Drawing on the Canvas

Ever wondered what’s safe to use when transferring or drawing your design directly onto canvas? In this practical lesson, artist Katie Liddiard walks you through the do’s and don’ts of underdrawings—explaining how your initial lines can affect your painting for decades to come.

Katie breaks down the three common options artists reach for: pencil, charcoal, and paint. While pencil might be a familiar go-to, Katie shows exactly why it should be avoided when working with oil or acrylic paint. She demonstrates how graphite interacts poorly with paint layers, potentially surfacing through them over time and muddying your colors. Even when buried under paint, pencil lines have a tendency to reappear as the years pass, due to the transparent nature of oil and acrylic.

Instead, Katie recommends using either charcoal or a painted underdrawing. Charcoal, she explains, behaves much more neutrally—it won’t bond stubbornly to the canvas, it won’t bleed through, and any excess can be easily brushed away. Best of all, it doesn’t chemically react with paint layers, making it a safer long-term option. For even more reliability, Katie shares that she often prefers to draw directly with thinned oil paint, ensuring complete compatibility and cohesion in her layers.

Throughout the video, Katie addresses common workarounds like fixatives or isolation layers, and why she personally avoids them in favor of a simpler, proven approach.

Whether you’re transferring a sketch or starting fresh on your canvas, this lesson will help you choose the right drawing material to ensure your artwork stands the test of time—both visually and structurally.