DIY Archives | Carol L. Douglas

Geraniums, pastel, ~24X30. Available, but has to be collected in person as it’s glazed in non-reflective glass.

There’s an idea among painters that DIY saves money. Stretch your own canvases. Build your own frames. Cut your own panels. Control the art materials cost and keep more profit.

But is that actually cheaper? Sometimes. Often, no. Art supplies are expensive, but so is wasted studio time.

How to save money on art supplies without sacrificing quality

Standard painting sizes save money. When you work in standard canvas sizes, you benefit from mass production. Manufacturers stock them. Frame companies produce moulding for them. Art supply sales frequently discount them.

Odd sizes reduce options and increase cost. Custom framing and mats become inevitable. Shipping costs rise. That quietly erodes your profit margin.

I knew a watercolorist who stocked only one size painting. She moved them in crates that she packed in a fraction of the time I was wasting wrapping each work separately. The crates stacked easily in her van. She only had to order one size frame and one size paper. And her booth always looked effortlessly elegant.

For professional painters, standardization isn’t dull—it’s smart business. It improves studio efficiency and reduces friction from easel to sale.

Pink Carnations, 8X10, oil on archival canvasboard, $522 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Are DIY canvases and frames cheaper?

Raw materials and tools aren’t cheap. Quality canvas, linen, boards, stretcher bars, hardwood moulding, corner clamps, biscuit joiners or v-nailers, miter saws—these all add up fast.

Woodworking is its own art form. After investing $1,500 or more in tools, you will almost certainly be bad at it, at least at first. Miters won’t close. Corners don’t stay glued. You’ll be off by a 16^th of an inch. Finish will run. And stretching canvas to the right tension is a skill.

Meanwhile, you’re not painting. Is this the best use of your creative energy?

Oil painting medium is a great example. I learned how to make my own using damar varnish, turpentine, linseed oil and cobalt drier, but if you look at mid-century paintings done with that combination you’ll see cracking and crazing. The cost of the materials will set you back more than many jars of better, modern mediums.

Daylilies and lace-cap hydrangea, 11X14, $869 includes shipping and handling in continental US.

Buying art supplies on sale changes the math

Art supply sales are not trivial. They can run twenty to forty percent off frames, panels or canvases. When you buy professional art materials at those discounts, the gap between DIY and retail shrinks dramatically.

“I walked into Jerry’s one day and saw this ridiculous sale—40% off—on square wood frames that my buyers seem to love,” my student told me. “I bought a bunch but will always regret not buying every single one. They were so cheap and look so good, and I only have a couple left!”

That’s art business cost control.

Be a cheapskate buyer of quality materials. Watch for sales. Stock up on standard sizes. Plan ahead. Buying canvases and frames during art supply sales is more cost-effective than DIY.

Forsythia at Three Chimneys, oil on archival canvasboard, $869 framed includes shipping and handling in continental United States.

Professional vs. student-grade: don’t cut the wrong corners

A workshop student asked me why I recommend professional grade painting boards. For an absolute beginner they don’t matter. But once you get past that, cheap boards sabotage your results. And cheap paint is never a bargain.

The goal is economical framing options and efficient supply purchasing without compromising your work. Use professional-grade materials, but buy them intelligently.

One reason artists love to DIY

Sometimes DIY isn’t about economics, it’s about avoidance.

Researching moulding profiles feels productive. Building stretchers feels industrious. But they don’t answer the harder question: what are you going to put on that blank canvas? If your mission is to grow as a painter, sell more work, and build a sustainable art practice, then focus on the thing that matters. Paint.

Registration is now open for workshops in 2026! Reserve your spot:

Find your Authentic Voice in Plein Air | Berkshires, MA, August 10-14, 2026
New! Color Clinic 2026 | Rockport, ME, October 3-4, 2026
New! Composition Week 2026 | Rockport, ME, October 5-9, 2026

Can’t commit to a full workshop? Work online at your own pace:

Seven Protocols for Successful Oil Painters

Skylarking 2, 18×24, unframed $1855, oil on linen. I stretch my own linen canvases.

“I have a roll of cotton duck kicking around here,” B- asked. “Can I just duct tape a big piece of that to a piece of plywood and put a few coats of acrylic gesso on it? Should I leave a few inches raw around the edge in case it comes out decent, so I can mount it on a stretcher?”

B- needs to know whether her fabric is unshrunk and unsized, or loomstate. Standard sewing fabric won’t work. The gesso is meant to shrink the fabric into tautness. Duct tape isn’t designed for that strong pulling stress and will leave a sticky residue. Instead, use staples. Stretcher frames are designed for this process, so it’s easiest to stretch canvas on them, although it can be done over plywood.

*Start by squaring off the stretchers. Use a mallet to get them true and check all four corners.*

She could also buy already-primed linen or canvas. This is easily stapled or taped to a board because the shrinking is done. This is especially handy for class assignments or practicing chip shots.

It’s generally cheaper to buy small canvases and canvasboards than make them yourself. Only when you get to larger sizes, or you want to paint on linen, does DIY becomes a practical option.

*Once I had the fabric true on the warp and weft, I carefully folded it in quarters and set it aside.*

Stretcher bars are designed to float with atmospheric changes, hence the little wooden “keys” that come with them. There is no benefit in locking down the corners by screwing them together. When it shrinks, a big sheet of loom-state linen or canvas is going to pull the stretchers into compliance. That’s why the grain matters.

*Lining up the creases with the marked midpoints of my stretchers assures me the canvas will be truly square.*

The weft in fabric (horizontal threads) isn’t always perfectly perpendicular to the warp (vertical threads). The only true straight-edge in fabric is the selvage edge. You want to cut along the grain, but you can’t just assume the weft threads are perpendicular to the selvage.

If it’s out of true, fabric will bag when folded selvage-to-selvage. You can easily square it off with the help of a friend. Fold the fabric in half along the vertical. Grasping each corner firmly, tug diagonally in alternating directions. Eventually, the fabric will square off and fall true. The ends might be cockeyed; ignore them.

Although dressmakers and quilters might use water or steam in this step, you can’t. It will shrink the fabric.

*The first staples should be hand-tight, no more*.

Once you’re certain the fabric is squared off, fold it in quarters. The creases will be your stapling guides.

Mark each stretcher bar’s midpoint with pencil. Line the creases up with these pencil marks, and your canvas will pull tightly on the square. Your first set of staples should be across the middle of the canvas on the warp. They should be hand-tight, no tighter. Next, staple the vertical midpoints. These four staples should all be hand-tight, without cupping around the staples, and the corners of your canvas should be square. If these four staples yield a straight cross at the right tension, the rest of the canvas will line up true.

*You might have to remove and replace staples to get the cross straight, but it’s worth taking the time.*

From here use canvas pliers or your hand to pull the canvas tight but not taut. Work out from the center of each side, adding one staple and then rotating the canvas. The goal isn’t to tighten the fabric as taut as you can; the goal is to tighten it as evenly as you can. Watch the fabric grain as you go; if it’s out of line, you’ve messed something up.

*Work around the canvas in a circle, adding a staple to each side until you reach the edges. The linen doesn’t need to be drum-tight.*

Applying the gesso is easy; just keep it light and even. I use a small piece of ¼” plywood as a strigil rather than a brush; it’s faster and more effective. Make sure the gesso goes around the sides of your canvas. Don’t dilute; good gesso is already the proper thickness.

Tag: DIY

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