When choosing your subject to paint you may find that it is better to colour your painting surface before you commence.
This then will make your picture personal to you and will enhance your subject.
Shop bought canvasses are often a very brilliant white.
Whatever you seal your painting board probably is too, whether you use gesso or primers.
However, you may find it is an advantage to cover your painting board with a wash of colour or even a neutral tone.
The effect of the stark white often makes your colouring look very dark, so in turn, can distort your work.
This results sometimes in your work coming up paler than you thought it would.
Therefore, if you put a wash on in a neutral colour or a medium shade, you will see it is much easier to use light and dark shades in your work.
As I may have said in previous articles, if you have glints of the undertone peeping through it can be a quite important link for colours in your picture.
So what should you choose for a tone? The answer, I would have to say, would be whatever you are comfortable with.
Probably most subjects, I would say, look better painted on a neutral colour or subdued shade.
If you use a bright ground it will take over from the other colours in your work.
Really, you could use a contrasting shade.
As an example, if you were painting a very bright sunset, in this case you could use a purple ground.
Now to applying the tone and how to do it.
Say you have a canvas, non primed, or a board, you could create a toned surface by just adding a little acrylic paint to the primer or gesso.
Many surfaces are already primed, but you can still put on a coat of acrylic paint to set the tone of your painting.
A decorating brush, or a broad artists brush, can be used to put the toned primer on your surface.
If you want a surface that is opaque, mix the acrylic with gesso or acrylic primer.
Apply at least two coats to create dense, flat colour.
Acrylic paint, if used on its own, may produce an uneven look.
Some acrylics have more translucency than others, so you may still see the brush marks after it has dried.
I don't really think that this matters too much.
However, acrylic will not go on an oil based primer, yet you can use oils on acrylic boarding.
So really, the message is, use acrylic primer or acrylic gesso for oils or acrylics!