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gesso ? do you add water ?


tlbradwisch

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45 minutes ago, Sable said:

I don't. That might be for canvases.

 

12 minutes ago, havanaholly said:

I didn't thin the gesso when I prepped canvas for the oil painting I did in an art class, and I don't thin it when I'm priming for a dollhouse.

Thank you both i just wanted to make sure i didn't screw it up :)

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It depends on how you're using it. If you are using it as a primer, go ahead and thin it a bit. If you're using it as a plaster-effect, leave it as it is or even leave some in an open container until some of the water evaporates, causing the consistency to thicken. Used thinned or thick, gesso forms a nearly waterproof seler when thoroughly dry. 

(You'll figure out how waterproof it is when you try to wash the dried gesso off of your fingers. :D

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1 minute ago, KathieB said:

It depends on how you're using it. If you are using it as a primer, go ahead and thin it a bit. If you're using it as a plaster-effect, leave it as it is or even leave some in an open container until some of the water evaporates, causing the consistency to thicken. Used thinned or thick, gesso forms a nearly waterproof seler when thoroughly dry. 

(You'll figure out how waterproof it is when you try to wash the dried gesso off of your fingers. :D

thank you this is all new to me i never even heard of it till here :) i was only able to find one jar at michaels and they didnt even know what i was looking for so im lucky i found the one brand its artist loft white i was hoping the whole time i got the right kind 

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Gesso is used for canvas oil painting, it may have other uses, but I don't think it can be thinned with water. I remember covering my canvas first with Gesso so the oils would glide and blend nicely while painting with oils.

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6 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Traci, gesso is gesso.  Basically ...

Not exactly, Holly. Traditional (Italian) gesso is a combo of  animal glue binder (usually rabbit-skin glue), chalk, and white pigment, used to coat rigid surfaces such as wooden painting panels as an absorbent primer coat substrate for painting. For priming flexible canvas, an emulsion of gesso and linseed oil is used.   Modern acrylic gesso is a combination of calcium carbonate with an acrylic polymer medium latex, a pigment and other chemicals that ensure flexibility, and increase archival life. It is technically not gesso at all.. 

(This is the Reader's Digest version. More details here.)

 

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What Kathie said, basically. These days you can buy gesso for 'canvas priming' already prepared into a paste, you can use as is or thin it just read the label to know what you can use. You can also buy it dry, what is essentially chalk powder with other stuff added to it, that is usually used for casting and such.

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