SKU:DTDGU/G
Measures approximately 1/2" x 1.5" x 2.25".
The Townsend Dry Ground is a block of pumice tinted with pigments and bound together with a formula I created to adhere to any paper as a support for pastel or any drawing medium. I have been working with this concept for 45 years. I first made a wet ground application base on Cennino Cennini's "Il libro dell'arte" in which he tells how to prepare a panel for silverpoint by gathering all the chicken bones from under the table and placing them in a fire and collecting the ash and grinding it to a fine powder... tri calcium phosphate... and mixing it with gelatin. Then apply to a panel and let dry.
The prepared surface holds graphite, silver or pastel etc. and intensifies the mark. I used to make a fine hand painted ground for appear called "pastel deluxe" or "Townsend Pastel Paper" that was very successful, but the labor involved made it commercially prohibitive!
The surfaces I like and recommend are delicate and allow for subtle uses in a pastel painting.
But priming a paper with a wet ground brings lots of managing in the application and I thought of a dry ground applied anywhere and the paper could be prepared on the spot weather in a studio or in the field.
the Townsend Dry Ground has been tested for over a year now and works wonderfully well for those who like the flow of pastel or any medium.
Townsend Dry Ground should be applied to paper lying flat on a table or floor. First apply a light coat, and rub it in with your hands. You must wear latex gloves or there will be nothing left of your hand!
Rub this into the paper firmly and reapply a second coat, rubbing firmly! That should give you a smooth even application and just dust off the excess and you are ready to go.