MATERIALS & METHODS - Painting - Oil Painting - Supports and Grounds
Rigid Supports:
Wood Panels - Cardboard - Standard Masonite Presdwood - Plywood - Metals - Grounds for Rigid Supports
Flexible Supports:
Paper - Textiles - Commercial Products - Grounds for Flexible Supports
The ground is important for several reasons, and painters have known for centuries that a support primed with a good ground is preferable to a support that has received only a coat of size. First, the ground surface allows a more controlled and stronger paint handling than is possible on a support with no ground because it is more evenly absorbent. Second, if any repairs to the back of the canvas should become necessary, the restorer may work with less hazard to the painting when there exists a layer of ground between the textile and the picture.
However, the most important reason for the ground is that it allows the painting to retain its original brilliance of color, especially if the picture is done in oil colors. Most paint films become considerably less opaque as they age. If they have been applied over a dark surface, such as sized linen or a wood panel, the colors will appear darker with age. If they have been painted over a white surface, they will become brighter and more luminous with age. [pp. 104-105] Acrylic Resin Grounds
[Kay, Reed. The Painter's Guide to Studio Methods and Materials. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1983.]
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