Confused of what gesso is all about? You don't need to wreck your brains out to know what it is. Let me break it down for you.
What is gesso?
Pronounced as 'Jesso', Gesso is a thinner version of acrylic paint. It is used as a
primer, to make your painting surface slightly textured so that it can accept your acrylic paint.
Gesso is also useful to protect the fibers of your canvas so
that it won’t crack if rolled.
Originally it only comes in white but nowadays gesso comes
in a wide variety of colours. You can
also colour them using watercolour or acrylic paint or even using KoolAid!
There are different grades of gesso, artist grade and
student grade. Artist grade is more expensive, thicker and has more pigment to
it compared to student grade.
Student grade is cheaper and has more filler than pigment.
In applying gesso, you will need a wide, flat brush. The
size of your brush depends on how big your surface is.
You can follow these steps to gesso a canvas for acrylic
painting
1. Stir your gesso
tub or shake it before using it.
2. Dilute it with
water for the first coat. Some suggest that you add a little bit of acrylic
medium to prevent cracking but it’s optional.
3. Wait for it to dry to apply the second coat. For the
second coat, apply it thinly and you don’t need to add water to it. Add another
layer if you want a more absorbent surface.
4. In order to get an even coverage, make sure you turn the
canvas 90 degrees between each coat while you gesso it.
5. For the final
coat, use the pure undiluted gesso.
6. You can use a
decorator’s brush to gesso your canvas for the final coating. Try to work from
top to bottom, in parallel strokes.
7. Wash your brush using water and brush cleaner to get the
gesso out from your brush.
Tip: You can sand your gesso using sandpaper (240 grit) in
between coats in order to get a super-smooth finish.
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