Canvas Panel As Building Bases

Note: I originally posted this article on 3 September 2010 but have since updated it. Given the interest in the post and my brief update below, I've updated the publishing date to make it more current. The post's URL, however, has not changed.

Looking for some more Woodland Scenics trees and materials for making hedgerows and other scenery, we popped down to Colonial Photo & Hobby last weekend. I did pick up a few items that I'll be writing about one of these days.

We then popped across the street to Sam Flax, an art supply stores catering to artists and students. They have a store in Atlanta and here in Orlando. Why do I mention this? First, they are having a MASSIVE sale running until the end of September. I picked up a 12"x8.5" cutting mat for only $2.69 and a 12"x18" mat for only $5.39. Retail on the latter is $15! They have other sizes as well for about 70% off. They also have all brushes at 50% off, but were out of all the Windsor & Newton #7 sizes I needed--rats! They do mail-order, so you might want to check their website's sale sheet.

Canvas Panels--A Cunning Idea!
Lately, I have been hopped on putting all my buildings and small scenery scenes on dedicated bases. I've talked about this on TMP and here, looking at cutting sheets of thin plywood to size. I just need to get a saw and some horses. Sounds easy enough, and we can afford it no problem. I would just have to suck up the usual "abuse" every husband gets from the wife when he brings a new tool into the garage: "Why do you need another tool? Don't you have enough toys?" And on and on. You know, the typical drill.

Then at Sam Flax I came across canvas panels. They come in many sizes, are fairly inexpensive, are just as rigid as thin plywood, and save a lot of time. From the Art Alternative web page: "These canvas panels present an economical and easily portable alternative to stretched canvas–great for students on the go. They are designed for use with all media, and are of archival quality. The 7 oz. canvas is 100% cotton, triple primed with acrylic gesso and securely glued to a 100% recycled, acid-free board. All canvas sides wrap around and are secured in place on the back side. The convenient label provides an area to identify the artist, title, medium, etc."

Of course, I had no idea what sizes I needed for my buildings. Instead of guessing, I bought a 3"x5" panel to experiment and remember the idea. It should take paint, glue, and such with no problem. I'll play around with them and see what I come up with.

Below is the price sheet for the panels listed on the AA website.

Order No.	Description	MSRP
AA7032	3" x 5"	$.79
AA7034	4" x 4"	$.89
AA7001	4" x 5"	$.89
AA7036	4" x 6"	$1.09
AA7038	5" x 5"	$.99
AA7002	5" x 7"	$1.19
AA7040	6" x 6"	$1.29
AA7003	6" x 8"	$1.49
AA7042	6" x 12"	$1.99
AA7046	7" x 9"	$1.79
AA7050	8" x 8"	$1.79
AA7004	8" x 10"	$1.99
AA7054	8" x 16"	$2.89
AA7005	9" x 12"	$2.39
AA7006	10" x 10"	$2.19
AA7007	10" x 14"	$3.09
AA7008	10" x 20"	$3.89
AA7009	11" x 14"	$3.19
AA7010	12" x 12"	$3.19
AA7011	12" x 16"	$4.09
AA7058	12" x 24"	$5.49
AA7012	14" x 18"	$4.79
AA7013	15" x 30"	$8.29
AA7014	16" x 20"	$6.09
AA7015	18" x 18"	$5.99
AA7016	18" x 24"	$8.39
AA7017	20" x 24"	$9.59
AA7018	20" x 30"	$11.59
AA7019	22" x 28"	$12.09
AA7020	24" x 24"	$11.59
AA7021	24" x 30"	$13.49
AA7022	24" x 36"	$17.59

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Update: 28 October 2013
A quick update prompted by History PhD's great comment below. After painting a 7"x9" panel with craft paint two days ago, the Art Alternatives canvas panel has not warped one bit. Plus, for the past year or more it has been fully exposed air without any warping. So it looks like these panels should work fine. As I posted in the comments, I don't have any panels larger than 12"x12", so I can't personally vouch for warping on the very large panels. Regardless, I'm not sure how study a huge panel would be since they were designed to  be mounted in frames.

I was hoping to snap a photo of the panel, but I haven't been feeling the greatest. I'll be sure to snap one later this week.