Guide
What Artists Paint On
Canvas, panel, linen, paper, metal and wall: how painting supports are built, prepared, and why the wrong substrate fails decades later
A painting support is the surface paint adheres to: stretched linen, oak panel, watercolour paper, copper sheet, or lime plaster on a wall. This guide maps the main support types, how sizing and gesso prepare them, linen versus cotton weave, stretcher bars and panel cradling, named works in major museums, typical failure modes, and what each option costs in a studio today without turning into a gear catalogue.
