Garden of Eden & How to Paint on Unstretched Canvas

Adam & Eve.  The classic.  The second painting in the series of “Miracle Paintings” of scenes from the Bible.

I wanted the Tree of Knowledge to be front and center.  And I wanted color.  And pretty things like flowers and animals and a stream.  And of course, a very innocent Adam and Eve.

Here it is on the easel.  I think the colors are more true to life in this shot.  I have yet to get professional photographs of these…obviously.

I thought I’d share my process on how to paint on unstretched canvas, as when I started, I found there was little information on how-to.

First, I buy a roll of unstretched high-quality canvas.  Because I want the scrolls/paintings to be durable, I buy canvas that is already primed.  The problem there is that the primed side is a white primer, and I like the look of the natural canvas.

I had Lowe’s cut me a piece of heavy particle board to the size of the paintings.  Then I lay the board on the floor and place the roll of canvas over it, and I cut it (carefully) to size.  I then take these sturdy pieces of wood that you see in the picture and some clamps that I found at the hardware store, and I stretch the canvas taut onto the particle board.  This step is important because no one wants to paint on a buckled canvas!

After the canvas is stretched, I slather a generous coat of clear Gesso onto the unprimed side.  This keeps the integrity of the natural look while still preparing it for painting.  I let it dry, then I move it onto this easel built especially for this project.  (Thanks, Dr. Foss!)

And I’m set to paint!

When I’m done, I take the canvas to my favorite alteration ladies at ABC Sewing in Homewood.  They sew the top and the bottom so that I can slip a rod into it for hanging.  I then tie some nifty gold-tasseled rope on it, and walah, I have a “scroll” ready to hang in the Children’s Sanctuary!