Visiting my canvas prints in their new home

I had great fun this afternoon visiting a friend’s home and seeing two of my canvas prints hanging in the kitchen. Amanda asked me to make the prints as a birthday present for her husband last August, and I am very happy with the way that they have turned out.

I usually prefer printing on good quality photo paper. I love the feel and look of a good print, the  mounting and framing of it, the whole lovely tactile process of it all. However, many people seem to prefer to have canvas prints on their walls, so I have been experimenting with printing on canvas so that I can offer another option to potential customers.

The canvas I have settled on is Breathing Color’s Lyve, which I use with a couple of coats of their Timeless Satin varnish to protect the canvas and the print. I’ve found printing on canvas to be a bit of a challenge, certainly in the early stages when I’ve been getting to know the product and the way that it holds a print. One thing that is essential is having a good printer profile for the canvas. Breathing Color had one already for the Epson 4880 using Photo Black ink (a big thank you to BC’s fantastic customer service guys, who emailed the profile to me when I wasn’t able to find one on their web site). I also had a custom profile made by ColourProfiles.com, who were fantastically patient and helpful when I repeatedly made a mess of printing their profile targets (warning – canvas shrinks when printed, so your target may change dimensions so much that it causes problems when trying to make a profile).

By the way, the two local landmarks features in the photos are: All Saints’ church on Putney Common, a lovely church built by George Street (who also designed the Royal Courts of Justice), with interiors and stained glass windows designed by Edmund Burne-Jones and William Morris; and Hammersmith Bridge, designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who also designed Putney Bridge and built the London sewer network.

If you are interested in canvas prints of any of my photographs, then you can order one from any of my online galleries at www.andrewbarnes.co.uk. You can read more about the canvas prints, or my prints on fine photographic paper, at www.andrewbarnes.co.uk/prints.

All Saints’ church, Putney, and Hammersmith Bridge – canvas prints on Breathing Color Lyve, with Timeless Satin coating.