Designing with Canvas Transfers

Adding brushwork to your canvas transfer

If your getting ready to buy a canvas transfer and you have decided to make this type of investment in art you might want to consider brushwork as an added option for your canvas transfer. Real paintings and original artwork have visual texture. You can see the patterns created by the brush of the artist. These brush strokes add texture and depth. This texture can be simulated amazingly well when it comes to canvas transfers.An experienced artisan can apply a layer of acrylic to a canvas transfer and give it the visual texture of an original oil painting. However, brushwork can also be applied sloppily and the result is a amateurish attempt to simulate a painting. According to Patricia Gary, founder of Poster Art Solutions, its vital that the artisans applying brushwork have the requisite experience. "Applying brushwork is a learned skill and it usually takes many months if not years to perfect." " Its not rocket science but you can certainly ruin the appearance of an otherwise stunning reproduction with haphazardly applied brush strokes."

Gary has some tips for making sure the company doing your brushwork is really up to the task. "I  give people the same advice about brushwork as I do about canvas transfers in general." "Make sure the company your doing business with has a track record."  "If you want quality brushwork then you have to buy from a company that actually trains their employees on how to properly apply the acrylic when applying brushwork."

For more information on brushwork you can visit the Poster Art Solutions web site. They have a page that explains brushwork and shows a simple graphic illustrating the process.

Beyond Canvas Transfers

Canvas Transfers are an important part of creating life in your apartment or home. However, furniture and accessories are also vital. Recently I found a fantastic site that has a number of very useful articles about decorating your home. The site is decormotif.com. You can navigate the site based on your area of interest. For example If you are looking for information on decorating the kitchen you can go to the kitchen section. The navigational structure really makes it easy to find the information you are looking for quickly.I highly recommend visiting this site if you are just starting the decorating process.

Authentic vs laminated canvas transfers

You definitely want to make sure you are getting an authentic canvas transfer when you lay down your hard earned cash. The Art Beat Blog has a brief article on authentic canvas transfers vs cheap knockoffs. They discuss how authentic canvas transfers are created by embedding and preserving the ink in acrylic. With cheap knockoffs the print is simply laminated to canvas.

The best way to avoid cheap knockoffs is to buy from a Company that has been around for a while and has a reputation of excellence. Poster Art Solutions has been creating canvas transfers for over 18 years at the whole sale level. Now they are selling at the retail level so you can enjoy great quality at a very affordable price.

If you buy from another company and the price seems to good to be true just remember it probably is.
A reputable company often has testimonials or references from other customers on their home page. Its true that companies can just make up testimonials but generally those are pretty easy to spot.

Which type of Canvas Transfer do I want? Museum wrap or Gallery wrap?

There are many options that you must consider when buying a canvas transfer. You should be careful when selecting these options because canvas transfers aren't cheap. The most common question we receive has to do with how a canvas transfer is wrapped. We have a page on our site dedicated to explaining the various options for your canvas transfer. It is a good place to start even if you plan on purchasing your canvas transfer from another retailer.

The key difference between a museum wrapped canvas transfer and a gallery wrapped canvas transfer has to do with how the canvas is attached to the stretcher bars. In the museum wrap method extra white canvas is wrapped around the sides of the stretcher bars and attached to the bars with staples in the back. No part of the actual print image is wrapped around the sides using the museum wrap method. When the gallery wrap method is used, part of the actual print image is wrapped around the sides of the stretcher bars. As mentioned above if you want to really understand the difference go to our canvas page.

One method is not superior to the other. It is really a matter of taste. However there are some important caveats. If you are purchasing a small canvas transfer, you need to remember that the visible part of the image is reduced by 1 1/2" inches on every side using the gallery wrap method. This means that for smaller canvas transfers a significant portion of the image may disappear around the sides. That is why we recommend using the museum wrap method for smaller sized canvas transfers.

Both the Museum wrap and Gallery wrap canvas transfer can be very elegant. The museum wrap canvas transfer has a very neat and finished appearance. The gallery wrap canvas transfer is wrapped just like a real oil painting. Its also important to remember that you are not limited to white sides for the museum wrap canvas transfer. At most stores including ours you can request black sides for your museum wrap canvas transfer. To do that you simply have to send an email after you order requesting black sides. If you are ordering at our store please include the order number in the email. We will be posting more on this subject in upcoming posts.

Bringing life to your Apartment or house with Canvas Transfers

If your walls are baron or feel baron chances are you need some art work to add life to your apartment or house. Art work can add warmth, sophistication, and even intimacy to your kitchen, living room, bedroom, or dining room. Of course we don't all know or have friends that are artists. We probably also don't want to exclusively rely on posters or prints. Canvas Transfers can give you the feel of original art work at a fraction of the cost. However canvas transfers are not cheap. Its important to find a reliable company to buy from. Its important that the workers making your canvas transfer have the years of experience necessary to insure a quality reproduction. Its also  a good idea to buy from a company that is actually producing the canvas transfer. The reason is simple. If you buy from a third party you are probably paying more. Thats because you are dealing with a middleman. There is nothing wrong with middlemen except they have to take their cut as well.

Poster Art Solutions is a company based in Sun Land Park, New Mexico. They have been manufacturing canvas transfers for over eighteen years. They were originally a whole sale only operation but they recently opened up a new retail operation for individual consumers. The reason I endorse them is because I work for them and I know they are one of the few companies out there on the Internet that actually produce their own canvas transfers in house. As a result, they are substantially cheaper than other on-line retailers selling canvas transfers. Poster Art Solutions is almost always cheaper for all canvas transfers and they have been for some time. Very rarely will you find items that are more expensive than their competitors. By the way I have their canvas transfers all over my house. They are extraordinary reproductions. I prefer the newer artists who are abstract but really  that is a matter of taste. I started this blog so that individual consumers could start finding quality canvas transfers at a more affordable price point. I urge you to compare the quality and price of the canvas transfers sold at Poster Art Solutions. I don't think you will find a similar deal on the Internet. If you do find a better deal on canvas transfers from a reputable company buy it!

I will be posting to this blog periodically to highlight some of the best art work out there available for transfer to canvas. This is very subjective but I really like some of the new contemporary artists and their work seems to be tailor made for transfer to canvas.