It's Not Done Until You Put on the Dust Cover

Tools I used for finishing off the backs of my art work

I am always on a quest to bring my art to a higher level and there are steps to finishing off your artwork once it is created. These last steps are just so important to the presentation of your art and in many cases are often ignored.   My good artist friend Lily shared with me recently how she had observed that a framing shop she had patronized used a fabric as the dust cover to the pieces they framed.  This dust cover consisted of the black fabric that you find underneath your upholstered furniture and that she was switching from using paper (which easily tears) to using fabric to cover the back of all her work.

I ordered a bag of this upholstery material from Amazon and yesterday was my first opportunity to give it a try.  It turned out to be somewhat of a two man project to get the fabric attached but all in all I'm pretty pleased with the ending results.  When we opened the bag and got a closer look at the fabric we realized this looked very similar to a large roll of landscape fabric that we have.  I'm going to give that a try next to see if it works as well.  If so, the local garden store or hardware store may be my new supplier.

I first laid down a thin layer of adhesive using my Scotch brand Advance Tape Glider gun to the 4 sides of the canvas and in my case down the center support bar.  All of the pieces that I was working with yesterday measure 24 x 36 and I had 4 of them to finish off.  

Then my husband guided the long edge of the canvas to match the finished edge of the fabric while I held up the rest of the canvas to prevent it from sticking.  Once he had laid his edge down and was satisfied the everything was lined up, he took the canvas and held it while I stretch and smoothed the rest of the surface as tight as I could.  Happy with how the fabric was going to lay we dropped the other three sides onto the fabric so that the adhesive and fabric were now united.  We pressed down firmly all the sides assuring that the bond was good.

Now came the fun part.  Using my Fiskars fingertip craft knife,  I proceeded to cut the 3 edges, careful not to cut the canvas or myself in the process.  Logan makes a special dust cover trimmer that I plan to try out but the Fiskars cutter worked sufficiently for this job and I got a little more proficient at the process with each new piece.

We then flipped the piece over and my husband then used a staple gun to apply a staple at each corner while I prepared the certificate of authenticity that was to be attached.  I cut a 3 hole sheet protector in half and remove the holes to make a sturdy plastic sleeve that holds my certificate nicely and then I attach it to the back of my artwork using my Scotch Advanced Tape Glider gun.  We decided to allow the one corner staple to secure the certificate just to make sure it would stay attached and not fall off.  As you know when you are transporting artwork, no matter how careful you think you are being, there is always a problem with tags and dust cover paper being torn or falling off.  I feel that this fabric is much more durable and I like the professional way it looks.  

Now it's time to add the D-rings and hanging wire.  I measure 1/3 the way down on the canvas to install the D-rings and I use size 4 soft hanging wire.  I bought a large spool that measures 850 ft on Amazon and am so happy with that investment.  I hate the quality of the wire that you can purchase at the local craft and hardware stores and when you paint as much as I do, those small packages are always running out.  With 850' of wire,  I think I might have enough wire now to last me through the zombie apocalypse.

I would love to hear from you if you have questions or found this article helpful or if you have tried other products or have a process you think works better for finishing off your artwork.  I might include your information in a future blog post.  Leave me a comment here or email me.  Also feel free to check out my website for all my available artwork at Julie Townsend Studio or my Etsy Store at Julie Townsend Studio Etsy Store

To make this supper easy for you, I have included all the links to the tools and supplies I used :

Scotch Advanced Tape Glider

Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife

Picture Wire

D-Rings

Dust Cover Upholstery Fabric

Its not Finished until the Chubby Lady Sings

What a learning curve I have experienced these past few years in my journey to becoming an artist.  Basically I knew pretty much nothing about the business of being a full-time artist to now feeling an excitement building as I am beginning to be more comfortable with the style I am developing and techniques I'm learning.  I can honestly say that being an artist is FUN.  I know...You thought that all there was to it was to just paint a pretty picture, huh?  Well that not quite all there is to it.  Not only is there the process of photographing and marketing your new work on blogs and websites,  but you have to finish it off with a good coat of varnish and a lot of love.  Another final consideration that I have just recently started adding to my "Getting Ready to Hang" checklist is preparing the backs of each of my canvases to give it that professional appearance that I feel is important.

I have observed a number of artists that wrap the backs of their canvas with paper to give even the back a cleaner and professional feeling.  I really liked how that looked so I have started this finishing process and believe me when I tell you that I have done plenty things wrong in an attempt to figure these details out.  There are a couple of tools that I have discovered along the way that I am very excited about and decided to share them with you.  

First of all, is my Scotch Advanced Glider double-tape gun.  I sing it's praises every time I pull it out of my studio supply closet.  The hardest thing about this gun is loading the tape and that isn't because it is so difficult but rather seems like you are doing something wrong and that it isn't going to work but it does.  I make sure I have kept the instructions just because each time we load it we find that we must consult the instructions again just to be sure we are remembering the correct steps.  Of course we have only loaded the gun twice so it is relatively a new tool in my artist tool box.  

Previously, I had tried to use a standard double stick tape but it just didn't hold the brown shipping paper I was using to the back of my canvas well enough.  There was always edges and corners that were coming loose.  Not with this tape....glides on great and sticks well.  I have even started using it to attach my photos to my customized cards.  Also it is ONLY $19.99 and it is PINK!  Both of these facts have this chubby artist singing loudly.


Here is a picture of my beautiful PINK tape dispensor.

Amazon-Scotch Advanced Glider

Whether it is finishing off the backs of my painted canvases or matted sketches, I pull out my Fiskars Cutting board and combined with my kitchen counter I find that it works as a perfect surface for me to get busy.  Silly me used to cut the paper first by tracing around the canvas and then just cutting it with ordinary scissors.  I would then apply the double stick tape all around the back edges of the canvas and then try to get the paper to lay flat and smooth while I would run my fingers around the edge trying to get it to attach firmly to the canvas.  Let me just say that I have discovered this is completely BACKWARDS to the most effective method.  It was one of those "Bop me the Head, What Where You Thinking" moments.  I now apply the tape to the canvas and then lay the canvas out on the unrolled brown paper.  I then can then take my box cutter and work my way around the canvas, cutting it as close as possible without damaging the canvas.  The box cutters worked pretty well as long as the blade was sharp but I just found a new tool that makes this job even easier.  It is the Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife and boy does it work like cutting hot butter.  Only thing I can see might be a problem is that it is so small and attached to your finger that you might forget you have it on and cut yourself so please be careful because those blades are sharp!

I loved how it allowed me to glide along the edge of either the matte board or the canvas with control and ease.  Cutting straight and true with no frayed edges or tears.  I LOVE IT and I LOVE the price that I paid on Amazon too.  I didn't have to go wondering around the isles of my local Hobby Lobby, Blicks or Michaels or get in the REALLY hot car (Remember I live in Las Vegas) and drive 12-15 miles to go shopping.  I certainly use those stores plenty for the rest of my art supplies but for these type of things I think Amazon is KING!


Here is a picture of the knife:

Amazon-Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife

I have made it so easy for you by giving you the links here to both tools.