Watercolour & Drawing Grounds

Daniel Smith Watercolor Ground - Iridescent Gold

Daniel Smith Iridescent Gold Watercolor Ground allows you to paint watercolours on any surface and gives you a beautiful, iridescent gold surface to paint on!

Daniel Smith Watercolor Ground makes a luminous gold paintable area when applied to a white surface, and because it is semi-transparent, it allows the color and/or pattern of the surface it is applied onto to show slightly through the iridescent gold sheen.

For deepest gold, apply 2 to 3 thin coats of the Iridescent Gold Watercolor Ground. Your transparent and semi-transparent watercolors will add a glaze of color when painted over the ground modifying their color. You can paint over an entire surface with the ground or only in areas that you wish to add iridescent gold effects.

Daniel Smith Watercolors Ground Titanium White

Daniel Smith Watercolor Grounds turn almost any surface into a watercolour paintable surface. Apply to canvas, board, plastic, and even 3D objects. Simply brush on, and allow to cure before applying paint. Available in 4 oz jars of Titanium White, Buff Titanium, and Black.

GOLDEN Absorbent Ground White

This is an acrylic medium that dries to a porous paper-like surface. Applied over gessoed canvas, it is flexible and allows for raw canvas-like staining and watercolour effects, when using acrylic paints. It can also be used as a ground for other water-soluble media.

GOLDEN Pastel Ground

This is an acrylic ground designed for the preparation of surfaces for the application of pastels. This ground can be applied to paper, canvas or wood and accepts pastels, graphite, charcoal, coloured pencils, crayons, oil sticks and even watercolour. Coloured surfaces can be made by tinting the ground with a few drops of paint before application.

QoR Cold Press Ground

Give any surface the beautiful, rough look of handmade paper.

A thick, white rough paste, the Cold Press Ground can adhere to most surfaces and creates beautiful imperfections found in a handmade paper surface.

You can turn a variety of surfaces into the perfect watercolour surface, including board, canvas, wood, panel, and paper.

Apply this thick paste directly on to any absorbent surface with a palette knife. Its consistency is similar to whipped cream cheese, so it tends to have a sticky pull with the knife. To create a smoother surface, wet your palette knife, and apply in a consistently controlled and directional angle. To exaggerate the roughness, use a dry palette knife and vary the directionality of your application. The choice between a smoother or rougher paper texture is yours!

Note that drying times will vary depending on the thickness of your application and the conditions of your work space. Allow your Cold Press Ground to dry for 24 hours before applying your watercolours.

To learn more about this product, watch GOLDEN’s video about the Cold Press Ground here.

Try with QoR Watercolors!

QoR Watercolor Ground

Prepare your surface for optimum watercolour painting.

This opaque, white ground has a similar effect to an acrylic gesso, but offers an absorbent surface that makes it perfectly suited for painting with watercolours; apply soft edges and flowing wet-in-wet techniques with a reliably smooth surface!

You can easily control the smoothness of your surface: use a white brush to create a linen-like texture, roll it on for a dappled effect, or apply it with a palette knife for a completely smooth surface. It may be lightly wet sanded to create a texture similar to that of a hot pressed surface.

This ground will adhere to a variety of surfaces, including board, canvas, wood, panel and paper. It dries to a lightfast and flexible surface that withstands repeated lifting and scrubbing. Excellently suited for watercolour painting, this medium can also be used with any other paint or drawing medium.

For best results, apply multiple coats; GOLDEN advises that you thin the layers that follow your initial coating (1 part water to 4 parts ground).

Note that drying times will vary depending on the absorbency of the surface you are preparing, how much the ground has been watered down, and the conditions of your work space. Typically your ground should be ready for re-coat in approximately 1-2 hours, and ready for your watercolours after drying overnight.

To learn more about this product, watch GOLDEN’s video about the Watercolour Ground here.

Try with QoR Watercolors!