Hi, I have a painting of size 60 inch by 40 inch. How can make a professional canvas?
Outside it is costing me 500$.
Hi @imcodebased,
Before getting started, it’s worth confirming exactly what you’re looking to make. If you already have a painting measuring 60" × 40" (which is approximately 152 cm × 102 cm), I’m assuming it’s painted on loose canvas and you’re wanting to build a timber stretcher frame to mount and tension it on, rather than making the canvas fabric itself. If that’s the case, you can definitely build a professional-looking frame yourself. For a painting that size, you could use 42 x 19mm pine, cutting two lengths at 152 cm and two at 93.6 cm, and I would strongly recommend adding at least one centre brace across the 93.6 cm span to prevent bowing. The corners can be assembled either with corner angle brackets or simple butt joints screwed together, but in both cases, you should apply PVA wood glue to the joints before fixing them, as the glue provides long-term strength and rigidity. The centre braces can be secured with tee brackets.
Make sure the frame is square by checking the diagonal measurements, and ensure the timber is straight so it doesn’t twist the canvas. Once assembled, the canvas can be stretched evenly, starting from the centre of each side and working outward, fixing it to the sides or back of the frame with tacks.
Bear in mind that I've given measurements for the exact size of your canvas. However, typically you would make the frame slightly smaller than your canvas, so 20mm on all sides can be folded over and tacks installed on the sides. But, it really depends on how much of a sacrificial border you have on your canvas.
I've created the rendering below to assist.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Mitchell
