Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas features 13 oz universal primed linen with a medium texture. Excellent for oil and acrylic painting, from thin washes to thick impasto marks. Painters, Peggy Cozzi and Jack Sutherland tested the canvases for suitability in their own art practices and shared their thoughts with us below.
Peggy Cozzi Tests Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas
First Impressions
The Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas (60 x 60 cm) arrived in secure shipping packaging with corner protection. Each canvas was individually sealed in moisture proof wrap. On opening they were in perfect condition. The stretchers are solid and well constructed, perfectly square with no warping.
Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas
I was instantly impressed by the look and feel of the linen, which was tautly stretched without a single dent or pucker. The linen is obviously strong and of good quality which sets it apart from some commercially ready made canvases that can be flimsy and prone to tears and dents.
It is uniformly primed in white including edges and back folds. The surface was in pristine condition.
Using the Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas
I was pleasantly surprised by the well primed and super smooth surface and was excited to try them out. My primary medium is oil paint and the surface quality of these canvases is perfect for the immediacy of my approach – I work with quite thinned oil paint, using broad brush strokes layered wet into wet – sometimes leaving areas of dripped paint to form the composition.
I found Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas a great fit for the way I paint – the surface is smooth enough to allow the paint to glide on and be moved quickly around, but also receptive with just the right amount of tooth.
I usually make a painting over several sessions allowing a bit of drying time between. I was delighted with how well the paint surface, strokes and colour definition were maintained between sessions – the paint remaining on the surface with no areas of sinkage, loss of lustre, colour or definition.
Final Thoughts on Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas
I usually stretch and prepare my own canvases so that I can be sure of getting the exact quality I need and will certainly continue to do so, however, Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvases 13 oz are an excellent affordable option which I thoroughly enjoyed testing and will definitely use again and highly recommend to other painters.
About Peggy Cozzi
Peggy Cozzi was born in Nassau, Bahamas and grew up in the UK. She currently works from her studio in Bridport, Dorset and is also a qualified Art tutor.
She studied Painting at Portsmouth Polytechnic followed by Postgraduate training in London, later completing an MA in Fine Art at the Arts University Bournemouth in 2014. Since graduating, she has refined her individual practice focussing on the medium of oil paint through which she explores her gestural mode of abstraction characterised by a fluid energy paired with distinctive colour sensibility. She has undertaken solo and collaborative exhibitions, residencies and curatorial projects in the UK and Europe.
She has been shortlisted for several national prizes. Her work is held in private and corporate collections in the UK, Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. Recent Exhibitions include the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, The Lanesborough Art Programme and an invited solo exhibition at Mall Galleries Reception.
Jack Sutherland Tests Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas
Jackson’s have very generously sent me some of their in-house linen canvases to try out; I’m mostly making small-to-medium sized paintings at the moment so I’m working on 30 x 40 cm and 40 x 50 cm surfaces. Upon unpacking my immediate impression is that the grain of the linen is showing through the primer in a wonderful way; when I’m painting on cotton canvas or linen I want to be able to work with that texture and utilise it within the painting. The universal primer is suitable for acrylic and oil applications, and I’ve decided that I’m going to employ both for this test.
Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas
Normally I would assemble my own surfaces using stretcher bars and priming the surface over the course of a few days, however on occasion I warmly welcome bypassing this stage of the process, and it’s fantastic to get straight to painting on these canvases. I’ve got a few ink scribbles around that I’d like to work out and see if they can function as paintings so those are the starting points I’m using. Watered down acrylic is serving as a base layer, and the primed linen surface is taking the paint really well. It’s a very subjective thing, how you like your painting surfaces to feel, but these are almost ideal for my application; it’s not too absorbent or chalky and the paint eagerly slips and slides its way across the linen, but it doesn’t feel like ice skating either – there’s enough tooth or texture to make it an intuitively responsive interaction.
I’m less familiar with acrylics than I am with oils, and I can say that once I begin using oils is the moment where the surfaces really shine – a very small amount of paint can go a very long way, which makes the act of painting feel easy. Whether I’ll be happy with the finished work is an entirely different matter, but these surfaces are helping me as much as possible. Stapled to the back of each canvas is a set of wedges which is always handy depending on what kind of painting you’re making / variations in humidity etc. My initial impression is that these seem like very stable surfaces. My final observation is that these canvases have nice sharp edges! A lot of the pre-made ones I’ve used have frustratingly rounded edges, but these are crisply defined and very satisfying.
Overall the Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas seems like very good value for money, and are superior to the other pre-made surfaces I’ve tried. I’m very much looking forward to finishing the paintings I’ve started.
About Jack Sutherland
Jack Sutherland was born in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, UK in 1989 and is currently based in London. He graduated from the University for Creative Arts in 2011 with a BA in Fine Art and from the Slade School of Fine Art with an MFA in 2019.
Jack Sutherland’s paintings are about the human condition. Frustrating, humorous, nihilistic, silly moments taking place within the theatre of the absurd. Explorations of bodily anxiety and trepidation are paired with fizzing and playful use of colour to create work that prods at the soft underbelly of the uncanny.
Cartoonish bodily abstraction, wordplay, cropping as a compositional tool, and vulnerability are all given high precedence within the paintings, with scale being used to either intensify or undercut the imagery. Rarely is the full human figure depicted; the viewer is given a multiplicity of body parts across many paintings for them to assemble and disassemble the body as they please.
Further Reading
Painting With Acrylic and Oil on Jackson’s Canvas
Size, Primer, Gesso and Ground Explained
Painting With Watercolour on Canvas: Choosing the Best Watercolour Ground
How to Use the Canvas Wedges That Come With a Canvas or Stretcher Bars
Shop Jackson’s Premium Stretched Linen Canvas on jacksonsart.com
Shop Jackson’s Wet in Wet Fast Drying Oil Painting Medium on jacksonsart.com
