There are many
unusual terms that come up when talking about canvas. These terms and their definitions
are listed below:
Tone: Shade of color in the
priming, ranging from pure white to gray. Linens are normally toned darker gray
than cottons, and there is tonal variation from one roll to another is normal
and not indicative of quality.
Tow: Secondary linen fibers
ranging in quality from excellent to part waste, and subject to quality variations.
Pumiced: Hand process of rubbing
raw or sized linen with fine pumice stones to achieve a high-quality, smooth texture.
Picked: Hand process of removing
irregular and nubby yarns from linen canvas while closing in the surrounding yarns.
Tooth: The feel of a ground
in terms of coarseness and porosity.
Duck: Popular cotton canvas
for artists, ranging in weight from 5 oz to over 24 oz. per square yard. Weaving
styles include enameling, flat, number, chafer and army.
Construction: The pattern
of woven fabric, indicated by two numbers such as 44/40, which translates to 44
warp yarns and 40 weft or filling yarns to the square inch.
Line: The finest and strongest
fibers in linen yarn.
Texture: The pattern of woven
canvas modified by the degree of coarseness and uniformity of yarns.
Ground: The priming applied
to a support, such as acrylic or oil. The ground is a compound binder, pigment,
and filler.
Weight: Expressed
in ounces per square yard, but often confused with linear weight. In textile terminology,
weight is indicated in linear yards per pound for a given width.
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