The ground on this painting, Three Women (VW Bug), is wonderful. It’s a traditional oil ground applied over acrylic gesso. A traditional oil ground is essentially white oil paint with the addition of chalk. The chalk makes the ground more covering and absorbent than oil paint alone, even when sanded. It’s really great to paint on. I didn’t add any tone to the ground and started painting directly onto the white surface after finishing the drawing.
I’ve experimented with adding a neutral tone to the oil ground and that has worked well. The next batch of canvases with be prepared like this one, but after the drawing is finished, I’ll applyd a neutral grey tone over the drawing before I start painting.
Three Women (VW Bug) is based on a photo taken several years ago of my daughter and her friends standing in front of her friend;’s mother’s Bug. When I was 16, my very first car was a green Bug. I hated that car. Because the engine was in the back, it handled was very poorly in the snow, plus it was freezing in the winter. You couldn’t pay me to drive a bug today. Of course, I never told my daughter’s friend’s mother that. Anyway, the car’s greenish blue color is tricky but I think I’ve got it now.