A Canvas is a Canvas. Until It Isn't.
If you have never used an ACF canvas, this is exactly what you see.
A white material stretched over a frame.
Something you can probably find at a stationery shop for less.
That is the problem with photos.
They look like every other canvas you have ever bought.
Pic: Here I pull a store-bought canvas apart.
What is harder to explain are our reviews.
They contradict everything you know about a canvas.
Because here is what you as an artist already know before you even open the box:
It will warp.
It will sag.
Press on it and it dents.
Paint long enough and you will hit whatever is poking through the back.
The material might tear mid-commission.
And if you have ever delivered work to a client, you know that feeling - waiting for the call that a corner has popped off the wall.
You accept all of it.
Because that is just what you expect of a canvas.
Always has been.
It does not have to be.
Pic: One of my UK artists sent this video of his Winsor & Newton canvas to me.
How it started
In 2013 I was handed a strainer to manufacture in bulk as a side project.
I came at it with a technical design background and immediately saw the flaws.
I spent years correcting them.
Since then we have never had a strainer warp.
Never had one crack.
Never had a corner lift off a wall.
Not once.
Pic: I have worked directly with artists who know their craft. They shaped what ACF became.
The surface
In 2016 I started experimenting with polyester surfaces alongside artists. I found an alchemist - Joe Joubert, a brilliant oil painter - and through long heated conversations, we developed a coating nobody else has.
A surface that conservation scientists had been documenting for almost three-quarters of a century.
A surface that large corporate manufacturers have been trying unsuccessfully to tame for decades.
With our developments, research and coating, we figured out how to make it perform.
Perfectly.
Pic: Read our blog and PET pages for more in-depth referenced info.
Conservation science has been clear on this. In The Conservation of Easel Paintings (Stoner and Rushfield, Routledge, 2012), polyester in PET form is identified as exhibiting the best combination of properties of any canvas material available - the most promising starting point for improving artist canvas performance.
What artists said when they tried it
The artists who had been using our previous surface and tried the new one for the first time did not see it coming.
"The surface is so smooth yet grips the paint perfectly." Daniel Wilson, oil and acrylic artist
"I don't understand how you have made a good product better." Michael Moore
"I hope artists will explore them with their best paint and best brushes, because those deserve no less than the best of surfaces." Robert Jones, Painters Online
"I have indeed tried out your amazing canvases. I paint in fine detail and up to now I have been using Winsor and Newton Professional fine cotton canvas - I had to use at least 2 extra coats of Gesso. On your canvas I decided to just go ahead without touching it and I'm smitten with it, so smooth. They will be my preferred choice." Derek Honour
"I was totally blown away by the quality. Maybe it's psychological but I felt the improved quality of the ACF canvas made my painting ability improve." Keith Price
"The smoothness of the surface is incredible, making the painting process effortless and an absolute pleasure." Anna Rokus
So what is ACF?
ACF started because I personally hate frustration. I saw a strainer that could be better, found a surface that needed developing, and built something artists love.
We also happened to solve problems that have been frustrating artists for centuries.
That part was a bonus.
What would I like from you?
Try it.
That is all.
Just try it.
Once you paint on an ACF canvas you will know exactly what you have been missing.
And you will not want to go back.
That is the only problem we create.
Graham Sanderson,
Founder, ACF Canvas