Artist Canvas Terminology
Canvas — A tightly woven fabric often used as a substrate for painting.
Canvas Weight — The weight of a square yard of raw canvas usually stated in ounces, prior to priming.
Count — Number of yarns in warp and weft per square inch.
Loomstate — Raw canvas with no modifiers or additives.
Picked — Hand process of removing irregular and nubby yarns from raw canvas.
Plied Yarn — Twisting together of yarns into a single braid.
Pumiced — Hand process of rubbing raw or sized linen with pumice stones to achieve a smoother texture.
Strike-Through — Ground and/or sizing penetrating through into the back of the canvas.
Substrate/Support — Surface upon which any paint is applied (canvas, paper, wood, etc.)
Texture — The pattern of woven canvas modified by the degree of coarseness and uniformity of yarns.
Tooth — The abrasiveness of the surface (canvas, paper, ground) in terms of coarseness and porosity.
Warp — Yarns running the length of the canvas.
Welt — Yarns running the width of the canvas.
