Paintings By Kirsten Elizabeth Gilmore Studio Blog

"Base coating" a canvas:

How to prepare a toned ground

What is base coating? "Base coating" or "basecoating" is a contemporary term used by decorative painters and folk artists. An older, more traditional painting term that means much the same thing is creating a colored "ground". "Imprimatura" is a related, traditional art term which does also mean the first layer of paint on a canvas, but, imprimatura refers to a translucent layer of paint. Basecoating typically refers to an opaque layer of paint. 

Why base coat? You can immediately get rid of the "white flecks" that paintings without a basecoat can get. Here you can see those white flecks up close:

Close-up view of early stage of a painting by artist, Sharon Furner

DIY PROJECT: Creating a rough-surfaced basecoat:

While some decorative painters seek to minimize any visible brush strokes, creating an even surface, today's demo purposefully creates a rough basecoat with raised ridges from brushstrokes. (This will become important during a future tutorial on "drybrushing" because the surface provides a texture for drybrush strokes to catch upon.) If you prefer a smooth, toned ground, I suggest you use Golden Fluid Acrylics and check out William Kemp's blog tutorial on creating an evenly-toned, acrylic ground.

Materials:

• 8"X8"X1/4" pre-primed, archival hardboard (The samples uses inexpensive panels with pre-cut dovetail slots in the back for hanging, available from DickBlick online. Or, you can prepare your own.)
• One color of acrylic paint (For the sample, I used Winsor Newton's Galleria brand)
• one medium-sized, flat-shaped nylon brush (3/4"-1.5" works well for this size panel.)
• tub of clean water
• paper towel or clean rag (for drying your brush)
• Recommended:  Plastic dropcloth cut as a tablecloth:  This can easily be re-used, since dried acrylic paint peels right off of it.

Directions:

1. Squeeze out paint in a blob about the size of a half-dollar (about 1” circle.)
2. Take out your flat brush, dip it in the water to moisten it, then dry it on your towel. (pre-moistening the bristles makes later brush cleaning easier.)
3. Hold the hardboard panel face-up, like a pizza with your non-dominant hand. I am right-handed, so I would hold the painting with my left hand.                           
4. With your dominant hand, pick up the brush and load it with paint. The paint should go only half way up the bristle.                                      
5. Start painting the edge of the panel.

• Don’t push too hard, or you’ll drop the panel! 
• Paint in short strokes straight downward.
• You will get with a ridge of paint on the top and an even layer of paint on the side.

6. Quickly, while the paint is still wet, take your brush, but NO NEW PAINT, and smooth the ridge of paint on the surface of the panel in long strokes towards the center of the panel.

7. Take a break to clean your brush. 

• (You might want to put the panel down near the edge of the table, so you can easily pick it back up again.)

8. Continue that process along each edge, turning the board carefully as you go.

9. When all the sides are painted and all ridges are smoothed, finish painting the top of the panel with long, smooth strokes. Your painting will not look perfectly uniform. That’s a good thing, since we will be using those small ridges later when layering over this base coat. 

10. Place it on the table to dry. Deep clean your brush. Dry your brush.

Challenges during this project:

• Try to avoid fingerprints in the paint surface. If you make one, quickly brush back over that area for a more natural look.
• Smooth down all ridges that occur at the edge of the surface of the painting.

For finished, original paintings made on 8"x8" hardboard panels, visit my etsy shop:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaintingsByKEGilmore?ref=si_shop