Why paint on a non-white surface?

With Toned Ground you can:

• Capture temperature or complement it
• Establish unity in the first few strokes
• Easily see passages of dark and light 
• Create color harmony through exposed traces

Capture temperature or complement it

Selecting a Toned Ground that replicates the color of the light you’re painting is a quick way to set the temperature and carry it throughout your painting. Think of Toned Ground as ready-made light that matches the season.

A Toned Ground can also balance the temperature of light. In overbearing heat or cold, try choosing a complementary Toned Ground to the light of the scene. For example, warm ground in a winter setting can balance the overall mood of a painting while a neutral grey can offer some relief in a painting under warm tungsten light or on a scorching summer day.

Establish unity in the first few strokes

Our Toned Grounds are easy on the eyes. Because they don’t glare like white, you can focus on building your painting, not dimming the canvas. A toned surface allows your initial marks to appear unified, not fragmented. 

Easily see passages of dark and light

If you start a painting by blocking in the darkest darks and lightest lights, a Toned Ground will make your life easier. Just imagine, you won’t be building from one extreme end of the spectrum (white) and expected to capture the subtleties across the entire Munsell Scale. Starting in the middle where most of the natural world lies “grounds” you with a moderate base allowing you to paint your highlights and shadows with intention.

Create color harmony through exposed traces

When painting on a white canvas or panel, leaving unpainted bits can hijack the entire painting. These white traces can be distracting, or they can read as unwanted highlights that make a painting appear unresolved.

Exposed Toned Ground on the other hand works in your favor. Viewers won’t think twice about your painting being finished; unpainted pieces look painted! Leftover traces of Toned Ground pull a painting together and amplify color harmony from edge-to-edge. These slivers peek through, draw you in, and suggest completeness and unity without stealing the show.

Toned Ground colors

Warm Birch

This earthy yellow is a popular choice for conveying warmth and capturing summer light. For plein air painting on a summer day, this color is instant light that matches the temperature you’re painting in.

Neutral Grey

Useful for winter scenes, moody days, or as a contrasting color for painting warm light. As a “neutral” this is an excellent unbiased choice. (This is what a blank canvas should be.)

Warm Grey

The best way to describe this violet-leaning grey is “versatile.” Violet, the color between cool blue and warm red, offers visual interest and unity without over-influencing the overall temperature of the painting.

Raw Linen

The flax plant gives us the oil we paint with and the linen we paint on. This brown-grey provides a natural backdrop that has inspired oil painters for centuries.