Cheap Paintings

Can I paint onto a canvas with ordinary emulsion?

I've just bought a cheap painting canvas cos I want to have a shot at my own 'wall art' but want to know if I can use emulsion on it or does it have to be oil or acrylics?

Public Comments

1. yeah no probs!
2. you can use any medium that you like but it may need to be set when you have finnished with a clear varnish happy expression
3. Yes you can, uuse anything you want............
4. Yes, you can use ordinary emulsion the finish will be matt, if you want it a bit glossier just varnish it with a clear varnish when it's dried. Also, if you want texture you can layer your paint(make sure bottom layer is dry first, a mistake I made!) Good luck and happy painting :-)
5. Yes. If you want to texture it, add some sand to the emulsion. You can also stick string, beads, washers or other similar things to the canvas before painting it.
6. You can use emulsion but you will get more striking results and longer lasting results with acrylic paint. Oil is much harder to work with and blend, it takes ages to dry. Acrylic dries quickly, lasts a long time and washes off skin and clothes easily. So does emulsion but it won't look as vibrant nor as alive as acrylic. Emulsion is designed to fade into the background remember!
7. You can use emulsion paint no problem. Best if you can seal the canvas first with some thing like an acrylic primer. Have fun.
8. Yes you can,done it myself n its just as good if you want to have a bit mess about 4 fun !! xxx
9. Yes you can,but be aware that emulsion will get dirty over time,just as your walls would. You can use emulsion as a base for oils and get pleasing results even whilst the emulsion is still wet. Depending what effects your after and if your prepared to experiment a little or a lot,you can produce highly competent paintings to rival a master or modernist. The main thing to do is enjoy,even if you do not at first like the result,either leave it to dry and start again,or scrape off wet oil paint and paint over. Old masters have sometimes a hidden underpainting thats been scraped and repainted. Anything goes , so dont get hot or bothered,just enjoy.
10. You can use emulsion, you can use anything that will stick to the canvas, so you could use collage as well as the emulsion if you'd like.
11. If you want to just put some colour on the wall for interior design sakes ... yes. This can worked if you use one colour or two with varying tones and shades and they work in the overall scheme. reds with a hint of blue or vice versa or yellow. In my opinion dont use six or eight colours because people will chuck up. If you are painting a picture that will be viewed as a painting go for acrylic I dont recommend oil because you need some experience and they take a long time to dry.
12. Yes