Artistic Insights from the Studio of Erica Norelius

Why tone a canvas in the first place?

Toning your painting surface is a wonderful way to be able to more accurately judge value and color. This technique also helps to tone down the bright white speckles that creep through when your painting is completely finished.

In this post I highlight two different approaches using

1) New White Canvas

2) Old Oil Painting

New White Canvas

The goal of toning down a brand new, or freshly Gessoed canvas, is to knock down the value of the white to a mid tone while allowing the brilliance of the white canvas to filter through.

In order to achieve this effect, it is important to use transparent paint. Chose and mix together a couple transparent colors. The paint mixture may look very dark, but as it's transparent and will be applied thinly, it will not look very dark when finished.

Mixing Ultramarine Blue and Transparent Oxide Red for a transparent nuetral.

I personally use ultramarine and transparent oxide red, aiming for a neutral color, however I suggest experimenting to see what works for you. Some artists may paint on brightly colored canvas; Others tone the canvas with the complement of the dominant color in the painting; Another artist might prefer a grayish green hue for figurative painting, or a warm hue for landscape paintings. In other words, you may use the tone to harmonize the painting, or to augment the colors of the painting. It's up to you.

Once you have a transparent mixture of paint on your palette, mix in a healthy amount of Gamsol (or odorless turpenoid) to create a very runny mixture. Then, using a large brush, quickly cover most of the canvas in a rather haphazard way. Don't worry about covering every square inch – it takes too much time. Grab a paper towel or cloth and in a circular motion wipe the paint around the canvas until the entire canvas is covered. You can adjust the value by adding more paint, or by wiping it back with a cloth. That's it!

Wiping transparent paint around on canvas board to coat entire panel.

At this point, I prefer to set the canvases aside to dry overnight, preferable outside or in a well-ventilated area. That way, I know that when I start my painting, the undertone won't get mixed into the paint and muddy the colors.

A picture of what my driveway after I finished.

Old Oil Painting

We all have them – old, unfinished paintings that collect in a box in the corner of the studio. Rather than collecting dust, many of these paintings can be recycled and re-toned to create a fresh new surface. If you are a heavy impasto painter, this might not be the best idea, as you will need to scrape all the excess paint off first. Also, I have found that canvas boards (or just boards in general) work the best for this method. Stretched canvas is more prone to cracking over time, but if you're a student or artist looking to economize your materials – go for it.

To start, take a palette knife and scrape any strong brushstrokes of paint that are sticking up from the surface. You're really just aiming to knock down any three dimensional brushstroke that will cause a weird texture on the new painting.

Instead of using transparent paint to cover the canvas like we did with the new canvas, here we're going to mix up a pile of gray utilizing the old paint on a palette.   At the end of your painting session, you can scrape together the left over paint and mix it together. This usually results in an opaque, mid-toned gray.

Opaque gray mixed from left over paint on palette.

You can add some Turpenoid to this mixture to loosen it up, but only enough to easily apply with a brush.  To apply, use a large brush and cover the entire canvas. The goal is to erase your old painting underneath (this is why this mixture is opaque rather than the transparent colors used on the white canvas). At this point, the panel will need to thoroughly dry. In my experience this can take anywhere from 1 to 3 days.

An old painting and a panel covered with gray paint.

If you're a professional artist, I would be careful about using these canvases to create a masterpiece or a painting that you will sell, as over time the old painting might start showing through, or even start to crack. I personally set the re-used canvases aside to use as studio experiments.

Cautions:

While it may be tempting to re-prime your oil painting with acrylic gesso (or any gesso), don't do it! The gesso will not bond well to the oil paint and will eventually peel off.