A Landscape Painter’s Guide to Ground Color – Easel Talk #38
The color of your board is one of the most critical decisions you’ll make
Welcome to Easel Talk #38.
Today’s talk is about ground color—the color of the board you’re painting on. It sounds simple, but I’m telling you, it’s one of the most critical decisions you’re going to make in your whole painting process.
What Is Ground Color?
Ground color is simply the color of the substrate—the board, panel, or canvas you’re painting on. Pretty straightforward. But here’s the thing: that color is going to be peeking around throughout your entire painting. It’s going to influence every brushstroke and every color choice you make. That’s why it matters so much.
You could choose to always paint on one color, or you could change it up. When you’re starting out, I recommend experimenting. Don’t feel like you have to do what I do, although there’s a lot of solid logic behind where I’ve landed.
The White Canvas Problem
Painting directly on white can be a real challenge. Every brushstroke must overlap perfectly to avoid tiny bits of white peeking through, which can disrupt the harmony of the piece. And here’s the thing—if you’re trying to keep your work fresh and expressive, you don’t want to be fussing around plugging in all those little white spots.
A toned ground, on the other hand, provides a unifying base that enhances the painting’s cohesion. It’s a color you don’t mind peeking through. That’s the key.
About a year ago, I was researching old painting books for my four-volume series. I found a bunch of painters working under the impressionist spell, and you know what? They were all fine with bits of white peeking out everywhere. But to me, that’s distracting. The lightest, brightest things in your painting are always going to be the most eye-catching. If you have all these little tiny bits of brightness peeking around, it pulls the viewer’s attention away from where you want it.
So you’ve got a choice: cover it all up—which takes freshness away from your work—or start with a ground color that supports your painting instead of fighting it.
The Tonalist Connection
The use of a toned surface is more than just a technical choice. It directly connects us to the traditions of tonalism and the wisdom of artists like Constable and Burge Harrison. Harrison wrote Landscape Painting, a book I highly recommend. He was very emphatic that a red toned underpainting was one of the major things that pushed tonalism into new territory.
Now, I believe something, I’m going to find evidence to support it—that’s just how the mind works. But in my experience, I’ve found something even better than what Harrison recommended.
My Color Journey
The Burnt Sienna Era
I began with burnt sienna after reading Harrison’s book and seeing other painters like Richard Schmid working on red grounds. Schmid would do a quick wash of burnt sienna over white canvas with spirits, which dries very quickly and gives you more of a base than just white. It’s a great approach, especially for his fractured, dynamic style.
I used burnt sienna for years. It works very well. It’s complementary to green, which is the most predominant color in landscape painting. Having that warm red underneath adds vibrancy and tonal unity to your work. I’m often mixing bits of red to go between my greens when I’m painting foliage—that’s how important the red factor is.
The Burnt Umber Phase
Then I moved into a phase where I was painting on top of old paintings. One of my big shortcuts was covering the old painting with burnt umber, which is quite dark. This worked, but I eventually moved on to experimenting with texture boards—those are in my book if you want to dive deeper.
The Hardboard Experiment
Then came natural hardboard. That color is great—it’s not white, but it’s not too dark either. The problem is, it’s actually way too saturated. When you get it wet and it’s peeking through, it’s distracting. You want that ground color to be in a supporting role, not stealing the show.
The Gray Discovery
For nocturnes and blue scenes, I’ve been using a cool gray for ages—easily ten years. Having brown peeking through a night scene isn’t going to work. Gray is perfect for those moody pieces.
The Deep Earth Discovery
And then I arrived at what I’m using now: deep earth, also called rich soil. I took a color I liked—that deep, earthy tone—down to the paint store and matched it as closely as I could. This color is not too red, not too brown, not too anything. It’s got subtle saturation in it, which works beautifully. It’s warm enough to support your painting without being so strident that it distracts when it peeks through.
I’m going to be with this color for a long, long time.
Experimenting With Other Grounds
I’ve also had success with yellow ochre and raw sienna. A lot of artists like working on this color, and you should try it too. I’ve done some really nice paintings on it. It does have a bit of a peaking problem because it’s lighter, but it’s worth the experiment.
If you want to experiment without spending a fortune, you don’t have to go to the paint store. Just get a cheap tube of acrylic paint and roll it on. You can even mix it with PVA glue if you want. It doesn’t really matter. The point is to try things and see what resonates with you.
House Paint: A Practical Evolution
Here’s where I’m going to save you some money. Professional acrylic paint is expensive, and it seems like a shame to spend all that on a color that’s going to be covered up. So I use house paint.
Now, I know what some people think: “That’s not professional art supply, Mike.” But here’s my reply: it’s all made out of plastic. The pigments are pigments. House paint works great and costs a fraction of what professional acrylics cost.
Get a tester pot first—they’re cheap, maybe two dollars in US money. Play with it. Don’t buy a huge can until you’re sure you like it. And here’s a pro tip: keep those paint chip cards. They have the color code on them. Next time you go to the paint store, you just show them the card and they scan it. Their machine squeezes in some black, some red, some yellow, and boom—you’ve got your color matched.
I decanted mine into an old instant coffee container so I don’t run out. It’s practical, it works, and it saves money.
The Sweet Spot
The ground color is more than just a starting point. It’s a silent partner in the creative process. It sets the stage for everything that comes after, influencing every brushstroke and color choice.
I often say that proportions are one of the most important decisions you make—whether you’re painting a 5×5 square or a 5×7 rectangle changes everything. The next foundational decision is what color that board is going to be. Get that wrong, and you’re fighting yourself the whole way.
But here’s what I want you to understand: experiment. See what resonates with you. I know what I like and why, and I’ve just given you the reasons in depth. If you’re not that curious, if you don’t want to mess around, just go with deep earth. You can’t beat it. It doesn’t matter what brand—British Paints, Deluxe, whatever you have available. They can all match a color if you bring them a sample.
The foundation of a toned ground provides a warm, unifying base that enhances your painting’s luminosity and depth. It’s a testament to the power of subtlety. It’s about making thoughtful, intentional decisions in your art—decisions that honor both tradition and your personal artistic evolution.
And here’s the most important part: a good supporting ground color means you can put your strokes down and leave them. That’s the whole game right there. You’re not fussing, not second-guessing, not plugging in little white spots. You’re painting with intention and confidence, and that shows in the work.
Check out the book, 13 Years of Accumulated Painting Knowledge: How to Work in a Toneless Way. All in one book. I’ll send it to you anywhere on the planet for $65 US. International shipping is included. We’ve shipped well over 200 books all over the world, and I’m always gratified to get them out there.
Also check out my new channel, Michael Francis McCarthy on YouTube (@mfrancismcarthy), and the new website at mfrancismccarthy.art. Everything I do is on that site. Eventually, the landscape painter site will be integrated into it. For now, keep that tab open and you can see what I’m doing without bouncing around.
Take care of yourself, your family, all your loved ones. Stay out of trouble. Fight the power.
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