It used to be that watercolor painters had few options beyond white paper or a few colored boards. Now you can turn almost any surface into a toned or black ground for watercolor painting, as well as collage, pastels, pencils and mixed media work.

Mars Black makes our Luminescent Watercolors “pop” and also provides an exciting, unexpected background for all your standard watercolor paints. Soft pastels, graphite and watercolor pencils show up beautifully on both the buff and black.

It’s so easy to apply Ground over an area within a painting that needs rescuing—or for working on different compositional areas. You can also lift and scrub without damaging the painting surface.