The Claessens family have been making and preparing Belgium Linen since 1906. Traditional methods passed on from generation to generation are still used today to produce the artist’s Linen Canvas.
Painters work with a variety of types of paint. Each type of paint requires a specific coating. An Oil Primed Canvas is intended solely for oil paint while Universal Canvases are suitable for both oil paint and acrylic paint. Both types of artist’s canvas are given a specific treatment after 2 coats of glue sizing and being sanded.
Claessens Oil Primed Linen has a layer of Zinc White based primer with Linseed Oil as a binder. The canvas is put into a drying room for three days where it air-dries naturally. Once dry the canvas is sanded again and a coating layer of Titanium White primer is applied. It then goes back to the drying room for a further 10 days.
Claessens Universal Primed Linen has 2 layers of Titanium White based primer with an acrylic binder. See the catalogue for photographs of the Claessens Primed Linen.