38x85 3D Pro Vintage L21C Canvas 2-1/2" #DO-3885

True Dynamic Root-5 Proportion - 38x85 Size

This 38x85 is one of our Dynamic Root-5 Rectangle Root-5 Rectangle series.

The Dynamic Root-5 rectangle is an inspiring proportion based on organizing your spatial composition with endless symmetrical divisions. The premise in Jay Hambridge's 1926 book is that the Dynamic Symmetry of individual elements are informed by their relationship to the entire composition. This very special proportion is guided by the square roots of integers and has a storied and historical basis in art.

It involves the use of geometric shapes and patterns in the proportion of the square root of 5 to 1 to create balance and harmony in a composition. This can be achieved by dividing a composition into a grid of squares or rectangles, and then placing elements within the grid in a way that follows the principles of dynamic symmetry. Dynamic symmetry is often used to create a sense of order and structure in a composition, and can be particularly useful for creating compositions that are harmonious and pleasing to the eye.

Explore other sizes in this same 85:38 aspect ratio:

8x18 • 9x20 • 13x29 • 17x38 • 21x47 • 25x56 • 26x58 • 30x67 • 34x76 • 42x94

Explore Related Products to this 38x85 Size:

• Alkyd / Oil Primed Linen: Malibu™ • Ventura™ • Versailles™ • Isola™ • Poitiers™
• Raw Unprimed Linen: Torrey Pines™ • Mandalay™
• Acrylic Primed Linen: Muir™ • Vintage L22U™ • Santa Cruz™ • Saint-Cloud™ • Grenoble™ • Pau™
• Acrylic Primed Cotton: Monterey™ • Carmel™ • Tahoe™ • Heavy Weight 14oz cotton • Sierra™ • Shasta™
• Monet™ Pro 1.5

Vintage™ L21C Oil Primed Artfix Linen

Artfix L21C oil primed Belgian Linen has a warm golden hue oil primer which is superb for oil and alkyd type paints. Excellent painting surface with qualities of luminosity. It has a medium tooth and texture. Our best selling oil primed canvas.

• 100% Belgian Linen 5 oz.; Primed Weight 13 oz. per square yard
• Medium Weight, Open Weave, Medium Texture
• Double Sized and Primed with acid-free archival quality oil primed ground
• Impenetrable ground prevents oil paint from leaching through and harming the canvas
• For oils, alkyds, and water miscible oil paints
• Linen has natural oils that prevent disintegration over time.

3D™ Pro 2.5 Stretcher Bar • 1/2" Canvas Clearance

1/2" Canvas Clearance is the space between the Bar and the canvas. Generally speaking, more clearance reduces the risk of the canvas touching the wood and creating unsightly lines during painting. Our design provides the optimal clearance so as not to impact your painting, but still leaving enough wood to the maximize strength of the Stretcher Bar.

• Produces a 2.5" deep stretched canvas (Actual depth is slightly thinner)
• 1.25" wide Stretcher Bar
• All Bars have an exclusive groove on the inside perimeter of the frame to which cross braces and Diamond Corner Braces attach
• Solid Ponderosa Pine or Fir from the Pacific Northwest

Solid Wood is Archival - Finger Jointed Wood is Not

We only use Solid Wood to build our Stretcher Bars because a solid piece of wood will last indefinitely. When we speak of archival value, it's not just the paint you use and the quality of your canvas and ground, even the wood choices manufacturers make are part of the archival process.

The principal reason manufactures use finger jointed wood is reduce cost, not increase archival value. Wood constantly grows and shrinks when the environment becomes hotter, or colder, or more humid, or more dry. Because finger jointed wood is made-up of multiple and varied pieces of wood, with varying grain patterns and densities, they each absorb and shed moisture at varying rates, which works on the glue joints that hold them together, causing the wood to bow and the joints to eventually fail, and certainly not consistent with increasing the archival value of your artwork frame support.

As a manufacturer, we do our part to conserve as much wood as possible, and still provide a quality made product that will out-perform any other in the marketplace.

38x85 2.5" Deep Edge Heavy Frame Offers Maximum Support!

• Drawing depicts the exact frame construction, not the proportion
• 2.5" Deep Edge K2 Heavy Stretcher Bars are precision machined with a unique double tongue-and-groove corner joint that provides rock-solid torsional rigidity that resists warping or twisting, which is an important benefit for such a deep edge canvas
• Each corner has a diagonal oriented Diamond Brace that interlocks with the Stretcher Bars and increases frame rigidity to keep the frame square
• Three super strong 3/4" thick keyable braces and three cross braces (all 3.25" wide) provide the maximum possible support for this 38x85 frame; Cross Braces are permanently installed in the frame, but canvas tension may be increased by tapping-in the keys or wedges that slightly expand the size of the frame
• The Stretcher Bars have an proprietary utility groove on the inside perimeter of the frame which is used to attach braces and other optional frame supports
• The Masterpiece braces feature an exclusive system that allows you to increase the tension to the middle of the frame, where the tension is needed the most; it's so unique it earned us a patent
• Our state-of-the-art cross braces attach the ends of the cross braces into the (grooved) sides of the braces, which creates a superior and robust system of interlocking cross braces
• To increase canvas tension: 1) remove any staples in the corners and those that retain the brace keys in the middle, 2) tap all of the expansion keys further into their respective slots, 3) tighten and re-staple the canvas in the corners

Canvas Tension is in Your Control

In dry climates or air conditioned environments, the lack of moisture in the air causes wood frames to shrink and the canvas fibers to narrow and elongate making the canvas more slack and resulting in a loss of canvas tension. In some instances, the canvas could have waves on the surface resulting in an unsightly viewing experience.

Our 3D™ Pro 2.5 professional frames provide the functionality for you to slightly expand the size of the frame in the corners and the middle of the canvas, thereby increasing canvas tension all across the surface. The difference between a loose canvas and a tight canvas is just 1/8" of an inch, so a small adjustment using our corner and brace keys makes an important difference in canvas tension.

• Helps to prevent waves that occur in a loose canvas
• Increase canvas tension by tapping-in the corner and brace keys
• True professional class canvases make it possible for you to adjust the canvas tension

Cross Braces Make it Tighter

A tightly stretched canvas on an un-braced frame overpowers the Stretcher Bars causing them to bow inward and thereby lose tension. Sometimes that bow can expose a space in picture frames.

When a canvas is stretched on a properly supported frame, the cross-braces prevent the Bars from bowing thereby achieving maximum canvas tension. To increase the canvas tension even more, simply tap the corner and brace keys further in their slots. Properly supported frames provide you with the control over the canvas tension of your canvas and painting.

Tree Replanting - Essential to Sustainably Managed Forests

Harvesting timber provides humans with an essential natural resource, but replanting trees at a rate higher than a harvest is a key component in humanity's effort to guarantee a healthy forest for the future. Increasing our number of trees is just as essential to our economy, as the harvest itself, which is why we select only timber harvested from responsibly managed forests.

Specially Dried and Heat Treated Lumber

We source our wood from a select group of top-tier environmentally conscious lumber mills in the Pacific Northwest. These mills specially dry and heat-treat the lumber to our specifications, resulting in about half the moisture content compared to wood from typical home improvement centers or lumber yards. This process makes the wood stronger, reducing the likelihood of cracking, splitting, or warping. While the wood we use comes at a higher cost, it ensures a more dimensionally stable end product. This stability is crucial for crafting fine professional canvases that support your invaluable art over time.

MuseumWrap™ Stretching Technique

With more than a half a century of American engineering, Masterpiece® designs and builds its own proprietary stretching equipment that enables us to produce the finest and most tightly-stretched canvas on the market.

• Drum-tight stretch!
• Up to 50% tighter than other methods
• Balanced tension across the surface
• Uncut folded corners make it possible to remove and re-stretch canvas on the same size frame
• Usually the corner folds are on the long sides

Requires Truck Delivery

This size will be shipped on an LTL freight truck, which is safe and reliable. Our shipping cost estimator cannot possibly contemplate all the cost factors with truck shipments, so once you place your order and before we do anything, we will review and inform you if your actual cost is higher or lower. Ordering larger quantities usually does not increase the freight cost, so you get a better value by ordering larger quantities.

Conditions that impact cost are extra large products, or if your delivery address is out-of-the-way, or in a school, university, church, hotel, shopping mall, or farm. Shipping to a business address lowers cost. Contact us with any questions.

The trucking company will contact you by phone, and arrange a 4 hour window for delivery, so be sure to pick-up strange numbers during the time of delivery. Someone must be present to receive and sign for this delivery; they will not just leave it at your door. We rarely have issues, but if you notice a problem, please document it on the delivery receipt before you sign it, and take photos.

The canvas you choose is the foundation for your painting, but also serves as symbol of the quality that you as an artist stand for, and reflect on your own brand. We serve as your silent partner to create your next masterpiece. You "wow" them from the front, while we "wow" them underneath.

When a thing has been said and well, have no scruple. Take it and copy it. ♦ Anatole France

Anatole France, the illustrious French poet, journalist, and novelist, often played with the nuances of originality and the concept of borrowing in the realm of art. With a keen insight into the human experience, France believed that no idea was born in complete isolation. Instead, thoughts and creativity were cumulative products of collective human experience.

This perspective holds a certain liberating truth. The vast canvases of art, from the earliest cave paintings to contemporary multimedia installations, are interwoven with shared ideas, motifs, and techniques. This is not to diminish the importance of our unique contributions but to recognize that inspiration can come from the works of those who came before us. By acknowledging and embracing the continuum of artistic expression, we can move forward with a renewed sense of purpose, contributing our chapter to the ever-evolving story of art.

---

Creativity, the silent force beckoning you, finds its voice here. Harmonize your artistic process with these indelible words and meaning by Anatole France, and with our unique portrayal of a self portrait to inspire an enhanced melody in your art. Go make your music on canvas!