Panel or Canvas: What is the Best

Cropped Whitewater

The location where I painted Along the Kern River held a surprise. Just north only a few feet from my spot was a cascade of rushing whitewater rapids. Two of the other artists painted the rapids while I chose the calm beach but I knew I wanted to try the frothy brew at a later date. My friend Marian Fortunati posted a photo of the rapids on Facebook and several artists asked if they could use it for a painting so I joined the group and painted Whitewater.

Originally I thought to paint the scene on a 12x12 panel but now that I can step back from the subject I am considering cropping the painting like the image above. The water is the important element so now the sky and hills seem to be distracting. What do you think?

Here is the original size.

Whitewater 12x12

One of the many good features about painting on panels is how easy it is to make these adjustments. The panels are glued onto the board so changing the size is only a matter of waiting until it is dry and then cutting the panel.

If you don't use panels I recommend that you try them for smaller paintings. Here are a few of the advantages:

• Take up a lot less room: Besides the convenience when carrying them into the field, I can stack a few dozen in a storage box to take with me in the trunk of my car. You never know when a chance meeting could result in a sale. I have sold several painting from my trunk.

• Light weight: When you are carrying all your supplies to paint plein air, the weight of every item is a factor.

• Indestructible: Depending on the backing most panels will hold up to rain, snow, extreme heat and cold without stretching, sagging or being punctured by a palette knife.

• Sunlight Doesn't Show Through: Canvas allows light to shine through it. This is usually not a problem in the studio but outside it can be a disaster. The light shining through will distort the colors on the canvas so values and hue become impossible to see accurately.

• Size adjustable: I have cut several panels after analysing the composition of the painting later. It is true that this can be done with a stretched canvas but it is a lot more of a hassle taking the canvas off the stretcher bars cutting it and then restretching it onto a different size.

In an imperfect world panels make up for a lot of mistakes. In most cases, panels are not appropriate for large paintings but for anything 16x20 or smaller think of using this canvas alternative.