Education and Inspiration

When artists hear that an oil painting or oil sketch was done on unprimed paper, they react in horror. “It’s not archival! It will deteriorate!” It is assumed that without the gesso primer to seal the paper from the oil, all is lost. This is a misconception. In fact, the earliest open air painters in Italy (pre-Barbizon) worked on unprimed paper. For instance, works by Welsh painter Thomas Jones (1742–1803) were done on laid stationary paper (!) and remain in perfect condition today. How is this possible? Maddine Insalaco of Etruscan Places, a plein air workshop in Tuscany, says, "The true enemy of paper is acid and how it interacts with paint, and paper before the late 19th century was acid free.”

Maddine continues, "The earliest theoretical justification for painting on paper was a famous letter by Joseph Vernet (1714–1789) in about 1750, and the most diffused writing on the subject was in the famous treatise by PH Valenciennes 'Elements of Perspective' (1800). Corot's, Jones', Constable's, Granet's, Valencienne's painted on paper and only decades, or maybe centuries later, were mounted on wood or canvas.”

What does this mean for you, the contemporary plein air painter? Because unprimed paper is so absorbent, you are able to work wet over wet more readily. Fresh layers of paint don't mix as easily with the unerlying layer as when working on a primed surface. However, there is some bleed factor. Colors underneath will tend to bleed into the colors above; therefore, as in watercolor, it is best to start with your lighter colors. Overall, the paper offers more resistance; your brush doesn’t slide as easily as on a primed surface. You my need to thin the pigment more in order to get best coverage, especially if you want to lay down a broad wash of color. (The tradtional underpainting method will not work on unprimed paper!) That said, I still wouldn’t do a large studio painting on paper; however, for a quick plein air sketch, unprimed, acid free paper is entirely safe. If you wish, it can later be mounted to another surface with archival glue. Both of the pieces below were done on unprimed, acid free paper.

Type of Paper? Any archival, acid-free paper will work with this method, though the thinner the paper, the more bleed-through there is to the back of the paper. Maddine Isalaco recommends Arches 300 lb. cold-pressed watercolor paper. It has a nice surface and is thick enough to resist bleed-through.

Molly Preston Mitchell Albala

Left: Molly Preston, Woods, 2007, oil on paper, 10.5 " x 8.5".
Right: Mitchell Albala, Yakutat Limbo, 2004, oil on paper, 9" x 9".
Both works were done on unprimed paper. Preston's uses a more direct approach; paint is layed on in decisive shapes and patches of color. My piece is more indirect, using a much thinner, wash-like effect that allows the colors to bleed together.

Mitchell Albala

Above: Fox Farm by Mitchell Albala, oil on paper