Tips for Canvas Oil Paintings

Depending on the type of final oil paintings art you are working towards, sometimes the white of the canvas can be too bright or have too much contrast which makes starting a painting rather difficult. Using a uniform toned ground on your support, will make it much easier to judge the values in your canvas oil paintings. You are welcome to use any color you like to tone your canvas. Some of the more popular tones are warm reds, yellow and browns.
Toning your canvas oil paintings is pretty straight forward and will not require that much time. Here is an example using one of my favorite tones. First create a thin wash using Yellow Ochre and Burn Umber. Apply the wash to your support generously. Use a large bristle brush to spread and cover the support entirely. Allow the wash to dry for a couple of minutes and then wipe off the excess with a cloth. You don’t have to use oils to tone your abstract oil painting. You can tone your canvas oil paintings with any of the water mediums described below.