Cotton Rag or Canvas?

Choosing an artwork you love is the exciting part, but we know deciding or understanding the difference between Cotton Rag and Canvas can be a little trickier and is a very common question we receive.

At Kelsie Rose Creative, our fine art prints are available on beautiful cotton rag paper or premium canvas. Both options reproduce the colour, detail and character of the original artwork beautifully, but they create a slightly different finished look in your home.

There really is no right or wrong choice. It comes down to the style you love, how you plan to frame your artwork and the feeling you want it to bring to your space.

Cotton Rag Prints

Cotton rag is a beautiful, premium fine art paper with a soft, subtly textured surface.

Unlike standard poster paper, cotton rag has a luxurious weight and tactile quality that gives the artwork a considered, gallery-style finish. It reproduces colour and fine details beautifully while retaining a lovely matte appearance.

Cotton rag prints are supplied unframed, giving you the freedom to take your artwork to your preferred local framer and create something that suits your home perfectly. A huge positive to cotton rag prints, is that often you can pop them in a standard frame yourself (e.g. A4, A3, A2, A1, among other sizes) which really helps to keep within tighter budgets.

Because cotton rag is a fine art paper, it should be framed behind glass or acrylic for protection, as you would a printed photograph. You can choose to frame the artwork close to the edge or add a generous mat board around it for a more traditional gallery look. Our cotton rag prints will always be printed with a 2.5cms border creating this mat board look.

Choose cotton rag if you love:

• A refined, gallery-style finish

• A soft, beautiful paper texture

• The look of artwork framed behind glass

• The option of adding a mat board

• Choosing your own frame and finishing details

Canvas Prints

Canvas creates a completely different presence.

Printed onto premium artist canvas, the texture of the material gives the artwork a beautiful depth and painterly quality. This can be particularly lovely for Kelsie Rose Creative pieces, helping retain some of the feeling and texture of the original painted artwork. Canvas prints, although capture the look or extremely textured art which is true to my style, are not printed 3D and will be smooth to touch. This is part of the intrigue of our canvas prints.

One of the biggest benefits of canvas is that it doesn't need to be framed behind glass. This means there are no reflections between you and the artwork, allowing the colours and details to become a real feature in the room.

Canvas is also a wonderful option for large-scale artwork, as it is generally lighter than an equivalent large artwork framed behind glass.

Depending on how you choose to finish your piece, canvas can be stretched over timber stretcher bars and displayed on its own, or finished with a beautiful floating frame. Our framed options, will always come with a timber floating frame unless otherwise discussed.

Choose canvas if you love:

• A more painterly, original-art feel

• Visible canvas texture

• Artwork without reflective glass

• Large statement pieces

• A relaxed yet elevated finish

• The look of a floating frame

So, which should I choose?

It really comes down to the look you want to create.

If you love a refined, gallery-style artwork framed behind glass, cotton rag is a beautiful choice.

If you want something that feels textural, painterly and closer to the presence of an original artwork, canvas may be for you.

Both are beautiful ways to bring our art into your home and whichever you choose, the most important thing is selecting the artwork that makes you feel something every time you walk past it.

Still unsure?

I'm always happy to help. If you're deciding between cotton rag and canvas, or you're unsure which size or finish would work best in your space, please get in touch and we can help you choose, We are only an email away - kelsierosecreative@gmail.com