Finishing the Bones

Once upon a time, not too long ago, I wanted to take up painting.  I wanted to not only learn how to paint, but also to build my own stretcher bars to create a frame for the canvas to be stretched over, so that I could create my own canvas for painting.  The stretcher bars and frame are the "bones" that provides the structure for a canvas painting.

At some point in the last two years, I purchased a really huge painting (I believe it's 5 feet x 3.5 feet).  The painting was sent to me in a tube, rolled up, which is a really great way to save on shipping (if one had the knowledge of creating the stretcher bars/frame and knowledge of stretching canvas).  It was up to me to build my own stretcher bars/frame and stretch the painting onto the bars.  Yes, this is a very involved process and some might just forgo the costs in favor of a painting already stretched and ready to be hung.  Yet, I guess I like learning and doing things the "hard" way.

I started out building my stretcher bars about two years ago.  At the time, I had purchased the wood, nailed quarter-round strips of wood onto one-inch pieces of wood, and then properly sized the one-inch wood to fit this painting.  Unfortunately, I didn't have all the proper tools to finish it off.  Finally, yesterday (seriously, two years later), I was able to screw in all the wood together, along with several braces to finish off the frame.  It took lots of time and lots of trips to the store, but I got my frame done.  Now all I need to do is with stretch the painting over the bars.

If you're interested in creating your own stretcher bars/frame or stretching your own canvas for painting, I'd suggest the following inspiring blogs/posts on the internet:

http://www.diehlart.com/the-art-of-making-a-painting/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7iRiF1k7s4