Guide to Artist Canvas
Canvas has been the preferred painting surface for oil and acrylic artists for centuries. Lightweight, durable, and versatile, canvas allows for expansive creative freedom and professional presentation. At Wholesale Canvas Australia, we supply an extensive range of artist-grade canvas rolls, linen canvas, stretched canvas, and canvas accessories to suit all painting styles and preferences.
Choosing the Right Canvas for Your Artwork
Deciding what surface to use as a base for your masterpiece is as important as it can seem daunting. The right canvas for you depends on your artistic medium, preferred texture, and working scale.
Wholesale Canvas Australia offers canvas rolls, perfect for artists who want to stretch their own custom surfaces or create large-format works as well as ready made canvases for those seeking convience.
Whether you prefer the fine grain of portrait linen, the robust surface of heavyweight cotton duck, or the rich texture of unprimed coarse linen, we have a surface to match your needs.
What is a Stretched Canvas?
A stretched canvas is a canvas fabric – typically cotton or linen – that has been pulled tightly over a wooden stretcher frame. This creates a responsive painting surface with a pleasing spring. The tension in the fabric gives artists a satisfying tactile experience when applying paint. Our pre-stretched cotton canvases are perfect for artists who want to get straight to painting. They’re available in various sizes, depths, and textures, using high-quality stretcher bars and professional gesso.
Our pre-stretched canvases are available in two depths and are triple-primed with white acrylic gesso, making them ready to use for both oil and acrylic painting. Choose from thin edge or deep edge ready made canvases for traditional framing or gallery-wrapped canvases for a contemporary look.
Why buy a Canvas Roll?
Canvas rolls allow for complete customisation and are ideal for artists producing large bodies of work. Making your own canvases can be rewarding and give you full control over your base for your masterpiece. Our rolls come in sizes up to 3m wide and up to 30m long. Our bulk canvas rolls offer great value for professional artists, art schools, creative communities, art centres and framers.
We also sell affordable canvas by the metre for those wanting to test the fabrics without committing to a huge roll. We only sell unprimed canvas by the metre in order to save on shipping costs.
Remember: primed canvas should never be folded, only rolled, to avoid cracking.
Types of Canvas Fabric: Cotton vs Linen
Cotton is widely used due to its affordability and flexibility. It’s easy to stretch and retains tension well. Our cotton duck canvas features a tighter weave than plain cotton and is available in various weights for versatility and durability.
We also offer poly-cotton artist canvas, which combines the softness of cotton with the stability of polyester – reducing sagging over time and delivering a smoother surface ideal for detailed work.
Linen, derived from flax, is stronger and more durable than cotton. It resists tearing and offers a beautiful surface for both detailed and expressive techniques. Although more expensive, professional linen canvas is favoured by artists for its strength and archival quality.
Our range includes Belgian linen canvases, available in primed or unprimed, and in textures ranging from ultra-smooth to coarse.
Canvas Weave and Texture
Canvas texture plays a major role in how your brushwork appears and how the paint behaves. Whether you want a smooth surface for portraits or a heavily textured base for bold strokes, Wholesale Canvas Australia stocks a wide selection of fine and extra fine canvases and medium, rough and coarse textures.
Textures are independent of weight – for instance, you can find a lightweight rough canvas or a heavyweight extra-fine linen. Artists often select texture based on their preferred style: smooth for delicate detail, coarse for expressive paintwork.
Canvas Weight – GSM and OZ Explained
Canvas weight is measured in grams per square metre (gsm) or ounces per square yard (oz). The heavier the canvas, the more tension it can handle. For large artworks or heavy paint applications, we recommend:
Lightweight: (8oz) – great for sketching or practice
Medium weight: (10oz) – versatile and widely used
Heavyweight: (12oz) – ideal for impasto and professional work
Extra Heavy Weight: (15ox) – ideal for artists wanting a super heavy duty and durable canvas
Priming – Preparing Your Canvas
Properly priming your canvas ensures long-term stability and better paint adhesion. It also allows you to create a smoother painting surface.
Ideal for artists who want full control over their surface preparation. Available in natural cotton (cream) and natural linen (brown), unprimed fabric allows for traditional rabbit skin glue sizing or modern acrylic gesso primers.
Acrylic primers act as both size and ground, sealing the fabric and creating a receptive surface. Universal primer works for both acrylic and oil paints. Oil Primed Canvas is only suitable for oil painting, oil-primed surfaces offer a smoother, less absorbent ground.
Find the Right Canvas for Your Next Project
Whether you're a student artist, professional painter, or educator, Wholesale Canvas Australia is your trusted supplier for:
