I love to use canvas panel. They are sturdy and provide strong support for my brushes. I am always looking for the best canvas panel that suits my needs and budget. Here are some of canvas panels that I tried through the year.

• Blick Premier Belgian Linen Archival Panels
• Senso Clear Primed Linen Multi-Media Panels
• RayMar 23SC Smooth Portrait Canvas Panels
• Richeson Cotton Art Panels

Blick Premier Belgian Linen Archival Panels

I try to like linen more than cotton. But it is not necessary. For me, Belgian linen is expensive. I only ordered one of this panel and I was not satisfied with it. It wrapped upon arrival. I put weight on it but nothing changed. Might be I got a defect product. The painting part was nice. Or as usual should I say. This linen panel didn’t WOW me. o(╯□╰)o

Senso Clear Primed Linen Multi-Media Panels

I have conflict feeling about this one. At first I want to try painting something without background but with the natural canvas texture. I saw some artists did this on YouTube. However, this canvas panel feels thin and light. The surface with clear gesso looks a little glossy and smooth. I can’t use pencil on it. Pencil left no mark on the surface. I have to put one layer of my own clear gesso in order to get this work. It does feel good with ink pen, alcohol based marker and of course, oil paints.

After I painted human figure on this canvas panel, I realized my problem. If I want to keep the natural canvas texture as background, I have to have a clean and clear “outline”. The way I like to paint, however, is to adjust background color and major subject color whenever I feel necessary. For example, I can use the background color to modify the subject’s form, or use the subject color to push the background away. In this case, if I want to leave the background “blank”, I still need some kind of “background” behind the major subject. That is not what I had in mind. I will try more in the future since I have some panels left on my hand. I ordered too many. If you want to try this one I would like to give them to you. (～￣▽￣)～

Seriously, try one panel before you order a lot.

RayMar 23SC Smooth Portrait Canvas Panels

All right, this canvas panel is my holy grail! This is so far my favorite canvas panel! I love it!

It is nice and sleek, very professional looking. It also feels relatively heavy in hand. Definitely not feather like but definitely sturdy. The gray melamine backing is beautiful. I use this canvas panel a lot. Raymar website has many different products with different sizes. However they do not offer free shipping. At least not that often, might be once in a year such as before Christmas. Blick website has limited product and sizes. Again, I would like to try their linen panel but it is over my budget. 

Painting on this canvas panel is such a joy. Sometimes I do notice that it bent a little after you put the paint on. But it will back to normal once the paint has dried.

My wishes are Blick can carry more sizes of this one and Raymar website can offer free shipping. Yes they are heavy especially in large size, but might be free shipping twice a year? O(∩_∩)O

 Richeson Cotton Art Panels

This is a newly launched product on Blick. It looks nice online so I tried. Well, this panel is made by HDF. No backing. And my major problem with this is actually shipping package. I guess Blick dropped order this product to customer. So whoever packaged these panels needed more “kindness”. The panels I received were in a simple bubble envelop which was broken upon arrival. All panels had one corner slightly damaged. It looked like the whole package was dropped on ground since it was heavy.

As to the texture, go extra fine if you want a smooth surface. Even the “fine texture” had too much texture in my opinion. The extra fine is similar to Raymar 23SC panel. So you have an general idea.

Another minor issue with this panel is that the edge is not neat all the time. Edges of Raymar panel are gorgeous while Richeson panel edges are rougher. I fix it with a sharp knife.

To sum up, Raymar canvas panel wins. It really works for me. I will get more similar info in the future. Please let me know if you are interested in getting sample of Sensor canvas panel. I have several of them in size 8×10 in. (PS: I can only ship domestic US please)

Thank you very much~