Canvas stretching is a skill that any artist can learn to do at home. However not everyone is aware that canvas stretching can also be a career. Many fine artists and portrait painters do not have time to stretch their own canvases, or they prefer to have someone else do it.
Canvas stretchers usually work within an art supply store at a framing store or a canvas stretching company. Many pre-stretched canvases are mass-produced, but artists often request custom stretched canvases. An artist may want canvases in atypical shapes or sizes, different materials such as cotton or linen, stretcher bars in specific woods, or braces adhered in a certain way. A canvas stretcher should follow an artist's instructions impeccably, and also keep in mind what the artist will be using the canvas for.
Although canvas stretching is traditionally performed by hand, most big canvas stretching companies use canvas stretching machines to aid their work. After stretching the canvas, canvas stretchers sometimes prime the canvas or apply gesso.
Canvas stretching tools:
General carpentry tools are used for stretching canvas as well as other speciality materials. See: Hammer, Staple Gun, Wedges, Cotton Canvas, Tacs, Stretcher Bars, C-Clamps, D-hooks, Framing Wire.
You can be a canvas stretcher
If you want to be a canvas stretcher, you should have an excellent head for math, good carpentry skills, and a lot of patience. An interest in the fine arts is also a plus. The best way to learn canvas stretching is to just do it! Buy some materials and teach yourself at home. Then try to get a job at an art supply store or a larger canvas stretching company.
