The making of a Still Life: Ground Colour
Because I lack the studio space and tools to stretch and prime my own canvases, I pretty much have no other choices but to use commercial canvasses. Unfortunately commercial canvasses can be too absorbent, sucking the oil out of the paint, which in turns renders this undesirable matt and dull aspect to the paint – I find that giving a good oil rich first coat to the canvas helps solve this problem – Secondly, the glaring white of the gesso-ed canvas can make it difficult to gauge values; making the darks seeming darker by contrast.
Ground colours can also be used for other purposes such as to enliven certain colours or for aesthetic reason. They can be applied in transparency (Imprematura) or opaque. In this instance I’m applying an opaque ground colour; a neutral grey made of Titanium White, Lamp Black and a tad of Ultramarine Blue, to remove the white gesso’s glare.
Pretty much, I use 2 part paint + 1 part linseed oil + 1 part thinner, mix it all up in a glass jar and apply the mixture evenly on the canvas using a large hog bristle brush – Note that I’m using Eco-House thinner – No, I’m not paid by those guys but I really like that thinner. It works just as good as any other thinner, plus it’s a low-toxicity natural chemistry product and it doesn’t have that nasty smell (it smells like oranges). An excellent alternative for small studios, check them out: www.eco-house.com
Back to the ground colour: if it were a semi-transparent ground, I’d use a cloth to wipe the excess but in this case I’ve left it as is – Below is the finished ground colour.
While waiting for it to dry I’m going to make a full-scale sketch of the still life on journal paper to be later transferred onto the canvas. That’ll be the subject of my next article.
The making of a Still Life:
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Ground colour
