Canvas has only been employed since the Renaissance, yet there are countless paintings on that are truly stunning. Today’s artists also work on canvas, and their work cannot objectively be considered as less appealing than that of painters who work on wood. Subjective opinions, on the other hand, can always lead to anything.
People assume that when they look at paintings, they see color from the top down. They believe they perceive the colors at the opposite levels that they were placed on the painting if there is an area of complex hues where they may be able to distinguish layering. However, this is not the case. Light strikes an artwork, penetrates through all the paint and reaches the rear surface, whatever that surface is, from a source (maybe ambient, possibly a lightbulb (as in a gallery). The light then bounces (or is refracted in scientific terms) and returns to your eye via all the layers. As a result, we perceive color from the bottom up. If you comprehend this, you will paint differently or on alternative surfaces.
This is the primary purpose for priming the canvas with gesso before painting. The more (white) gesso you use, the more light refraction you’ll obtain, and the more illumination your colors will have. This also means that you can get the same brightness with gesso on wood – it’s just a matter of layering. This is also why metal is so cool: it doesn’t need to be coated! Metal’s light refraction is already present, and the colors are lighted automatically. If you are an art lover and looking for custom canvas painting for sale, do visit www.abrahamdayan.net.
Artist Abraham Dayan 