Page 2 - Grounds
The ground or primer is the layer used to prepare a support for painting. The color and tone of the ground can affect the color and tonal values of the paint layers applied over it. The ground for flexible supports, such as stretched canvas, is often different from primers applied to rigid supports, such as wood panels.
The technique followed by painters in medieval Western Europe to prepare and paint tempera panels and that used by painters in Russia of the same period are closely allied. However, there are some differences in the process, from the preparation of the panel to the final varnish. These differences are interesting to note and can provide some insight into the technique and process used by the earliest Byzantine artists to make panel paintings...
Gold fascinated medieval society. The medieval love of gold is exemplified during the Byzantine period by resplendent domes, mosaics, icons, and architecture. Illuminated manuscripts echoed these achievements in miniature. Gold became an intrinsic element of the illuminated page...
In his Transactions (1806), S. Grandi describes a method of preparing an absorbent ground for panels, but for which he later wrote works equally well for stretched canvas. He describes the materials, such as boiled sheep trotters, and wheat flour paste, and the preparation to make absorbent grounds...
This traditional method of preparing canvas supports for oil painting uses rabbit skin size (animal collagen glue) and oil ground. Herein briefly is the process of preparing a picture canvas for oil painting...
To prepare grounds for metalpoint or silverpoint drawing technique, you will need a rigid support. Select a heavy, smooth-surfaced paper, paperboard, parchment, or wood panels, such as plywood or hardboard. Paper with a rough texture or smooth glossy surface is undesirable for silverpoint and metalpoint drawing...
The ground is the paint layer applied to the support to prepare it to receive paint. Painting grounds have several functions; the most essential is to provide a surface favorable to paint application. Grounds also change the absorbency of the support, reduce or enhance its texture, provide a different texture entirely, and create a surface that forms a good bond between the support and the paint layer. The ground is crucial to the durability of the painting. De Mayerne noted as early as the 17th century that quality materials were as essential to the ground layer as to the paint layer...