Toning the Canvas

Canvas toned a mid-value, warmish grey with oil paint.  The paint
used was leftover paint on my palette, mixed together to get this flavor.
I used a small brush and intentionally left the strokes showing.

A reader asks:  "Please discuss painting on a colored ground, both pastel and oils.  For oils, do you feel comfortable using acrylic as an underpaint for oils?  What colors would you choose and why?"

I'll answer the second question first.  I think acrylics work just fine for toning the canvas - if they are applied thinly and as a wash.  Too thick, and the oil paint you apply next may not adhere well enough to last the ages.  "Too thick" is if you can see an obvious glossy appearance to the acrylic.  If you want to use thicker acrylic, consider using an acrylic gesso (also called "acrylic dispersion ground") that has been toned.  Acrylic gesso has been formulated to provide the right tooth and absorbency to serve as a substrate for oil paint; regular acrylic paint has not.  The safest bet, however, is to tone your canvas with oil paint.  I like to use a paint that dries relatively quickly, such as raw umber.  By the way, for pastel surfaces, acrylic is a great medium to use for toning.

Before answering the other question, I should note that the point of toning the canvas (or paper, in the case of pastel), is threefold.  First, it gives the whole process of painting a jumpstart.  If  you have trouble beginning a painting , throwing some paint on the canvas and scrubbing it in with a paper towel is a great way to get going.  Second, it kills the white and establishes a darker value.  This not only makes the canvas easier on the eyes, but it also gives you a value to judge your mixtures (or pastel choices) against.  It's almost impossible to judge the value of any given color against white; every mixture just looks dark!   Third, your color choice will affect the overall color harmony of the finished painting and will help to unify the piece.

I generally try to choose a color that will enhance the mood I'm shooting for.  As a landscape painter, on a sunny day I may choose a warm color to give the painting an overall warm feeling; on an overcast or foggy day, I may choose a cool color.  Or, I may choose a complementary color to liven up the color scheme.  It's a common trick among plein air painters to start with a red tone to make a scene that is predominantly green more interesting.  If you don't completely cover up and obliterate the initial tone - and you shouldn't - some of the red will pop through the greens, adding sparkle.  Sometimes, I'll start a painting with a mid-value, neutral grey, as pictured at the top of this post.  This is the most helpful in making accurate color and value choices.

Finally, you should have fun with the toning!  You don't have to stick with one color or value.  You can have warm passages mixed in with cool passages, light areas mixed in with darker ones.  Sometimes a "randomized" underpainting will give you fascinating results.

Experiments with Grounds - 9

"Swamp Colors"

8x10, pastel/panel

I'm still working in pastel this week and trying to nail down a good combination of materials for a pastel surface. Again, I took one of my oil painting boards (Ampersand Hardbord with three coats of Blick Master Gesso.) To this one I had already applied two coats of Golden Acrylic Ground for Pastel. Since I thought the Golden had a somewhat medium grit and wanted something finer, I decided to apply two coats of Art Spectrum Pastel Primer, the "rose grey" shade. Art Spectrum paper has a finer tooth, so I was hoping this would make the Golden surface even better.

I did one test without sanding the final surface. Alas, this made it almost impossible to put on enough pastel to fill the texture created when I brushed on the primer. I did a second test, this time sanding the board lightly. This much improved the surface. But I still found the texture too coarse, so I ended up finger-blending my first layer of pastel, spraying it heavily with workable fixative, and then continuing with my normal method. I was pretty satisfied with this surface, and you can see the final painting above.

Of course, preparing surfaces this way is a lot of work! Ordinarily, I would simply take a piece of hardboard and brush on two coats of the Art Spectrum primer, sand, and be done with it. By thinning the primer a bit, the brush would leave less texture. To tell the truth, though, I still have not found as satisfactory a surface for pastel as Wallis paper. Below are two paintings I did on Wallis this week, when I was weary of struggling with my homemade surfaces.

"Marsh Colors" 5x7, pastel

"Duck Pond Greys" 5x7, pastel

Experiments with Grounds - 8

As part of my ongoing experiments with grounds, I offer a pastel. I hadn't intended to experiment with pastel surfaces at this time, but I am mentoring a pastel student this week, and I thought it'd be fun to try a new thing or two. I decided to salvage some of the hardboard panels that I had prepped with three coats of Blick Master Gesso - it's a surface that, as I've said, is too slick for my way of oil painting - by adding added two coats of Golden Acrylic Ground for Pastels. I ended up with a surface with a medium amount of grit to it.

It doesn't hold the pastel as well as Wallis paper, and because it doesn't have as fine a tooth, it is best suited for broad applications of pastel rather than detail work. Also, it "grabs" softer pastel better than hard pastel. For this one, I used mostly Mount Vision pastels. I ended up putting a light coat of Lascaux fixative on it - just in case.

"Ebb Tide"

8x10, pastel/panel

Experiments with Grounds - 7

"Eva Belle's House"

9x12, oil/panel - NFS

I thought I was done with grounds for the time being, but I remembered I had a bottle of Golden GAC-100 and some Golden Matte Medium under the counter. So, I prepped a few panels (Ampersand Hardbord), some with just the Matte Medium and others with the GAC plus two different brands of acrylic gesso. Today, I painted on a board prepped with the Matte Medium.

The nice thing about this product is that it is transparent, so you're working against the natural warm dark of the hardboard. The Matte Medium made the board so dark, in fact, that it was almost my darkest value. I had to work "up" into the light. I started by sketching my basic shapes with a light grey. I left the windows unpainted until the very end, when I added just a touch of greyed color here and there for reflections. I particularly liked the texture of the acrylic; rather than brushing it on in an orderly fashion, I just had fun making swirls. (It's hard to get them to look artistic!) I'll get to the other grounds in the next few days.

If you saw my studio tour video in yesterday's post, you'll see the outside of the studio in the painting. It's the room in the upper right with the outside staircase.

By the way, I had a note from Scott Gellatly of Gamblin regarding my test with the Gamblin Oil Painting Ground. He pointed out a reference page the Gamblin website has that discusses grounds. There is also an excellent video demonstration on the page showing exactly how to apply the ground to both hardboard and canvas. Click here to visit the page.

Experiments with Grounds - 6 & Ratings

"Harvest Moon"

9x12, oil/panel

Yesterday morning, I noticed the full moon setting over Friar's Head. The colors were beautiful and exciting - luminescent pink and blue-violet in the sky, pale blue-green in the water. Rather than return to the Duck Ponds, I decided I'd make my final test painting the setting moon.

Before dawn, I strapped on the backpack and hiked the path through the blackberry brambles and apple trees to our beach. I had just enough light to set up and start. By the time color got to be important in the piece, dawn came, and it was just as gorgeous as the morning before.

This is my last test for the time being. I painted this on an Ampersand Hardbord panel with two coats of Golden Gesso. I found it to be very comparable to my two coats of Blick Master Gesso, and maybe just a tad more absorbent.

I promised I'd give you my absorbency rating. I used a very simple test - I call it the "spit test." I literally wet a finger and touched it to the surface and observed how quickly the moisture vanished. After painting on the different surfaces, I'd say that the "spit test" is a good indicator of absorbency. The list is sorted with the least absorbent first.

(Least absorbent) 1 => 5 (Most absorbent)

Gamblin Oil Painting Ground	1
Blick Master Gesso (3 coats)	2
Ampersand Gessobord	3
W & N Oil Painting Primer	3
Blick Master Gesso (2 coats)	3
Golden Gesso (2 coats)	3
Realgesso	4
Gamblin Traditional Gesso	4
Ampersand Claybord	5

Experiments with Grounds - 5

Trina and I were out taking a walk at sunrise the other day by the Head Harbour Lighthouse, and it was like an episode of Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom." On one side, minke and humpback whales were dining on mackerel. I've never heard so much breeching and blowing! On the other side, a pair of bald eagles was fishing yet another school of mackerel. A few of the local men, who like to gather at the lighthouse to swap news, were having coffee in mugs they'd brought from home. We had a nice chat with them about the whales.

Now, on to more experimenting with grounds! Today I worked with Gamblin Oil Painting Ground.

"Dazzle Days"

9x12, oil/panel

When I opened up the can, I was surprised to see something that resembled putty. It must be applied with a knife. Here's what the Gamblin website says about this product:

"Gamblin Oil Painting Ground makes a strong, bright foundation for oil paintings. Formulated from alkyd resin, titanium dioxide, and barium sulfate, Gamblin Ground makes canvas and linen stiffer than acrylic 'gesso' and more flexible than traditional oil primers. Barium sulfate gives Gamblin Ground its tooth. Titanium dioxide gives Gamblin Ground its opacity.

"Because the percentage of pigments is so much higher than in acrylic "gesso", painters need only apply TWO coats of Gamblin Ground instead of the recommended four coats of acrylic. More coats can be added for smoother painting surfaces. Because alkyd resin is used instead of linseed oil as the binder, Gamblin Ground is more flexible and dries more quickly than lead/linseed oil grounds. Lead/linseed oil grounds must dry for six months and Gamblin Ground is ready for paint application within a week."

Although it seems to be designed mostly for cloth surfaces, it can be used on panels. In fact, Ampersand, who makes the "Hardbord" panels I use, notes: "To avoid having to size your panels and to speed up drying time, you can use the Oil Painting Ground manufactured by Gamblin Artists Colors." This is in reference to applying an oil primer, which would require that the panel be sized prior to application of the primer.

I applied the recommended two coats with a knife and smoothed with a brush. (I let the first coat dry, of course, before applying the second.) My test for absorbency showed this was the least absorbent surface of all, being even less absorbent than my three-coat Blick Master Gesso test.

However, I was pleasantly surprised when I painted on it. Although the least absorbent surface, it seemed to have more "tooth" than the Blick Gesso - I suppose because of the barium sulfate - and took paint well.

The paint got tacky sooner than I expected, but I think that is because of the uncommon dry, warm air we have in the Maritimes right now. If you're looking for a good weather painting spot, this is it for the next week!

Experiments with Grounds - 4

When I visited Walt Gonske's studio last winter, he told me he recently discovered Ampersand Claybord for oil painting. He paints vigorously with a loaded brush and loves to have the stroke break and jump as he lays it down. Claybord, he claimed, gave him just the right effect.

Today's test was with Claybord, and Walt's right! The surface is the most absorbent I've worked on to date, even more so than traditional gesso. For my first layers, I had to add more Gamsol and medium (Shiva Medium Light) to get a flowing stroke. It didn't take long for my first layer to dry. I would not describe this as getting "tacky" - it's a stage beyond tacky, for the paint almost feels waxy. Later strokes broke beautifully, giving the painting a lot of sparkle.

In addition to the painting, I've provided a close-up so you can see the strokes.

"The Broken Color of Morning"

6x6, oil/panel

Detail:

Experiments with Grounds - 3

"Creeping Tide"

9x12, oil/panel - SOLD

This next trial consisted of my old standby, Blick Master Gesso - but with only two coats, not my usual three. Also, I didn't sand between coats, leaving the surface a bit rough.

This one performed more like the Ampersand Gessobord. Still a tad slippery, but not anywhere near as bad as with three coats of Blick Master Gesso. The gesso wasn't as "thirsty" as the traditional gesso panel from Howard & Daniel Corp. but it took the paint well. I had no problem painting wet-into-wet with this one.

I suppose one could go with a single coat of Blick Master Gesso - the jar label states as much - but I wonder if it really would be a sufficient barrier to protect the hardboard from the acidic oils found in oil paint. Unlike traditional gesso, which requires that the panel be "sized" and sealed first, most acrylic gessoes already contain sizing and can be applied directly. (By the way, artist David Rourke has an excellent recipe for making traditional gesso panels here: http://rourkevisualart.com/wordpress/articles/making-gesso/.) Typically, according to Robert Gamblin, four coats of acrylic gesso are required.

A reader asked me recently if I had close-ups of my tests; I do not. As I told him, my work with grounds is not as rigorous as a scientist might like it to be. My goal is to find a painting surface that works well with my method. At a future date, I'll be doing a real test, complete with absorbency evaluations, test swatches and more.

Experiments with Grounds - 2

Today I decided to try a panel from Howard & Daniel Corp., the "Real Gesso" people. (See www.realgesso.com.) Unlike the panels I've made myself from traditional gesso, these are uniform, nice and smooth.

As part of my testing, I'm trying to keep the variables the same except for the surface. So, once again I headed out with my Gamblin oils, Galkyd and Gamsol with hog bristle flats. I again chose a water scene that was back-lit. As before, I didn't tone the panel, preferring to work on the white.

I found that the surface has a nice degree of absorbency. I was able to lay in a transparent underpainting without the brush digging through to the white gesso, and the underpainting stayed put. This is very important when painting wet-into-wet!

By the way, I'm developing an absorbency test and scale. I'll unveil it when I'm finished with my tests.

Here's the painting:

"Slack Tide, High Water"

9x12, oil/panel

Experiments with Grounds - 1

I'm embarking on a set of experiments with different grounds. In the past year or so, I've been using Blick Master Gesso (three coats) on hardboard, but I'm finding it a bit too slick and unabsorbent for my tastes.

So, here's the first test: Winsor & Newton Oil Painting Ground (two coats) on hardboard. It seems pretty right to me - just enough absorbency and roughness. I didn't sand it at all. The downside is, it uses petroleum distillates.

(For the record, I'm painting alla prima, wet-into-wet, using Gamblin paint with a bit of Gamsol to thin and a tad of Galkyd to keep paint creamy.)

"Retreating Fog & Tide"

9x12, oil/panel