The basics
Will Kemp is an award-winning professional artist
and teacher. He studied in Italy, ran his own art
gallery, taught in museums and schools, and now
runs his own online art school, where he shares his
professional secrets with aspiring artists.
Learn more at http://www.willkempartschool.comA
white canvas can
always be covered
with one solid paint
colour which is called
a toned ground (short for toned
background). Using a coloured
ground does a number of
fantastic things: it can transform
your paintings by making them
look more professional, it speeds
up the process of painting a
picture and can also give you
a foolproof method for creating
a tonal mood in your work.
You can apply a toned ground
opaquely or as a transparent
stain (called an imprimatura).
Colours to use
Choose the colour to suit the
mood and feel you’re after in
your painting. You’re trying to
imagine what’s underneath the
painting and then build opaque
layers of colour on top of this.
My preferred choice for a
landscape, still life or portrait
nearly always stem from one of
the earth colours: usually Burnt
Umber plus white, Raw Umber
and white or Yellow Ochre.
For the absolute beginner
I recommend using Yellow
Ochre. It’s usually included in
beginner sets and can be used
diluted with a little water. This
yellow can seem too strong,
but you just need to have
a little faith! For example, if you
are painting a blue seascape, the
warm undertone of the yellow
can balance perfectly to the cool
blues in the scene, adding the
feeling of the sun hitting parts
of your painting.How to apply an acrylic
coloured ground(^1) Lay old newspaper on the
floor, or work on a really old floor
or table.
(^2) Mix the Yellow Ochre in a jam
jar, old mug or plastic tray with
water until it’s the consistency
of milk or single cream. Student
quality paints will need less
water than artist quality paints.
(^3) Grab some kitchen roll
(because you're bound to get
some unwanted drips when you
first start). Pick up the canvas.
Paint around the edges first,
trying not to get too much
overflow onto the front of the
canvas. Angle the brush to
minimise bristles sneaking over
the front of the canvas. Apply
the paint with a scrubbing
motion to ‘push‘ it into the
canvas so it
soaks in.
(^4) Place the canvas on the floor
or a low table. Then working
quickly, brush the paint from left
to right to cover the canvas.
(^5) When you paint there will be
darker streaks of paint on the
edge of the canvas because the
bristles push it out. You have to
keep working backwards and
forwards to smooth out these
indiscretions.
(^6) Squeeze the brush in the
kitchen towel to take out most
of the moisture and then gently
go over the canvas again,
working from left to right,
overlapping strokes and lifting
the brush at the end rather than
working back and forth.
Watch out for drips on the
side of the canvas and if you're
too enthusiastic, watch out for
spray from the brush!
Preparing a canvas for acrylics
Will Kemp describes how to apply a toned background.
If using Yellow
Ochre straight from
the tube and it‘s too
intense, add some
Titanium White to the
mix to mute it
MATERIALS
OYellow Ochre acrylic paint
OWhite canvas or canvas
board ODecorator’s brush
OKitchen roll (paper towel)
ONewspaper OCranked
handle palette knife OWater
If you add too much
paint to the initial layer
the paint won’t behave
the same on the weave
of the canvas.