Staining your canvas . . . what do you use

[Alexandra Tyng]

For toning the canvas, I use a mixture of ivory black, burnt umber and white. And lots of solvent. First I brush it on, then I take a paper towel and wipe it on with circular strokes to even out the surface. Even with the white it still dries fast, and the addition of white gives it a slightly smoother surface (though matte) that makes the paint glide on.

Sometimes I vary the color, mixing ultramarine blue and burnt umber, or ultramarine and burnt sienna. Sometimes I use complementary colors mixed with some white. My goal is to make a neutral color that is equivalent to a light midtone.

And sometimes I'm in such a rush of excitement to get started that I don't tone the canvas! In the end, I can't tell the difference!

Alex

[Michele Rushworth]

Although I enjoy working on a toned surface I'm concerned how my paintings would look in years to come when the paint has become more transparent. I wouldn't want them to lose whatever color and brightness they have because the toned ground started to influence the upper colors more, especially in thinly painted areas with only one or two layers, like the face. Because of that concern I now work on a white canvas. Is this something you wonder about also?

[Alexandra Tyng]

I'm glad you brought that up, Michele. It is important to think about the future, and I am usually so enthusiastic about painting now that I forget to consider what might happen down the road.

I tend to put a lot of paint on the light areas, less in the midtones, and even less in the shadows. Since my ground is a midtone, would it be bad if the color on top thinned or lost color so that the ground showed through more? Same with the shadows. On the other hand, what if you don't tone the canvas. Would the white show through, and is that what we would prefer?

The other thing I am wondering about is whether the colors in the toning mixture would be fading at the same rate as the top layers of paint. This would certainly occur if I mixed a ground color from the dominant shadow color in my painting and its complement, thus making a neutral. Then the same pigments would be in the ground and in the painting.

Gosh, Michele, I never thought about any of this until you brought it up! Is there anyone out there who KNOWS?

Alex

[Richard Budig]

Yes, this thinning of paint over time is well known. A painting by Valesquez (sp) called the Water Seller comes to mind, as well as a couple i've seen in museums. I'm sure there are bunches more where an under painting is peeking through.

But, you gotta consider that there are also museums full of paintings where this isn't apparent, and a goodly number of these paintings are by artists known to do all sorts of thing on the under layers.

My thought is that many things are at work in these paintings with ghosts. For example, Valesquez seems to have painted thinly his correction of the Water Seller's collar, so "thin painting" could be one of the culprits.

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Richard Budig

. For example, Valesquez seems to have painted thinly his correction of the Water Seller's collar, so "thin painting" could be one of the culprits.

I have seen that painting, as well as others by Velasquez, where corrections become visible. But that has nothing to do with the under paint, as Richard correctly states, but thin, faster drying paint upon impasto details, like a leg that had to be moved, or a gun that was too long.

When we plan our works carefully so that we don

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth

...especially in thinly painted areas with only one or two layers, like the face.

Interesting, that's where my paintings are thicker.

[Sharon Knettell]

Claudimir,

In the book, "John Singer Sargent", by Carter Ratcliff, (Abbeville Press) it says " the places of masses were indicated with a rigger dipped in a flowing pigment. No preparation in colour was allowed, but the main planes of the face must be laid directly on the unprepared canvas with a broad brush." This book is available on this site.

I tone my canvasses based on my color theme, if it is to be a green theme, I tone it green, a yellow theme, yellow, etc.

After talking to Micheal Harding, the paint maker, I will not use any kind of acrylic under-painting, not even Liquin or Galkyd, or acrylic gessoed canvasses.

Alexandra,

Good pigments as a rule should not fade, alizarin, one of my favorites does. Vermilion can blacken when exposed to sulphuric acid, a by product of the use of coal heat.

All oil paints will in time yellow and get more transparent.

A recent article in "The American Scientist" shows the results of the pigment change in Seurat's "Le Grande Jatte" to be a decided shift to yellow.

Allan,

In another book on Sargent, he used thickly painted darks.

[Michele Rushworth]

After talking to Michael Harding, the paint maker, I will not use any kind of acrylic under-painting, not even Liquin or Galkyd, or acrylic gessoed canvasses.

What did he say would happen if an artist uses canvases that are gessoed with acrylic? (I sometimes use them for my non-portrait work.)

[quote]Good pigments as a rule should not fade, alizarin, one of my favorites does. [/quote}You might want to check out Gamblin's Permanent Alizarin. Richard Schmidt, among others, seem to feel it is truly permanent.

[Allan Rahbek]

Originally Posted by Michele Rushworth

What did he say would happen if an artist uses canvases that are gessoed with acrylic? (I sometimes use them for my non-portrait work.)
.

The acrylic gesso that I have used for priming canvas lately dries up matte and very absorbent. I don

[Sharon Knettell]

Michele,

He said not to use them, I have notes, I will see if I can find them.

His knowledge is quite encyclopedic and my poor brain could not quite contain the amount of information he delved out.

He went into the types of canvas, the weave, twill or regular and what effect where the flax was grown to the quality of its' use as a paint surface.

I did a bit of research last spring and I was disappointed in the lack of good painting surfaces. One reason lead gessoing is so desirable is its' flexibilty and durability. Unfortunately good prepared lead gessoed canvas is rare. But this is going beyond the purview of this thread.

As to alizarin, I am wary of using Gamblin as they use an alkali refined linseed oil as opposed to a cold-pressed linseed oil more common in European oil paint manufacture. According to Ralph Mayer, cold pressed is more durable and it does not have a suede effect. That is when a paint color changes as a result of the direction of a paint stroke.