I put the final toned ground on the linen-cotton blend canvas that I recently wrote about. The canvas is dry, indeed, it was dry the same day I applied the ground, but it still needs to cure for a few days. Dry to touch doesn’t mean really dry.
When it’s done curing, I’ll sand it and store it until I have a design ready. I like to have 5-6 large canvases ready ay any time. I have gone on tears where I finish 5-6 designs at the same time. I hate being out of necessary supplies, which is why I stock paints, varnishes, canvas, and driers.
I put the same ground on the small panels in the photo at the same time. Actually, these two are part of a batch of eight that I prepared simultaneously. I applied the ground to the panels with a brush and smoothed it with a scrapper. The ground starts drying almost immediately. It’s oil, remember.
For those interested, the ground is: Williamsburg lead white oil ground, + ivory black, + raw umber, (ground to paint 4:1), + copal varnish drops, + siccative Courtrai drops.
Oil grounds, as you’ll recall, consist of lead white oil paint plus chalk. There are many, many types of chalk (marble dust is popular) and some are more suited for grounds than others, but even so, it’s pretty straightforward.
By the way, you can use lead-oil ground to paint with too.
