How to Paint on a Dark Ground With Oil Paints

There's a certain brilliant glow and dark, moody atmosphere to a painting when a dark ground is used. This classical technique, employed by artists like Rembrandt, involves laying down a coat of dark paint on top of a primed canvas before painting along with a few other steps that result in a luminous effect. Dark grounds also serve as an ideal basis for the strong lighting of chiaroscuro. Here's how to paint on a dark ground with oil paints.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Start with a primed canvas or other painting surface. Ensure that the gesso is completely dry.

2. Apply a thin, opaque layer of dark pigment to the surface of the canvas. If you choose to use black, add in a bit of red, blue or another color to give it more depth and interest. Allow this layer to dry completely.

3. Sketch in the main outlines of your painting. How much detail you put in at this point is up to you. Allow the sketch to dry.

4. Underpaint in grisaille (shades of gray). Leave the darkest areas unpainted so the ground shows through.

5. Model tones in frotties (semi-transparent tones in a glaze or thinly spread paint). Allow to dry.

6. Apply the upper layers of paint, starting with the mid tones. Keep the tones light to allow for later glazes.

7. Paint in the lightest highlights and allow them to dry.

8. Apply tinted glazes on top to add in golden tones of hair, flushed skin, and other colored areas of the painting.

Tips & Warnings

• Acrylic paint can be used to lay down the dark ground if you plan to paint over it completely; otherwise, use oil. Acrylic dries faster but lacks the depth of oil. If you do choose to use acrylic, you can mix it in with the gesso to cut back on preparation time.
• Burnt umber is a good color to use for the sketch, as it dries quickly.
• Too many warm tones can make a painting appear sickly. Try making midtones appear cooler by applying a thin glaze of a lighter warm shade over the deep warm background shade. This technique is called the 'turbid medium effect'.
• Highlights painted in a cool white will appear to shine through the colored glazes.