CRAZY CANVAS

Stretched Canvas Cotton Classic

Crazy Canvas Keilrahmen in the Atelier
Logo Crazy Canvas Made in Berlin

BESTSELLER FROM CRAZY CANVAS

The CRAZY CANVAS COTTON CLASSIC stretched canvas has been a bestseller in our portfolio since over 20 years. This high quality canvas is an artist-favorite and manufactured in our production in Berlin, Germany.

Pile of Crazy Canvas frames

Variety of surfaces

At CRAZY CANVAS, we offer a variety of canvas types for all painting techniques. These include:
- COTTON CLASSIC
- COTTON FINE
- CRAZY MULTIMEDIA
- RAW UNPRIMED

We cover some of these canvases here in our overview, where we take a look at some color and painting applications.  

Stretcher Bar Profile 2cm Standard

CERTIFIED STRETCHER Bars

Our sturdy stretcher bars are made of carefully seasoned softwood from sustainable European forestry. The wood is professionally pre-treated to an ideal residual moisture. The mouldings are glued together several times and finger-jointed, which guarantees the highest possible freedom from warping, as no large tensions can build up.

You can choose from a variety of wood profiles for our stretched canvases: 2cm Standard, 3cm Gallery, 4cm XL, and coming soon 4.5cm Aluminium stretcher bars for museum-grade stability.  

Wooden frame with wedges for streching in detail

Drum-Tight stretched canvas

We stretch with the perfect tension - CRAZY CANVAS is even suitable for playing drums - crazy, right?

If necessary, you can tighten your canvas later with wedges.

Painting on canvas - landscape with watercolour and acrylic on Crazy Canvas Cotton Fine

CURIOUS TO LEARN MORE?

On our tutorials page you can learn more about CRAZY CANVAS applications and some special techniques. Also take a look at the Artist Guide in our Online Shop.

Crazy Canvas Keilrahmen Made in Germany

CRAZY CANVAS SHOP

Visit the CRAZY CANVAS online shop to find the perfect canvas for your next project. Choosing your preferred material, format, and frame depth is easy.

Explore and shop our wide variety of stretched canvases for painting here - quality made in Berlin!

what you need to know about canvases

Frames connection corner in detail

What is a stretched canvas?

A stretched canvas is a slotted bar construction made of wood for re-stretching the painted canvas.

The wooden laths are usually made of soft conifers, such as spruce, pine or fir. The corners of the slats are milled in such a way that they interlock without being nailed together. A canvas fabric, usually made of cotton, is stretched over the wooden frame using staple pins. By inserting wooden wedges, the painted canvas can be retightened.  

Wooden wedges for the canvas stretching tension

What are the wedges for?

All CRAZY CANVAS formats 40x50 cm and larger come with a bag of 8 wood wedges. These are used to re-stretch a painted canvas that has started to sag. Below we explain in detail how and when to re-stretch a stretched canvas. Standard wedges are made of pinewood, but there are also extra stable wedges made of beech hardwood.

Wooden wedges used for streching in the corners of stretched canvas

How do you stretch a stretched canvas?

CRAZY CANVAS is stretched drum-tight on a sturdy wooden stretcher frame with wood from sustainable forestry. All canvases 40x50 cm and larger come with a bag of wedges.

If you notice that the canvas is no longer so tight, for example after a long time or due to a large amount of paint, you can re-stretch the frame. To do this, place the wooden wedges in the corner slots of the frame and drive them in with a hammer until the material is tight again. We have some prepared some tips for you here.

Please also check out our step-by-step tutorial on how to tighten a canvas.

 

Crazy Canvas stretched canvas pile

Does the canvas need to be primed?

Most of our stretched canvases are already primed and ready to paint. So you don't need to apply any extra coating and can start straight away.

Our unprimed cotton canvas RAW can be primed or painted as-is, which currently is a popular trend in the art and creative world.

What colours can you use to paint a canvas?

Canvases can be painted with very different colours. The most commonly used colours are oil, acrylic and tempera paints. 

Depending on the effect you want to achieve, you can use other colours on canvases or combine them in parts.

The following colours are particularly suitable for painting on our primed COTTON canvases:

  • Acrylic paint
  • Gouache
  • Tempera
  • Oil paint
  • Oil pastel 

Watercolour and drawing ink are only suitable for canvases in exceptional cases. For this, there are special primers to prepare the canvas for water-based paints. Or, even better, our stretched canvas CRAZY MULTIMEDIA is a true all-rounder canvas that handles all painting techniques including watercolors, aqua drops, and much more.

Detailed information on colours on canvas can be found here.

Painted canvas Crazy Canvas Cotton Fine by Artist Anne Kathrin Huisken, Bubble

How do you hang a stretched canvas?

There are many ways to hang a stretched canvas. A basic distinction is made here:

  1. Canvas suspension without drilling.
  2. Frame suspension with nails or screws.

In the following examples of canvas hanging, we will focus on the attachment to the canvas itself without additional decorative framing. 

1. canvas hanging without drilling

Adhesive hooks and adhesive stiffeners can be used for light, smaller painted canvases. Drilled metal hooks, on the other hand, can hold a lot more weight.

2. frame suspension with nails or screws

Picture hangers and hanging hooks come in many varieties and are the most common way to hang canvases. With screws and wire or string, a stretched canvas can be hung at an angle and can be very individually adapted to the work and the viewing angle. Heavy-duty hangers are suitable for particularly large and heavy canvas paintings.

Detailed descriptions of the individual hanging systems for painted canvases, as well as requirements and disadvantages, can be found here.

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