Make a sketch before you paint.
Although some modern methods of making art often involve a large degree of spontaneous creation, traditional planning and preparation have not gone completely by the wayside. Projects that require detailed techniques, such as painting on canvas, can only be helped by careful preparation. The most common way to plan out a design for a canvas is to make a sketch the same size as the canvas, then transfer the sketch directly onto the canvas. The transferred sketch provides helpful guidelines you can paint over.
Instructions
1. Draw out a pencil sketch for your canvas design, using a sheet of paper the same size as the canvas. Make sure the sketch has the exact proportions and composition you want in your final design.
2. Secure the pencil sketch to a drawing board or other flat surface, using a few pieces of artist's tape at the top, bottom and sides.
3. Lay a piece of tracing paper over the sketch. Tape the tracing paper down with a few pieces of artist's tape.
4. Trace the sketch in pencil, copying all of the lines you would like transferred to the canvas.
5. Remove the tape from the tracing paper and turn the tracing paper over. Cover the entire back side of the tracing paper with conte.
6. Lay the tracing paper on top of the canvas surface, conte side down. Tape the tracing paper to the surface with a few pieces of artist's tape so that it does not move around while you work.
7. Draw over your sketch lines on the tracing paper, using the pencil. Remove the tracing paper from the canvas.
