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Using a red ground

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Peter Smith

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Last night our art group had a demo and the chap had prepared his canvas with a deep red acrylic ground. He was painting in oils so at the end I asked him if he'd do the same with acrylics. He said yes. He also said many of the great painters did it, notably Constable. Well, I had my doubts about whether it would work with acrylics so I've given it a go. Here's a picture I did a few weeks ago straight onto a white canvas: This is what I have just painted on a red ground: I don't think it's made any difference at all apart from wasting some paint! I know I put the paint on thickly so I didn't expect to see any great effect. I don't think it's worth doing again. What do others do? I'd be very interested to hear what people think. It has had one benefit - I need to go back and redo those fields in the top picture, and probably the rocks too.

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by Peter Smith

Sylvia Evans

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I prefer the top one ,being not very bright to day, is that the one with the red under painting?   It has a quality about it that somehow makes it better than the other one.......if you see what I mean...
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Peter Smith

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That's the one straight onto a white canvas Sylvia, which is what I'll be doing from now on. I've given them both a bit of a tweak; the one with red ground is second.

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by Peter Smith

Justin Twigg

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Hi the bottom one is better because the colour of the grass is closer to real life, that vivid green might work a little in the foreground but not at a distance, and not for the whole painting. Have you tried Underpainting in red or Sienna rather than a complete ground? Anyway here is a video I found online its in French but has subtitles, it might give you a better idea. https://www.oliviermasmonteil.com/en/tutoriel-fond-rouge/

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by Justin Twigg

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Peter Smith

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Thanks, I'll have a look.
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Helen Martell

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I underpaint most of my (acrylic) paintings in burnt sienna (a dark orange). (Usually after I’ve sketched the picture onto the canvas). I don’t like painting direct onto a white canvas, so filling in all the white of the canvas first kind of makes me feel like I’m making some progress!! 

Collette Hughes

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Anyway here is a video I found online its in French but has subtitles, it might give you a better idea. https://www.oliviermasmonteil.com/en/tutoriel-fond-rouge/
Justin Twigg on 24/03/2023 17:57:50 Thank you for this, I will give this a go. 
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Peter Smith

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I think it depends on how you paint - if you use acrylics like oils fairly thinly it does work but if you paint like me it's a waste of time. I'm glad I did it though, you shouldn't criticise what you haven't tried. 
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Marjorie Firth

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From time to time I use a complimentary colour as a ground eg. a bright red under a predominantly green painting or oranges and brown under blue or turquoise. It gives a “ zing”. Depends what you’re after….even a soft atmospheric painting can benefit from an interesting base colour. Can you spot the base colours below?

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by Marjorie Firth

Justin Twigg

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This is one I started today not on my usual A2 cartridge but on unstretched canvas. Originally a visual grey ground (old oil paint sludge) and then worked on it with pencil crayons.  I’ve then added multiple layer of mixing white or imitation zinc white. This has given me a lot of tonal depth at very little cost, it’s taken me an hour and a half so far. I’ve added drops of ink to the white to give me an indication of colour.  When this is dry I shall continue either with ink and stuff or I fancy using oils on top for a change. This way of ‘underpainting’ can be so successful.  I even use both whites together to get the right tone and depth. If you look I put a Z on top of the zinc and  a T on the titanium as I get carried away.
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Paul (Dixie) Dean

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It’s looking really good Justin, looking forward to seeing it finished. 
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Just painting on a coloured ground - which very many painters use - will not modify the colour if applied thickly, but it's helpful in allowing you to read the tones of the paint you apply on top - I have used just a white canvas, and I think it can work, though maybe I would say that, but normally I apply a stain of burnt sienna, or Mars orange (my latest favourite!), and one of my sunniest acrylics, which my brother bought from me - so it must have had something - was painted over a mixed ground, though mainly Alizarin crimson (acrylic alizarin isn't really Alizarin at all, but that's a discussion for another day).  Not only did it warm up the greens and yellows painted over it, but as I remember, I allowed the coat of red to show in places.  Like most of us, I'm rarely pleased with my own stuff, but was quite pleased with that one - not least because I'd had a perishing long walk to sketch the scene. I don't know that Constable would have used a bright red - he left a lot of oil sketches, suggesting that he used earth reds and siennas as his underpainting/imprimatura; but I'd take a bet that he would never have worked on a plain white canvas.
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