I learned to construct my canvases from the ground up. The canvases I built consisted of medium weight Belgian linen stretched over frames made of lumber that I had personally selected. Once the canvas was attached to the stretcher then the linen was sized with rabbit skin glue which made it tighten up perfectly in preparation for a white lead ground. In spite of the obvious drawbacks associated with the use of white lead I look back today and feel there was nothing like preparing a canvas that way. I specially constructed my large canvases so that there was a lot of spring under the brush. I will never forget the excitement of putting that first stroke on a fresh canvas. Click on the text under each of the thumbnails below to see an enlargement of that painting.