12x18 Vincent Pro Poitiers Canvas 7/8 Inch Deep #VQ-1218

True 3:2 Film Proportion - 12x18 Size

The 3:2 aspect ratio is a very familiar format film, computer screens, and video, and, of course, is an aesthetically appealing proportion for your artistic compositions. Most 35 mm film cameras are based on this exact proportion, so our brains are trained to see images in this same ratio. It is commonly used for landscape photography and artwork, as it allows for a wide, panoramic view of the scene. It can be used to create a sense of balance and harmony in the composition, providing depth and perspective, as the longer sides of the canvas allow for more space to depict the background or foreground elements of the scene.

Even though this proportion is widely used, there are only a handful of commonly available standard canvas sizes in this ratio. There are a whole collection of intriguing (what we call) Lost Sizes, which are uncommon sizes in this common proportion. Unusual canvas sizes add intrigue to your artwork and an additional story to tell about your painting.

Explore other sizes in this same 3:2 aspect ratio:

4x6 • 6x9 • 8x12 • 10x15 • 14x21 • 16x24 • 18x27 • 20x30 • 22x33 • 24x36 • 26x39 • 28x42 • 18x27 • 22x33

Explore Related Products to this 12x18 Size:

• Oil Primed Linen: Vintage L21C™ • Versailles™
• Alkyd Oil Primed Linen: Malibu™ • Ventura™
• Acrylic Primed Linen: Muir™ • Vintage L22U™ • Santa Cruz™ • Saint-Cloud™ • Pau™
• Acrylic Primed Cotton: Monterey™ • Carmel™ • Tahoe™ • Sausalito™ • Sierra™
• Hardcore Canvas Panel: Poitiers™
• 3D™ Pro 2.5

Poitiers™ Portrait Smooth Oil Primed Artfix Linen

Step into the world of masterful detail with this superb oil primed canvas, a top pick among portrait artists and connoisseurs of fine detail work.  Poitiers™ canvas offers an unparalleled smoothness due to the fine, tightly woven fabric and 6 painstaking layers of ground. Colors applied to the surface have a high degree of luminosity, bringing a radiant life to your oil paintings. The superior smooth surface is not just a pleasure to touch; it transforms your painting experience. Your brush glides effortlessly across the canvas ensuring that every brushstroke is precise, every color vibrant, and every detail distinct.

• 100% Belgian Linen 6.2 oz.; Primed Weight 16 oz. per square yard
• Meidum Weight, Fine Weave, Portrait Smooth Texture
• Double Sized and Quadruple 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.

Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂) Primer Pigment

This primer contains premium-grade Titanium Dioxide (TiO₂) white pigment, renowned for its exceptional performance for oil priming. Its standout feature is its enduring whiteness, coupled with remarkable flexibility that persists over time. In contrast to other pigments such as zinc dioxide, Titanium Dioxide maintains its resilience, preventing brittleness as it ages. This quality ensures that artworks retain their integrity and will stand the test of time.

Artfix Poitiers™ Portrait Smooth Belgian Linen offers a luxurious surface, ideal for highly detailed work. Preferred by portrait artists because it is so smooth for linen. Due to the nature of how flax plants are turned into linen textiles, there may be variations in yarn thickness thereby creating fabric that is individual in nature and has character. There can be infrequent naturally occurring nubs in the linen which may yield small slight bumps where the linen is a little thicker than the rest of the strand. This is normal and part of what gives linen its character.

Oil paint on an oil primed canvas improves your results

Using an oil prepared canvas for oil painting can produce superior results because the paint and ground are organically similar and create an ideal "chemical bond" where the paint sinks into the ground resulting in a smoother and more even finish. The resulting bond between the paint and canvas is stronger, making the artwork more durable and long-lasting. Additionally, the melding of the two oil-based materials creates an effect called luminosity, where the colors appear to glow from within, and thereby enhances the vibrancy and brightness of the colors, impacting the way light reflects off the colors.

Lightly Wipe an Oil Prepared Canvas with Mineral Spirits

While it is not required, for best results, lightly wipe or flash the oil prepared canvas with mineral spirits before painting to make sure that your surface is completely clean of any dust or contaminants before painting.

Vincent™ Pro 7/8" Deep Bar • 5/16" Canvas Clearance

5/16" 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 Stretched Canvas Frame.

• Stretcher Bar Profile produces a 7/8" deep stretched canvas
• 1.5" wide Stretcher Bar
• Frames with a dimension of 16" and up have a groove machined in the center inside perimeter to which cross braces attach
• 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.

12x18 Vincent ProE Extra Heavy Frame Provides Maximum Support!

• Drawing depicts the exact frame construction, not the proportion
• Precision machined medium duty keyable tongue-and-groove Stretcher Bars
• A 1/2" thick super strong keyable brace (3.25" wide) provides maximum support for this 18 long frame - Brace may be removed in reinserted at any time
• An exclusive slot is milled on the inside perimeter of the 18 Stretcher Bars to which the Brace and the expansion wedges attach
• Patented keyable cross braces allow the frame to be tensioned in the middle of the canvas, where the tension needed the most
• 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 Vincent™ Pro 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", 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.

Sustainably Managed Forests

We use lumber grown in the sustainable forests of the Oregon, Washington, and California, where there’s more standing timber today than last century! Our forests purify the air, provide oxygen, and reduce global warming. More trees are needed on this planet, not fewer. Therefore, we use lumber grown in responsibly managed forests, so future generations can benefit from our collective responsible actions today.

MuseumWrap™ Stretching Technique

With more than 60 years 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

Masterpiece® has been producing the finest artist canvas in North America since 1965. Artist Canvas is one of the very few products you can buy, and with your precious time, talent, and materials transform it into a work of art that could one day be worth a fortune. Don't skimp on your material choices, because your legacy and your own brand will be judged by how well your artwork stands the test of time.

Our greatest evils flow from ourselves. ♦ Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an Enlightenment thinker whose writings have shaped the course of political and philosophical thought, often examined the intrinsic nature of humanity. His observations on society and the individual compelled him to recognize that the roots of many of our problems are internal rather than external. It's a reflection of the human condition, the duality of our capacity for both profound goodness and undeniable harm.

In the context of art and creativity, this sentiment encourages introspection. As artists, we are in a perpetual dialogue with ourselves, our experiences, and our emotions. Often, our harshest critic is not the audience or the world at large, but the voice inside our heads. The barriers, self-doubt, or perceived inadequacies that might hinder our expression often stem from within. However, by acknowledging these inner challenges, we can harness them, turning them into powerful narratives or explorations in our work. Just as Rousseau suggests that understanding our nature can lead to better societal structures, recognizing our internal struggles can lead to profound artistic breakthroughs.

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Art is visual and ripe with meaning, so enjoy this quote and our interpretation of its meaning, plus an one-of-a-kind portrait we created of Jean-Jacques Rousseau to make it all the more relevant. Pick up that brush and go!