{"id":4964,"date":"2015-04-06T21:50:41","date_gmt":"2015-04-07T01:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/?p=4964"},"modified":"2015-04-06T21:50:41","modified_gmt":"2015-04-07T01:50:41","slug":"applying-an-oil-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/04\/applying-an-oil-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"Applying an oil ground"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am preparing\u00a0a bunch of canvases just now–six size 40″ x 50″, and six size 36″ x 48.” \u00a0Typically, I apply 2-3 coats of acrylic gesso over\u00a02 coats of GAC 100.\u00a0I might drop the GAC<\/a>. Although it’s easy enough to screw up a canvas early on (canvas quality can be poor and tear, stretchers can be out of square or warped, and gesso can be crap quality too), the important step is the next step: the ground.<\/p>\n

Ground<\/em> refers to the last layer put on a\u00a0canvas before painting starts. Grounds can be created and applied in a variety of ways. Some artists–like me–are particular about their grounds, while others are indifferent about theirs. If you are a new oil painter, the takeaway is that your ground can have a profound\u00a0effect on the way the paint handles. Try different things.<\/p>\n

I am using a toned ground for these new paintings, as you can see in the photo. I’ve covered about two-thirds of the\u00a040″ x 50″ canvas in the photo. \u00a0These days I prefer a neutral gray tone made from white, black, and raw umber. Lots of artists use toned grounds, although perhaps not as many\u00a0today as previously. The tone can be applied over the last layer of gesso, or it\u00a0can be incorporated into the final gesso layer, as I’ve done here.<\/p>\n

Traditional gesso is made with chalk and hide glue. Traditional gesso creates\u00a0a magnificent surface but a\u00a0brittle one. Because of its brittleness, it’s normally restricted to firm surfaces, such as wood panels, and\u00a0isn’t\u00a0used on canvas. The traditional ground for oils is oil paint with an addition of the same chalk. This too creates\u00a0a great surface. By the way, this oil-chalk mixture can be\u00a0used in the painting itself. Its body and covering power are\u00a0tremendous.<\/p>\n

\"Putting<\/a>
Putting an oil ground on a new canvas. The scrapper is on the palette.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With this canvas I am using a commercially-prepared oil ground. For the tone, I’ve mixed some black and raw umber oil paint into the white ground. You can see it on the palette It’s a little tricky figuring out how much tone\u00a0to mix. Once I ran out before the canvas was covered and the new mixture varied from the original; not a lot but enough to bug me. Now I make sure I have plenty of mixed tone beforehand.<\/p>\n

Grounds can be applied with a brush or a scraper. I prefer the\u00a0scraper method. If you brush\u00a0it on, the\u00a0thinner makes the surface\u00a0sensitive to the layer beneath it. If the gesso layer beneath is rough, the ground will be rough too. Of course, that might be what you want.<\/p>\n

I\u00a0apply the ground much\u00a0as a laborer would apply plaster to a wall. I\u00a0apply as thin a layer as possible, working it into the canvas in all directions. Although the layer is thin, it’s much thicker than a brushed-on layer. The extra thickness hides all irregularities in the canvas. It is more labor intensive than brushing it on; it takes practice not to leave scraper marks or ridges. But the effort is worth it. The resulting surface is smooth yet slightly absorbent–perfect for painting. The finished surface doesn’t require sanding.<\/p>\n

You can see my scraper on the palette; it’s about 4 inches long. I\u00a0have\u00a0bigger scrapers but the bigger\u00a0ones are prone to create ridges.<\/p>\n

The point is efficiency. The smooth surface makes the painting go faster with less reworking, especially in the details. The neutral tone provides a mid-tone that speeds tone balancing. The time saved can be significant in large paintings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am preparing\u00a0a bunch of canvases just now–six size 40″ x 50″, and six size 36″ x 48.” \u00a0Typically, I apply 2-3 coats of acrylic gesso over\u00a02 coats of GAC 100.\u00a0I might drop the GAC. Although it’s easy enough to screw up a canvas early on (canvas quality can be poor and tear, stretchers can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":4963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[208,24,113,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-materials","category-shop_talk","category-tips_tricks","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/oil-ground.jpg?fit=444%2C305&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7857,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2018\/04\/preparing-a-canvas-surface-for-oil-painting\/","url_meta":{"origin":4964,"position":0},"title":"Preparing a canvas surface for oil painting","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"April 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a companion to my canvas stretching post. After you stretch a perfectly taut and square canvas, you're ready to prepare the surface. Our goal is threefold: protect the canvas protect the paint create a perfect surface\u00a0 Why do we have to protect the canvas?\u00a0 Oil is acidic, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/surface-tools.jpg?fit=800%2C644&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/surface-tools.jpg?fit=800%2C644&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/surface-tools.jpg?fit=800%2C644&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/surface-tools.jpg?fit=800%2C644&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8812,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2020\/06\/how-to-grounds\/","url_meta":{"origin":4964,"position":1},"title":"How to–grounds","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"June 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Most artists do not know how to prepare grounds for oil painting. I know this is true because none of my teachers were able to prepare acceptable grounds, and none of the commercially-prepared canvases that I've used have been acceptable. This is even true for vendors who claim the highest\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "How to"","block_context":{"text":"How to","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/how-to\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/oil-grounds-compare2.png?fit=800%2C651&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/oil-grounds-compare2.png?fit=800%2C651&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/oil-grounds-compare2.png?fit=800%2C651&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/oil-grounds-compare2.png?fit=800%2C651&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4674,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/02\/in-the-studio-2815\/","url_meta":{"origin":4964,"position":2},"title":"In the studio 2\/8\/15","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I worked on these paintings this morning. I painted-out some foliage in the upper-right\u00a0of Three Girls.\u00a0The tone in the photo of that area is more yellow--by far--than the actual tone. The under-painting is done (has been for a bit) and I'm driving toward finishing it. It's a lot of fun\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Paintings"","block_context":{"text":"Paintings","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/paintings\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/studio-2015-2-8.jpg?fit=444%2C613&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4889,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/03\/in-the-studio-32215\/","url_meta":{"origin":4964,"position":3},"title":"In the studio 3\/22\/15","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"March 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't think I've shown this painting--Sunday Parade--before. According to my studio journal, today's painting session is the fifth. It was too raw. Still is, really. The underpainting isn't finished; but it's far enough along that you can get a sense of where it's going. This design is put together\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/sunday_parade.jpg?fit=444%2C387&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7516,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2017\/11\/turpentine-diaries-11-26-17\/","url_meta":{"origin":4964,"position":4},"title":"Turpentine diaries 11\/26\/17","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"November 26, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"After flavoring my medium with additions for several days, today I used my normal medium.\u00a0 I worked on this painting during both of today's sessions.\u00a0 When the painting surface is right, as with this painting, my normal medium is unbeatable.\u00a0 What is a good surface?\u00a0 I like smooth surfaces.\u00a0 'Smooth'\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "materials"","block_context":{"text":"materials","link":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/category\/materials\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/studio-2017-11-26.png?fit=800%2C682&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/studio-2017-11-26.png?fit=800%2C682&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/studio-2017-11-26.png?fit=800%2C682&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/studio-2017-11-26.png?fit=800%2C682&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4732,"url":"https:\/\/thomasparkerhudson.com\/wordpress\/2015\/02\/in-the-studio-21815\/","url_meta":{"origin":4964,"position":5},"title":"In the studio 2\/18\/15","author":"Tom Hudson","date":"February 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"The under-painting is done on The Photographer. All color areas are close to their planned final tone. Having said that, no part of the painting is finished; with the figure being the least finished. I'm happy with the stool and the hat. 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