higher, and the bigger the canvas, the longer it takes to paint!
Now if 24 seems like overkill, you can get the same brand, U.S. Art Supply 12-pack of 11 x 14 Canvas Panels for half the price.
If you really have your heart set on Stretched Canvas, you can buy that in bulk as well. When Michael’s has their big canvas sales, you can usually grab a pack of (6) 12 x 16 Stretched Canvas for $10 bucks, otherwise they’re double the price. Now Blick usually has their value packs on sale as well.
You can get a value pack of 7 stretched canvas, 11 x 14, for $9.95 right now.
Other Surfaces
There really are so many options. When I first started painting, I couldn’t afford to buy canvas at all. I was a Stay-At-Home Mom without an income. At the time we had just finished up a DIY project, basically using wood pallets to finish off our deck. We had so many left, I decided to see what I could do with them!
I like working with wood, so I started building my own pallets boards and painting on them. It took some significant prepping, but in the end, the look was really cool. I also got really lucky and had a cabinet maker for a neighbor! I started recycling all of his faulty cabinet doors and turned them into paintings. The trim made them look like finished and framed paintings!
The point is, the surface on which you paint is not important, unless you plan on selling your work of course, but that’s a whole other article! In the beginning, it’s just important to keep painting, on pretty much whatever you can find! Lol!