Which is the best ground?
 

I would like to hear opinions about which could be a better ground for an oil painting: a primed hard wooden board, a primed rigid man-made material, or linen primed and stuck over a hard board.

Tito:

I think that is a personal choice by the artist. To my mind, there is no "best" anything that fits all artists. For me, the best ground is a solid panel, but others may hate working on solids and prefer the spring of linen or canvas - still others may prefer painting on cotton, poly, or even plastic or copper!

I prefer to paint on panels because I paint with resins in my medium which dry somewhat brittle. Canvas runs too much risk of cracking as my paint film is not as flexible as others. Thereby, a panel is a prefered choice for my paintings. However, if I change my medium (which I am in the process of doing) then I think I will do more works on linen.

Thank you for your reply, Mike.

I am planning to experiment doing some paintings with underpainting and glazes, and I thought that elaborate paintings, particularly when they have thick areas, have a tendency to crack if painted over flexible ground. But I also heard that paintings on wooden boards have problems with proper adhesion sometimes.

Tito:

If you are planning on painting on panels, then my suggestion is 1/4 inch Masonite. Gesso it on all sides and edges using a professional grade acrylic-based or oil-based gesso. Several coats and you should have no problems for 100 years or more.

What about commercial panels already primed? Some advertised are made of natural wood and others from man-made materials.

My only advice would be to add an extra coat or two of good gesso to most commercial panels that you might buy. They are usually coated very, very thin with an inexpensive gesso so it's good to add your own so you know more of what you are painting on.

Dear Mike,

I always apply a couple of additional coats of acrylic gesso to my canvas; anyway I'll do the same with the boards. I was debating whether to buy wood or man-made materials. I will try the latter first because they guarantee better rigidity since I'm planning to paint in a technique similar to yours. I will also get the one with linen to prevent problems with adhesion, if there are any.

I will be painting my young granddaughter and I want to make sure she will enjoy the painting by her late grandfather when she becomes an old lady.