Creating depth

A couple of weeks ago I created this still life.

lillies with Pomegranate and chair

48X39.5          Acrylic on wood

detail 

Before beginning the painting I prepared 'the ground'. ('A ground', is the term for the surface preparation beneath the painting. It allows for a stable ph surface that will accept the later painting stages, and not allow too much paint to soak into the surface).

 Usually I paint three thick coats of Acrylic gesso primer, building up interesting textural brush strokes, but here I chose to paint two and half thinned coats of gesso. The end result of this was the wood surface was waterproof and ready for paint, however the ground was thin enough that the actual grain from the wood could still be seen. This gave the painting a wonderful dimensional quality, from straight on the thicker final painting looks (for lack of a better term) 'normal'.  However from certain light, when viewed at an angle, the grain begins to present itself ghosting through from beneath. This gives the final painting a wonderful depth and extra dimension of interest.  Not sure if my photo here does it justice, it really needs to be seen in person to be truly appreciated.

showing the wood grain