Why Use Toned Grounds Like Artists!…
Some artists prefer to colour their canvas or surface before they start to work. Often this will add to the painting and add a personal touch to it.
Shop bought canvasses are often a very brilliant white. Whatever you seal your painting board probably is too, whether you use gesso or primers. However, you may find it is an advantage to cover your painting board with a wash of colour or even a neutral tone.
When you paint on the stark white it often will make your colouring seem very dark and distorted even. This leaves an effect of your work looking disappointingly pale.
To use dark and light shading in your work it is therefore better to use a wash of a medium shade or a neutral colour.
It can be a very important part of the colour coordination of your picture if you have undertone glimpses of colour shining through.
How do I choose the shade? You need to pick something you are entirely happy with. Really though whatever you are painting most subjects would work well on neutral or fairly medium shades.
I would not really advice using bright colouring for a ground as it will dominate your other colours. Far better to use, say a contrasting shade. As an example, you could use a purple for the ground if your main subject was in very bright orange or lemon.
How do you apply the tone? If you have a board or canvas that is not already primed you could add a small amount of acrylic paint to the gesso or primer to lay a tone.
Many of the canvasses available in the shops are already primed, however, to set the tone of your work, you can still add an acrylic paint coating. Apply the toned primer to your canvas by either using a broad artists brush or an ordinary household brush.
If you want a surface that is opaque, mix the acrylic with gesso or acrylic primer. Apply at least two coats to create dense, flat colour.
You may end up with an uneven appearance to your work if you use acrylic on its own. With acrylics they do not all have the same amount of translucency, so you often end up with brush marks. I personally think this adds to the painting.
Should you have an oil based primer, acrylic will not go on this, but by the same token, you can use oil on acrylics. Acrylic gesso or primer can be used for either acrylics or oils.
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