Day 3 - Canvas Stretching or Fun With A Staple Gun

So here we are, day three and everything! Got off to a late start since

we ended up at the vet earlier and Kyle had a raging migraine this evening. But all's well that ends.

Supplies today: Staple gun from Wal*Mart, $14.99. Staples, $3.00. Canvas stretchers from Blick, $9.59. Madigan's x-rays, $134. A messy night with my family, priceless.

So basically, we stretched the canvas over the frame (formed by four interlocking strips of wood)

and stapled it down. I spent the first half of the night paranoid that I was accidentally going to staple husband fingers or puppy paws but that staple gun ended up being the most fun part.

Kyle was very pessimistic about how our first stretched canvas would turn out but was pleasantly surprised. The dimensions have gone from 36" X 36" unstretched to 32" X 32".

What do you think?

Next stop: Gridding! Kyle will be marking out the grid on the canvas itself and we'll be choosing our final design based on all the practice sketches (which I will post tomorrow).

Day 1 - Blank Canvas

Okay, so we bought our first materials! Medium-weight canvas, white acrylic for the base coat, and black for detail work, and sponge brushes. Big shout-out to Blick Art Supplies for their 10% student discount! Here's the link if you'd like to visit them online: http://www.dickblick.com/ (I know it doesn't sound like a site you should be visiting!)

First task: To cover the office floor with dropcloth and mask the edge of the canvas.

Wish us luck!