surfaces

• Introduction
• FAQs
• Linen and Cotton
• Priming
• Stretchers
• Panels
• Workshops
• Feedback

Essential artwork surface materials, stretching tools and accessories are all now available to purchase online! Click here to visit our online store

John Jones supply professional cotton duck canvas and portrait linen canvas painting surfaces in a variety of weights and grains for diverse professional artists, student artists and hobbyists.

Professional Artist Canvases - Linen

Our London workshop and studio offers artist linen produced using high quality fine Belgian fabric. This portrait linen is available to purchase at 84” wide, by the metre or on a 10 metre blank canvas roll. Our team of technicians can prepare this linen canvas as an Acrylic Primed, Oil Primed, Pre-Sized or un-primed painting surface.

Linen Canvas Grains

Our professional artist linens are available in four surface grains: coarse, medium, fine and superfine. The texture of the surface is determined by the threads per inch (thread count) and the construction of the weave. A rough canvas surface helps to pull the paint from a brush or palette knife, and is particularly useful if you use impasto techniques in your artwork. A medium-tooth canvas surface makes it easier to blend large areas. A smooth canvas surface is ideal for those who work with glazes and fine detail, and was traditionally used as artist portrait linen for modulation of tone. For artists requiring an extremely smooth, perfect finish, we also offer Acrylic Primed Superfine Berge artist linen.

Why choose artist linen?

Linen has been the professional painter’s choice for centuries, providing one of the best painting surfaces to work on. The finest artist linen has a high thread count per inch creating a beautiful natural texture to work on. Linen is far superior to cotton in terms of its strength and durability, the length of the natural fibres which are spun into threads are naturally longer than that of cotton and can create a lighter yet stronger weave.

Professional Artist Canvases - Cotton Duck

Our artist quality canvas rolls in Cotton Duck are available to purchase in the following widths and weights:

Unprimed Cotton Duck
12 oz 72"
12 oz 108"
15 oz 72"
15 oz 108"

Acrylic Primed Cotton Duck
12 oz 72"

Why choose cotton duck canvas?

Artist painting surfaces produced from Cotton Duck canvas are the preferred choice for many artists due to their economic price. This quality canvas material provides a smooth regular support with an even grain and is available in many widths and weights. Cotton surfaces can be more prone to bacterial growth. To increase artwork longevity, we recommend using a minimum weight of 12oz.

We supply unprimed Cotton Duck canvas surfaces for artists who prefer to prepare their own supports. If choosing a pre-primed painting surface, it is important to remember that acrylic primed canvas can be used with almost any paint media, whilst oil primed canvas can only be used with traditional oil paint or water soluble oil paints.

To discuss the best artist linen, portrait linen or cotton duck canvas to use with your work, please contact our artist surfaces team.