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Instead of buying a black canvas, I'm going to buy a white canvas and spray paint the whole thing black.

Painting the whole thing with acrylic would not be wise. And I think the spraypaint is going to crack or something, is there an alternative or some way to apply the spray paint?

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    Welcome back, Isaac! :) Why do you think painting the canvas with acrylic is not wise? And, yes, the spray paint might crack because canvas is very flexible, and will likely expand and shrink, and the acrylic paint from spray cans is often a lacquer, which tends to be very brittle.
    – Joachim ♦
    Commented Sep 7, 2022 at 17:05
  • Would the canvas already be stretched on a frame? Are you thinking of using canned spray paint or diluting artist acrylic paint to spraying consistency and using a sprayer? I'm wondering how fabric dye might work for this.
    – fixer1234
    Commented Sep 7, 2022 at 17:11
  • Hey! thanks Joachim! its been so long - so i'm gonna sell this drawing to someone, and it would not be wise because of the texture its leaves and it will take time and money to buy it (which would increase the price - the price cant exceed a whole a lot more than it is now... the buyer said) so acrylic isnt an option... and fixer1234- nah, its just a blank canvas i bought and im just tryina use a spray paint from walmart and spray over it, simple as it sounds hehe
    – Isaac750
    Commented Sep 7, 2022 at 18:06
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    If you pre-stretch the canvas on a stretcher frame and then do a number of very light coats from a spray can, it may be OK as long as the paint is a type that bonds to the canvas primer. I'm still wondering whether dye would work (maybe dye designed for synthetic fabrics for the primer).
    – fixer1234
    Commented Sep 7, 2022 at 20:59
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    If the price wouldn't be an obstacle, you could very well paint a canvas with black acrylic paint. It stays very flexible after drying, so the risk of cracking is very low. Maybe you can find very cheap acrylic paint in stores like Walmart or the like. Usually we warn people away from cheap paint, but for black it probably won't be much of a problem. Worst case you have to apply 2 coats to evenly cover all the white of the canvas.
    – Elmy ♦
    Commented Sep 8, 2022 at 8:00

1 Answer 1

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If you want to use acrylic paint just use hot water and water it down before painting the canvas, but spray paint will work also, just hold the can further away than what you would normally when painting.

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    Use hot water how?
    – Joachim ♦
    Commented Oct 2, 2022 at 14:29
  • Just add a little bit of hot water at a time until it gets to the thickness that you want it at!
    – Megan Cline
    Commented Jan 11, 2023 at 6:15

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