Julie Donec

Preparing the support

When choosing a support for my image, I’d pulled out a sheet of artist’s masonite board I had in the studio, measuring 14 x 20”. The original size of the “Goldfinch” is 16 x 22”, and since the board already had gesso on it, I thought I’d scale the image down slightly, to fit the board I had. This board didn’t have my usual ‘homemade’ gesso, but was thinly covered with the Frederix product I mentioned when preparing the board for the “La Belle Ferronaire”. When using masonite panels for painting, I usually sand/dust off the ‘shine’ on the board, wipe down with methyl hydrate, and then put one coat of rabbit skin glue solution on the front and back, allowing each coat to dry overnight before flipping the board over to do the next side. When this has dried, apply the gesso, (depending on your product; I usually use 5-8 coats, sanding lightly in between the 3-final coats with fine and super fine sandpaper). Even though the gesso was of a thinner and somewhat streaky appearance, it didn’t seem to be too bad; well, not until I laid on my coloured ground. I used a mix of yellow ochre, titanium white, and a touch of cobalt, (to dull down the yellow), with Winsor Newton Turpentine as my solvent. I applied this mix with a clean lint free cotton cloth, rubbing it wello over the entire surface of the board. The result was a good colour choice, but accentuated the streaks on the board. If I was doing a portrait, I ‘d want an evenly toned surface to begin working on, but in this case, I thought the streaks could be used to my advantage, adding an element of texture and interest to wall and would make a good contrast to the simple form of the bird.