Successfully Stretching Your Own Canvas

Not having been in the military, I really don't know if one's bed needs to be made so tightly and well that a quarter can be bounced atop it, but being married to a fine artist, Steve Henderson, I do know that a stretched canvas needs to be taut, but not too much so.

Getting it just right, as with any endeavor we undertake, involves time, practice, a bit of frustration, and a whole lot of perseverance. Steve, who has been building his own stretcher bar frames and stretching his own canvas for many, many years, has created a free video of the process, Stretching Canvas: The Tools, the Methods, the Know-How.

Some of you, I realize, may want to do just the canvas stretching part, purchasing pre-made stretcher bar frames from a quality art source, but it's worth watching the process and getting a comprehensive feel for the structure that holds up your oil painting. You may surprise yourself, and find that you want to own the project, from start to finish!

With that being said, let's go stretch some canvas!