Practice question · Match the pairs
Match each layer to the job it does.
- Size
- Ground
- Imprimatura
- Varnish
- Adds a removable protective and optical layer at the end
- Isolates the fabric from the oil that would attack it
- Supplies a surface of known absorbency and colour
- Kills the white and sets a mid tone to judge against
Hints
- Two of the four are applied before any paint at all.
- Only one of them is meant to be taken off again one day.
Show the answer
- Size → Isolates the fabric from the oil that would attack it
- Ground → Supplies a surface of known absorbency and colour
- Imprimatura → Kills the white and sets a mid tone to judge against
- Varnish → Adds a removable protective and optical layer at the end
Why
Only the last is designed to be removed, and that is a working definition of a varnish rather than an incidental property. Anything applied over a finished painting that cannot be taken off again is part of the painting, whatever the tin calls it.
Practise Supports, Stretchers, Sizing and Grounds
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