Confused about the different terms used in painting surface prep, such as size, primer, ground, and gesso?
👉 @dorisroseart 4 more.

How many times did I say surface? 😂

I’ve done a few vids lately about preparing a surface (eg panel, canvas, etc) for oil painting & I realized these terms are often used interchangably & confusingly. So I thought I’d break it down in one video.

Size: this creates a seal between the surface you paint on & the paint. It can also add tension to a stretched canvas.
Primer: this makes sure the paint will stick to the surface you paint on.
Gesso: acrylic gesso is a popular type of primer (also known as universal primer) that’s suitable for all paints & media.
Ground: the part of your surface that you’ll directly paint on. Many paint straight on top of gesso but you might personalize the surface by adding a toned ground (a wash of colour), change the absorbency, or alter the texture (eg using an acrylic medium). When talking about a ground in the vid I use the term surface to mean a plane of material you paint on, not to mean the wood panel, canvas, or other material which you’ve chosen as your surface/support. Hopefully that’s not confusing…💫

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