Here’s an email recently received by the folks at Pointseller.com:
I would like to know why you think your printed canvas is superior to handpainted. It has been my experience that the printed canvas does not have the life of a handpainted canvas. Tapestries from the 1400’s have lasted 600 years. Will yours? Doubtful.!!!
Here was my response:
To quote “from experience” that printed needlepoint canvas doesn’t last 600 years, is quite an interesting claim. To my knowledge, printed canvas is only around for a few years, so it isn’t possible to have conducted this type of experiment.
In fact, I had some of my designs handpainted by an offshore shop, and compared them to my printed versions. I couldn’t find any appreciable difference.
Indeed, my printed canvases have proven themselves durable and up to the task. The cost of a printed canvas compared to handpainted, inch per inch, is far more economical and much faster to produce. And in the end, both printed and painted designs will be covered with stitching. The quality of the design is the most important factor in choosing a canvas, not the method with which the ink was applied.
One of these days I will need to post a longer article on the pros and cons of printed vs. handpainted needlepoint. But the email I quoted above does cover the main points.