Canvas, panel or paper: reading the labels on John's paintings

John works from drawings made on location in the Outer Hebrides, in charcoal, chalk and pastel. Back in the studio some become mixed media pieces and some become acrylic paintings. The line under each one tells you which, and what it is painted on.

Acrylic on canvas

Canvas is fabric stretched over a wooden frame. It gives a little under the brush and has a weave you can feel through thin paint. John makes his own canvases, and the studio is large enough for him to work up to six or seven feet. A canvas is light for its size and is often hung without a frame.

Acrylic on panel

A panel is a rigid board. It does not give at all, which suits thick paint that is pushed, scraped and scratched into. Panels are heavier than canvases of the same size, so they need a good fixing in the wall.

Acrylic on paper

Paintings on paper are usually framed behind glass, with a mount between the paper and the glass. They can feel lighter and quicker, and they are often a good size for a smaller room.

Mixed media and charcoal

"Mixed media" means more than one material in the same piece: John combines his location drawings in charcoal, chalk and pastel. "Charcoal" on its own is a drawing in charcoal. Like any work on paper, both are best framed behind glass.

The words for the paint

When John writes about his work he talks about the paint itself, and four words come up:

• Impasto: paint laid on thickly, so the strokes stand up from the surface and catch the light.
• Scumble: a thin, broken layer of paint dragged over a dry one, so the colour underneath shows through.
• Sgraffito: scratching through a wet layer to the one beneath, to draw into the paint.
• Staccato: short, separate, stabbing marks, like the notes the word comes from.

Look closely at the paintings and you will find them all.

Signed, initialed and dated, and sizes

"Signed" means the painting carries John's signature; "initialed and dated" means his initials and the year. Sizes are given in centimetres. If you are fitting a piece to a particular wall, ask us for its size with the frame too.