Support (art)

In visual arts, the support is a solid surface onto which the painting is placed, typically a canvas or a panel. Support is technically distinct from the overlaying ground,^[1] but sometimes the latter term is used in a broad sense of "support" to designate any surface used for painting, for example, paper for watercolor or plaster for fresco.^[2]

The support for an oil painting can be either rigid or flexible, both providing certain opportunities and challenges for the artist. In order to get both the stability and the desired texture, painters for finished paintings usually use canvas that are pre-stretched on a solid frame or panel^[3] (so-called stretchers usually made of stretcher bars^[4]). These stretched canvas became popular in Venice in the 17th century.^[4] Since these supports are expensive, studies are frequently executed on pieces of canvas or paper. Canvas board, a piece of canvas mounted onto a paper board, provides another low-cost alternative for sketches.^[3]

The hardwood (oak, birch, poplar) panel was the original choice of support for painters in the ancient times. Masonite is the modern engineered wood that is also used for painting. Many contemporary artists still use panels due to their smooth surface and stability that simplify painting of the small details.^[3]

Acrylic paint is forgiving in the terms of support: it is more flexible and sticks to the surfaces better. Therefore, in addition to the traditional supports, the cloth made from polyester (untreated) or glass fiber would work, as would metals, leather, glass, and slate.^[5] Encaustic is not flexible and requires porous or textured surface, so the canvas on open stretchers will not work, but (scratched) metals and abraded sculptures will.^[6] Tempera is not flexible and requires the use of a board.^[7]