You have spent a few weeks of evenings on a canvas and the last number is filled in. If you painted a framed kit, you are finished. If you painted an unframed one, you have a painted sheet of canvas and a decision to make.
There are two reasonable answers, and one thing to measure before you choose either of them.
Measure the Blank Margin First
This is the step that gets skipped, and it is the one that decides everything else.
Look at the blank canvas around the edge of your painted image. To stretch a canvas over wooden bars you need roughly an inch and a half of unpainted canvas on every side, because it has to wrap around the edge of the bar and reach far enough underneath to be stapled without the staples pulling through.
Most unframed paint by numbers canvases, ours included, are printed with a narrower margin than that. They are made to be mounted flat or set into a frame. Several of our customers have discovered this after finishing a painting, and it is a fair criticism, so we would rather you knew now than in three weeks.
Get a ruler out before you buy stretcher bars. If the margin is under an inch, mounting is your route.
Option One: Mount It Flat to a Board
This is the more reliable finish for a narrow margin, and it gives a clean, flat result that sits well in a standard frame.
What you need: a rigid board cut to size (foam board or gatorboard both work), acid-free glue or archival mounting adhesive, a ruler, a utility knife or sharp scissors, a rubber roller or a clean cloth, and a frame.
- Let the paint cure. Acrylic is touch dry in minutes but takes a couple of weeks to harden fully. Mounting a canvas that is still soft is how fingerprints end up permanent.
- Cut the canvas to the board. Measure, mark on the reverse, and cut with a ruler as a guide. Cut slightly generous and trim again rather than cutting short.
- Spread the adhesive on the board, not on the canvas. An even coat, right to the edges, with a wide brush or a roller.
- Lay the canvas down from one edge. Line up one short edge, hold it in place, and lower the rest gradually, smoothing as you go. Going down all at once traps air.
- Roll it out from the center outward to push any bubbles to the edge.
- Weight it flat and leave it. A sheet of clean paper and a few books overnight.
Option Two: Stretch It Over Bars
Only if the margin allows. This gives the gallery-wrapped look with no frame needed.
What you need: stretcher bars cut to the image size, a staple gun, canvas pliers, and scissors.
- Assemble the frame first. Push the mitered corners together and tap them home with a rubber mallet. Check it is square by measuring both diagonals, which should match.
- Lay the canvas face down on a clean surface and center the frame on the back of it.
- Staple the center of one side first, then the center of the opposite side, pulling firm with the pliers. Then the two remaining centers. Working in opposite pairs is what keeps the tension even.
- Work outward from each center toward the corners, alternating sides, spacing staples every couple of inches.
- Fold the corners last. Pull the corner point straight in, fold the two flaps flat against the bar, and staple them down.
If one area is slack, you can usually pull and restaple that section alone. There is no need to strip the whole thing and start again unless it is badly off.
Option Three: Buy the Framed Kit Next Time
Worth saying plainly, because it is the answer for most people. A framed kit arrives already stretched on a wooden frame. You paint on a rigid surface, which is easier on the hands, and it hangs the day it is dry with no second project attached to it.
Our framed kits come in 12x16 and 16x20 inches and include a small easel. The unframed version is 16x20 and costs less, which is the trade. If a finished painting has ever sat in a drawer waiting for you to get around to framing it, buy framed.
Varnish, and When
Varnish is optional. It protects the surface from dust and slows fading, and it evens out the patchy sheen you sometimes get where some colors dry matte and others dry glossy.
Wait until the paint has cured properly, then apply one thin, even coat with a clean wide brush or a spray, working in one direction. One thin coat beats one thick one, which can pool and stay tacky. Do it after mounting or stretching rather than before, so the edges are sealed too.
Looking After It
- Keep it out of direct sunlight. This is the main cause of fading, and it is gradual enough that you do not notice until you move the painting.
- Dust it with a dry, soft brush. Do not wipe an acrylic painting with a damp cloth, and never spray anything onto the surface.
- Avoid damp rooms. Basements and bathrooms will eventually bring mold through the back of a canvas.
- Store canvases on edge, not stacked. Stacked face to face they can stick together, particularly in warm weather and particularly if the paint is young.
- For long-term storage, interleave with acid-free paper and keep them somewhere with a stable temperature.
Then Hang It
The point of finishing a canvas properly is that it ends up on a wall rather than in a cupboard. A painting you spent twenty hours on is worth a nail.
Our guide to framing a paint by number canvas goes further into frame choice and proportions, and the customer gallery shows how other people have finished and hung theirs. When you are ready for the next one, the catalog is here.
