Description
Gamblin Ground, Oil painters’ Gesso
Gamblin Oil Painting Ground makes a strong, bright white, archival, non-absorbent foundation for oil paintings. For preparing and reusing panels and canvases. Gamblin Ground is formulated from alkyd resin, titanium dioxide, and calcium carbonate – titanium dioxide gives opacity, while calcium carbonate gives tooth for strong adhesion.
Gamblin Ground makes a brighter and less-absorbent ground layer compared to acrylic gesso primers, meaning that the oil paint layers on top will better retain their color saturation. The lower absorbency also allows for reductive painting techniques when painters need to wipe back into the white of their Ground.
A Ground or Gesso is the foundation of an oil painting. The choice we make determines in large part how painting will feel, mark-making possibilities, and how our colours will look when our painting is dry.
An acrylic gesso made from synthetic polymer imparts a plasticky texture. An absorbent, thirsty clay-board can cause sunken, desaturated colour. A ground with tooth helps grab paint off the brush, meanwhile a smooth surface lends to fine detail linework.
Gamblin PVA Size seals the porous fibres of fabric or paper and isolates those fibres from your Gesso, Ground and oil colours. This protects the fibres from acid, making the surface archival. Only fabric and paper supports need sizing.
Panels can withstand the acid in oil and may be prepared with just Gamblin Ground. If one wanted to prepare a panel substrate more and reduce absorbency before painting or priming, we suggest using a diluted alkyd medium or Gamblin 3-in-1.
