Grounds

Learning from artists manuscripts, a contemporary artist adapts a 15th century recipe for preparing grounds for oil painting on wood panels.

In her book, The Art of Arts, Anita Albus discusses materials and practices of oil and tempera painting that have either been lost or fallen into disuse. Albus makes a poignant observation that ever since the industrial revolution, it has been industry that dictates what materials are available to artists. Gesso production falls into this category ...

Part one on preparing wood panels for painting with the application of chalk grounds, and fifth in our technical series on painting icons, this article discusses the history and materials used in the preparation of wood panels for tempera painting — size, pavoloka and gesso — since the earliest period of Christian art until today. While the series specifically applies to making icon boards and preparing them for painting egg tempera icons, it has application to preparing wood panels for painting in any medium on chalk grounds.

The installation of braces and the shaping of the kovcheg (recessed areas on icon boards) are the last stages in the production of an icon board, however, the board is not yet ready for painting. The paint layer is applied on to a ground consisting of powdered ...

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 described boiling sheep trotters* in water to remove the greasy parts, calcining ...

Oil paint darkens and becomes increasingly translucent as it ages. These changes may cause visible disfigurement of paintings and, although the phenomenon has been extensively studied, the causes are not definitely known at present.

One way ...

To prepare grounds for metalpoint drawing technique, you will need a rigid support. Select a heavy, smooth-surfaced paper, paperboard, parchment or wood panel, such as plywood or hardboard. Paper with a rough texture or smooth glossy surface are ...