Experiencing Joy Through Art

   Glad to see you back here again! There are almost as many methods to approach the creation of a painting as there are artists. Each person has his or her own unique way of working on their masterpieces. One of my mainstays of my procedure is to begin my paintings on a toned canvas. There are a lot of great reasons for us to do this, but here are what I feel are the top three.

1) Painting on a toned surface allows you to judge values correctly. In artistic terms, "value" means light or dark. Value is the most important aspect in painting. Most artists mix their paint on a neutral toned palette so it doesn't make sense to then put our paint down on a bright white surface. All paintings are a series of relationships and the relationships of the values are crucial.

   You generally want to tone your canvas or panel to a middle value. Make sure it is a very thin layer of paint that is mixed with a fair amount of thinner. You don't want it to mix too much with your colors that go over top of it. Let it dry for 15 minutes or so before you start painting, so the thinner evaporates.

   I usually tone with either plain Raw Umber for warmer paintings or mix it with a little Ultramarine for a cooler tone. The point is you want your canvas to be such that the darks still look dark and the lights look light when you put paint down onto the toned surface. 

2) Painting on a Toned Surface Unifies Your Color Scheme. When you put a solid color over the entire surface you are going to paint on this helps unify all the colors and makes the whole painting more cohesive. It is up to you whether you want to paint over a pure, brightly colored surface or a neutral tone. That really depends on what your intentions are for the painting and your own style that you work in.

   Since my paintings are mostly in the classical chiaroscuro style, I prefer to use a neutral color. I've seen artists who produce amazing and beautiful work painted over a bright saturated color such as red or orange. For a great example of an artist who paints over bright saturated color, take a look at the work of Caroline Jasper. She makes great use of this technique. Another fine example of this concept in action is the pre-Renaissance paintings that were painted over gold leaf.

   Plus, if you paint loosely like I do and don't get 100% coverage with your brush strokes, a toned surface eliminates those pesky white spots showing through. Those make us want to go in and cover them all up, and then the painting can get overworked.

3) It Breaks the "Fear of the White Canvas". Sometimes when you are ready to paint and you find this pristine white surface staring back at you, you feel pressured to make it perfect and hesitate to mark that perfect white. Toning your canvas gets you in there and breaks through that barrier of apprehension. There's no pressure to do anything "right" since you are just toning the canvas, not starting the actual painting. This can go a long way to getting you in the flow. 

   And for what it's worth, they say the first paint stroke that you put down is always right. It's getting the next one right and the next one, and so on that is tough!

   If you haven't tried working on a toned canvas before, give it a whirl and see how it influences the outcome! Art is all about having fun and experimenting with your boundries. You just might find that one new method that is perfect for you!