On a blank art canvas what are the extra bits for ??

Question

I have recently got a blank art canvas and it has some extra wooden bits that look like they could be pushed into the corners. What are they for?

Answer 1

just that to be pressed into the corners of the canvas to restretch your canvas. inevitably when we paint on canvas it loosens its tautness and even makes depressions, once your painting is ready simply press them into the four corners between the stretcher bars and canvas, if that doesnt do the trick, which it rarely does; then forget the bits, toss them to the side and get a sponge with hot water, dip the sponge in the hot water (must be hot) then on the back of the painting on the other side of the canvas wipe the canvas with the sponge, not too wet but wet enough, let dry, the hot water on the canvas material will streth the canvas taut and tight, and viola you have a finished painting

Answer 2

They are there for a very selfish reason that has become "unselfish" in modern engineering. Long ago when an artist's stretched canvas, they first made it tighy upon his won stretcher bars which didnt include the little sots you'll find in the backs of modern canvases,......and canvas was made of three things way back then much as it is today, Jute, linen or cotton & those items were terribly important to an artist who's eranings then are much as they are now and for the same reasons (another story).......the canvas was easily gotten but the stretcher bars were usually cut for the size of a piece of material less a few inched on either set of sides, vertical and horizontal.........if a canvas gave up tension while the painting was being laid in or finished,...."then the artist could go back and Tighten the canvas" with the same "hard to find"...tacks...so he didnt need the little wooden slabs and slots on the backs of the canvases we see today...Art suppliers today "who make canvases" trim the edges so they can utilize the least canvas per "Manufactuered Item"....in this case the "finished canvas and bars,"...they put the little slots and slabs there for you so you can tighten the canvas yourself without having to re-staple the edges to tighten it,..( you pound the slabbs into the little slots to tighten the Mortise joint) ..a novel idea born from greed.......However, you can now find canvases that have extra cloth behind the back with no slots......"one minor note:".......one way to tighten a canvas after it is finished "if it is somehow loose".....is to spray the back with water and it will tighten up immediately,...the humidity will expand the stretcher bars and "voilah" you have a neat, tight little package ready to frame and sell with a very smooth surface which adds lustre to any varnish you might use as a finish. Now you know the rest of the story. artists are a bit nutty by nature and just as greedy but they have a way of justifying their own greed,.....I know I do,...It's to supply money to pay my bills"...somehow thats greedy!....... and just one more thing to tidy this up,......An artist of old would have finally "trimmed the edges of his canvas" before sale, as it made him look like a better engineer.

Answer 3

Fire wood.

Depending on the quality of the pre-stretched canvas you have to stretch it some more. Usually this does not work very well because mostly it isn't mounted very good. You should first stretch and prime (Gesso) after. Pre-stretched canvases are almost always the other way around....not good and stretching 'more' is of no use.

You could try to bring some tension to the canvas but I have found it never works. I now stretch my canvas myself. Takes some work to get it right but you will never buy pre-stretched again.

Answer 4

They are the wedges for the half bridal joints that make up the corners of the stretcher frame. They expand the joints in order to tension the canvas.

Answer 5

I agree to all the above.
However, don't forget that you just have to put the wooden bits in the frame while you are painting. Later, when your painting is superficially dry, you can stretch the canvas, IF necessary, by pushing them further.
(you don't paint on a fully stretched canvas).
Good luck!

Answer 6

To push into the corners.

If humidity causes the stretched canvas to sag, you can use a small hammer and tap the shims into the stretcher to make it bigger and take out the wrinkle. That's known as keying out.

Answer 7

you tap these into the corners to give extra ridgidity and strech to the cancas do it before you paint on to the canvas to that the oils dont crack later.

Answer 8

they are to put into the corners on the inside, they keep the canvas taught

Answer 9

Long nails can be harbingers for bacteria, particularly if they are artificial, but they will are good for scratching and opening those little foil wrapped containers which are so hard to get directly into.