Had little idea what "work" painting entailed when I first started, though it is the same for all painters. I was delightedly given this huge discarded odd sized 30x50 inch canvas (even the cheapos this size sell for over $150). It originally looked like a piece of scratch paper and required scraping off the old paint lumps that had been half heartedly splattered upon it. Had to scrap twice even after gesso'ing (the primary white coat of paint), otherwise the old paint lumps might ruin the image placed on top if they showed through in any way.

Here you see the final layer of gesso after hours of cleaning, re stapling (the canvas had torn away from its framing in places) and scraping to make it perfectly flat: a lovely white canvas on which to start dreaming.

This is a huge project. The paint crusted easle is on the large side and covers a great deal of one living room window, but still allows an incredible amount of day light in. Now the canvas all but blocks it.

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