The Toned Ground

The beginning of all my paintings is the toned ground. The main reasons for creating a toned ground are to destroy the intimidating purity of the white canvas/board and to make it easier to figure out the lights and darks of the composition. The toned ground is usually an earth colour such as raw or burnt umber, or even yellow ochre. The layer of paint will not be seen in the final painting, unless the artist chooses to let some of the ground show through as part of their style.

Another reason for the toned ground is to build up texture if you are painting onto panels. I usually paint two layers, each going in different directions. This creates a cross hatched texture that makes it easier to apply paint. I use a large natural bristle brush from Bunnings to get the lines and texture.

So far I only use raw umber mixed with titanium or lead white and then diluted slightly with distilled gum turpentine. Lead white will create the most stable ground and be less likely to result in cracking later down the track, although Titanium white is a LOT cheaper.