Newspaper has many uses in oil canvas paintings.
While not intuitively a good material to use because of its acidity, which can often erode the surfaces it encounters over time, newspaper has a few common uses when combined with oil paints for canvas. Newspaper is a relatively inexpensive material that can easily be found in abundance.
Materials
In order to add newspaper to your oil painting, it's important that you have gesso or another acrylic primer that will work as an adhesive between the newspaper and the canvas. You'll also need paint, water and newspaper, of course.
Why Use Newspaper
Adding newspaper to an oil canvas painting can give it added texture. It gives a painting a three-dimensional appearance. It's a flexible material that can be twisted and rolled into different shapes. It is a good material to use on oil paintings because it is so easy to paint on when used in thin layers.
Process
Newspaper is an acidic material and it should be placed in water before applied to a canvas, as it can erode both the paint and the canvas of a painting. It's acidic content can be diluted with water. After placing small strips of newspaper in water, it can be applied to the canvas. It should stick. Once the general shape of the newspaper is set, the gesso or primer should be painted onto the canvas. White primer is best because it will not change the composition or color of the painting once the oil paint is applied on top if it. The primer should dry before the oil paint is applied.
Design
Newspaper on top of a canvas surface can be painted to create action within a painting. For example, an arm can be painted to appear to come out of the canvas itself because of the newspaper. An elephant's trunk can stand out from the rest of its body, and made to look as though it's thicker than the other surfaces of its body. The logs of a cabin can be made to look even more rustic as the the boards are given a rougher appearance from the texture of a newspaper.
