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pigmented colorants: dependence on media and time - Cornell ...

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ensure uniform tensi<strong>on</strong> <strong>and</strong> stress, as seen in Figure 2.4. One must be careful<br />

not to over tighten the cloth, <strong>and</strong> thus save having undesirable problems. This<br />

includes canvas tears <strong>and</strong> the risk of the frame warping or breaking from stress.<br />

Therefore, the goal of stretching canvas is for the cloth to be just taut enough to<br />

readily spring back from a touch, since paintbrushes do not behave well <strong>on</strong> flimsy<br />

surfaces.<br />

Figure 2.4: Stretching cott<strong>on</strong> canvas over a wooden frame via a staple<br />

gun. The surface to which paint will eventually be applied faces<br />

the ground. The crossbar in the middle of the frame provides added<br />

strength to the frame.<br />

After the cloth is attached to the frame, the resulting flexible support is much<br />

lighter than a solid wooden panel <strong>and</strong> can be easily transported. A painting ex-<br />

ecuted with good archival techniques will outlive its stretcher bars <strong>and</strong> its fabric<br />

support. Most people today are surprised to learn that both the canvas support<br />

of a painting <strong>and</strong> its stretcher bars have to be replaced periodically through <strong>time</strong>.<br />

Flexible supports are much thinner than wood panels <strong>and</strong> therefore are more<br />

susceptible to atmospheric <strong>and</strong> mechanical damage. C<strong>on</strong>stant movement resulting<br />

from fluctuati<strong>on</strong>s in temperature <strong>and</strong> humidity can c<strong>on</strong>tribute to physical deteri-<br />

13

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