National Galleries Canvas Prints

National Galleries Canvas Prints

National Galleries has a huge collection of original canvas paintings by many famous painters and is definitely well worth visiting. There is nothing more special than seeing original canvas paintings by famous artists close up. The fine detail, colours, brush strokes and techniques are to be marvelled at. You can only really appreciate the sheer size and presence that an original canvas painting has by seeing it close up in person. Just imagine if you could have a high quality canvas reproduction made for your home so that you could appreciate your favourite artists and their magnificent paintings… Well, now you can!

Canvas Prints from Paintings

Photographic reproductions on paper are nothing new but they never seem to capture the stunning brilliance of how the original masterpiece made you feel when you first saw it. Canvas prints, on the other hand, do capture the magnificence of the original painting in all its fullness. The biggest difference in reproduction technique is the material used. Paper looks good but canvas looks brilliant. Canvas is far more authentic to the original than paper will ever be. The texture of the weave, the stretcher bars used, the way the light interacts with the canvas – none of that can be achieved with paper.

Varnished Canvas Prints

A lot of old masters were coated with shellac upon completion to protect them. The shellac gave the paintings a vibrancy and sheen that often brought them to life. Canvas printing is similar in nature as the canvas prints are only brought to life when a special varnish coating is applied. The varnish not only gives lovely rich, vivid colours but also protects the canvas print. Blacks become “black” and the colour depth your canvas print takes on is absolutely astounding. The varnish also protects against abrasion, acts as an ultra violet barrier and prevents moisture damage - in fact you can wipe them clean with a damp cloth when they become dusty.

Professional Canvas Printing

Only a truly professional canvas printer is able to produce canvas prints effectively as it is difficult to apply the varnish evenly. It is also extremely time consuming taking a full twenty four hours for the varnish to dry properly. There are many copycat printers out there which claim this step is not required and all I would say to this is to take what they have produced and compare it to the original – it won’t even be close, and worse still you can’t clean it either as you will mark the un-varnished canvas print. However, comparing the varnished canvas print with the original will result in a staggeringly close resemblance to the original. In fact it’s almost too close…

For more information contact National Galleries Picture Library:

National Galleries Canvas Prints
picture.library@nationalgalleries.org

http://www.canvasprintmaker.co.uk