Why Would You Want to Paint on a Colored Ground?

One of the first things I like to do when I start a new painting is kill the white of the canvas. There are many ways you can do that, for example just slop a bunch of acrylic paint all over the surface. That would be quicker, easier and cheaper than using expensive colored gesso. So, the question is, why start with a colored gesso? To find out the answer, watch the video below… (or just continue reading).

The honest answer is, I just like it. I like the uniformness (lack of texture) of the surface that I get from several coats of carefully applied gesso. Also the gesso has a lot of pigment in it and creates a richly colored surface. If I applied ochre paint to a white gessoed surface it’s not going to be as smooth and saturated in color as the gesso. So that’s one reason to use it.

Another reason to work with a colored gesso is that it can really save a lot of time and add a great deal of mood to your painting, with very little effort. That’s because your mid tones are already established; You don’t have to build them up from a white surface.

Take a look at this self portrait I made a few years ago on the same ochre gesso that I use in the video above. The gesso color shines through the layers of acrylic paint in many places. It’s especially noticeable in the pants and the large leaves on the right side.

The Mushroom Hunter - 30x48’ Acrylic on canvas

For the pants, I really just added some highlights and a bit of shadow and left the ochre as the dominate color. Maybe I did a loose wash to green them up a bit. The pants were really that color in the photo reference btw.

The leaves above needed more work than the pants but it was still convenient to have the ochre base to start with.

Perhaps the biggest benefit with colored gesso is the uniformness that it gives the work, creating an atmosphere that shines throughout the work. In this case it made it easy to capture the feeling of the mushroom hunter out foraging in the woods in autumn because the yellow of dying autumn leaves ties everything together easily; I didn’t even have to think about it, it was automatic.

This gesso was from Daniel Smith, a Seattle based art supply company that I love. Unfortunately they discontinued it years ago and I never found a satisfactory replacement. There were some other options last time I checked the internet, but none of them made me want to actually try them out. If you’ve found a colored gesso that you’re happy with, feel free to share about it here in the comments.

In the videos below I start a new painting using the same ochre gesso that I used for “The Mushroom Hunter” painting featured above.

Thanks for reading, I hope this has been helpful. Please sign up for my newsletter to stay in the loop and check out my art if you feel inclined. If you liked the video, I regularly post new content to YouTube.