Description
Let your imagination soar with DANIEL SMITH Watercolour Grounds!
For too long, the beautiful medium of watercolour has been confined to a paper-behind-glass niche. Now, with this exciting new ground, anything you’ve dreamed of painting on with watercolour can become a reality.
DANIEL SMITH Watercolour Ground creates a soft, absorbent watercolour surface with a slightly cottony texture that’s similar to cold press paper. With this breakthrough archival-quality ground, artists can create new work on any surface, rescue flawed paintings, lift and scrub without damaging the painting surface, and frame without glass. There’s really no end to what can be done!
The beauty of watercolour is transparency and transparency is what gives watercolour paintings their distinctive clarity, luminosity and realism. Now, with DANIEL SMITH Watercolour Ground, artists can get this unique visual quality on any surface they choose:
– Wood & Plaster
– Canvas & Masonite
– All types of paper
– Fabric
– Glass & Plexiglass
– Metal
– Plastic
– Stone & Masonry
Preparation
Absorbent or semi-absorbent surfaces require no special prep before brushing on DANIEL SMITH Watercolour Ground. These include paper, canvas and other fabrics, wood, plaster, shells and hardboard. Non-absorbent surfaces such as metal, plastic or glass should be lightly abraded with sandpaper or steel wool before brushing on the Watercolour Ground. Be sure your surface is clean and dry before you begin applying the Watercolour Ground.
Application
We recommend using Watercolour Ground straight from the container. It has a thick, brushable consistency. Use a soft-haired synthetic brush, foam brush or foam roller for a smoother finish, or a hog bristle brush for a more textured finish. The ground is highly pigmented so one coat will cover most surfaces; very absorbent surfaces such as unfinished soft wood may require two coats, allowing the first coat to cure before adding the second. Wash brushes immediately after use.
TIP – when using the Watercolour Ground to Rescue a Painting, thin in a small dish with up to 10% of water and use a soft brush like a hake brush to blend the edges.
Curing
Let Watercolour Ground dry and cure for at least 24 hours. This allows it to attain the right degree of absorption.
Painting
DANIEL SMITH Watercolour Ground works beautifully with watercolours and thinned acrylics. Because it creates a surface more absorbent than paper, you will want to use less water with your paint. Experiment and see what works best for you. It also works beautifully with DANIEL SMITH Masking Fluid.
Finishing
As with all watercolours, your work on DANIEL SMITH Watercolour Ground will need to be fixed if it will not be framed behind glass. We suggest spraying with a high quality, Archival Aerosol MSA Varnish with UVLS to protect your painting. Please follow the manufacturer’s instructions for applying the spray varnish.