4x5 GRID Canvas 3/4" Deep #GRD-0405

Grid™ Canvas is a unique product that has a grid actually printed on the canvas itself. The grids are 1"x1" with additional 1/4" lighter weight lines, very similar to graph paper. The 100% cotton canvas is 3/4" deep canvas and is stretched using our MasterWrap™ back-stapled method with tailored corners. Our proprietary stretching products uses pneumatically controlled machines that yield drum-tight tension.

Transpose a Photo, Image, Tracing, or an actual scene onto Canvas

As demonstrated by this 1498 self portrait of Albrecht Dürer, himself, the grid process is a proven method for creating realistic art from a photograph, or from an actual scene through a "gridded" glass. Grid™ makes it easier to achieve actual life-like proportions that make your portraits captivating. Still-life perspectives come alive on canvas. Artists of all levels can achieve artistic accuracy and excellence using this method.

Transpose a Scene Directly onto Canvas

This famous 1506 drawing by German artist, Albrecht Dürer, demonstrates the grid transfer process. The drawing is called the "Draughtsman's Net," because he used a glass encased in a wooden frame and black threads to create his grid pattern on the glass. The artist looks through the glass and outlines the subject and that can be transferred to the gridded canvas.

The graphic shows Dürer's entire drawing and zooms-in on the left and right sides to provide a better glimpse of how the grid process. It is a very efficient method for drawing and tracing your main lines with a high degree of accuracy and takes away most of the guesswork when generating your proportions.

You can look-up on-line more about this process and find more drawings, as Dürer himself wrote a book called, "Treatise of Measurement" after having traveled to Italy and becoming totally immersed in Italian Renaissance art theory.

Transpose a Scene Indirectly onto Canvas

Using the gridded glass described above, trace-out your scene on the other side of the same gridded glass, and then use that as your "tracing" to transpose onto the canvas. The grid on the glass corresponds to the grid printed on the canvas.

Enlarge or Reduce your Painted Image

To enlarge your image, draw smaller than a 1" x 1" grid pattern directly onto your image, glass, or plastic sheet. Then correspond the grid on the image with the heavy bordered 1" x 1" squares on the canvas.

To reduce the size of your image, draw a grid larger than 1" x 1" squares on the glass. This works even if you are transposing your image directly or indirectly, as discussed above.

You can literally trace-out exactly what you see on the "gridded" glass. That grid will correspond to the grid on the canvas and you can thereby transpose a scene with unbelievable proportional accuracy.

Build Your Own Draughtman's Net

You could easily construct your own Draughtman's Net, as depicted above, any size you want. Simply buy a piece of glass from your local hardware store, which is quite economical. We make K2™ Stretcher Bars, which are ideal for this task because they have an 1/4" interior groove that will contain the glass, and they are 2.5" deep, so the device will stand on it's edge.

For example, if you buy a glass that is say 24x36 in size, then you could buy two 26 Inch and two 38 Inch K2™ Stretcher Bars that would make a 26x38 frame. Because the frame has an interior groove, the glass will be completely contained by the Stretcher Frame, and you would have effectively constructed a similar device as Albrecht Dürer. And with a dry or wet erase marker you can draw a grid pattern on the glass. You can use your Draughtman's Net as the view-finder, described above, to trace your subject on the glass, and then transfer that image to your corresponding a Grid™ canvas.

True 5:4 Photography Proportion - 4x5 Size

The 5:4 aspect ratio is common to both art and portrait photography, as it creates a visually pleasing format for the human figure and face. The balanced compositional format can help to create a sense of symmetry and harmony in your artwork. The 5:4 ratio has a familiar "feel", as it was commonly used in early computer monitors. Additionally, you might consider trying some relatively unknown sizes in this same proportion that we call Lost Sizes As an artist, you get the best of both worlds, because you still get to use the same aesthetically appealing 5:4 format and use rare or novel sizes that help make your art stand-out.

Here are a couple of other sizes in the exact same 5:4 proportion:

8x10 • 16x20

Explore Related Products to this 4x5 Size:

• Other Styles: Classic Cotton™ • Vincent Pro™

Masterpiece Grid™ 3/4" Deep Bar • 1/8" Canvas Clearance

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 maximum possible 1/8" clearance for a 3/4"deep profile Stretcher Bar so as not to impact your painting, but still leaving enough wood to the maximize strength of the frame.

• Stretcher Bar Profile produces a 3/4" deep stretched canvas
• 1-1/2" wide Stretcher Bar
• Solid Ponderosa Pine or Fir from the Pacific Northwest

No Finger Joints!

Solid Wood is far superior to finger jointed wood, which is many small pieces glued together, each with varying grain densities that absorb and shed moisture at varying rates, expanding and contracting non-uniformly as environmental conditions change, and causing the wood to bow and the finger joints to eventually fail.

A single homogeneous kiln-dried solid wood Stretcher Bar outperforms and outlasts a finger jointed Bar whose sole purpose is to save the manufacturer cost, not contribute to the archival value of artwork intended to last a millennium. As a manufacturer, Masterpiece® does its part to conserve as much wood as possible, and still provide a quality product that will out-perform any other in the marketplace.

Sustainability Promotes Social Well-Being

The forests of the world are a precious resource that must be protected for future generations. By using lumber from sustainably managed forests in our products, we can help to ensure that these valuable resources are preserved and protected. This is not only important for the environment, but also for the social and economic well-being of the communities that rely on these forests for their livelihoods.

America's Custom Shop!

We offer two Masterpiece Classic depths (3/4" & 1-3/8"), as well as three canvas surfaces to choose from. There are dozens of standard sizes available for these products. If you don't find the size you want, our Masterpiece Vincent™ Pro canvases have 200+ sizes to choose from in over a dozen surfaces. And if you can't find what you want, just ask your local retailer or contact us, and we will help you with your next composition.

Masterpiece® is a family-owned business operating in California since 1965 and producing the finest Stretcher Bars in North America. Our mission is to deliver the highest quality products that can be made, and we are widely recognized as the nation's leader and trendsetter of professional quality fine-art canvas. We own several patents that make our products perform superior to any other on the market. Once you touch one of our products, you will easily discern our impeccable quality, and so will your clients and the people who will eventually acquire your art.

Every block of stone has a statue inside it, and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it. ♦ Michelangelo

Michelangelo, a luminary of the Renaissance era, often marveled at the potential hidden within raw material. His belief that each block of stone concealed a form waiting to be revealed is a powerful metaphor for the artistic process. Like the sculptor, we artists confront our chosen mediums, whether it be a blank canvas, a lump of clay, or an empty stage, with the challenge of unearthing its inherent beauty.

It's a reflection of our deeper conviction that beauty and meaning are everywhere, even in the most unsuspecting places. With skill, patience, and vision, we chip away at what's extraneous, aiming to reveal the essence of our subject. The process is as much about understanding ourselves as it is about mastering our craft. Each choice, each subtraction, brings clarity, not only to the work at hand but to our own perceptions of the world. This sentiment reminds us of the immense power and responsibility we hold, guiding us to see the potential in everything and craft narratives that might otherwise remain hidden.

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Draw inspiration from the words of wisdom by Michelangelo, plus our interpretation of its meaning, along with our own rendered portrait of Michelangelo. Now get busy on your own canvas!