To Gesso or Not to Gesso, That Is the Question
Do you prime your canvas before you begin to paint? Gesso is something that is a personal decision for every artist, encompassing different situations; HIGHLY recommended for raw canvas, gesso is subject to artist likes and dislikes in textures and smoothness, perhaps optional on pre-primed ready-made canvas, but applying a gesso base goes a long way toward priming your surface before you lay down your painting. Let's learn all about gesso in this blog post.
What is Gesso?
According to Wikipedia, gesso is:
"Gesso (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒɛsso]; 'chalk', from the Latin: gypsum, from Greek: γύψος), also known as "glue gesso" or "Italian gesso", is a white paint mixture used to coat rigid surfaces such as wooden painting panels or masonite as a permanent absorbent primer substrate for painting. Gesso is used in painting as a preparation for any number of substrates such as wood panels, canvas, and sculpture as a base for paint and other materials that are applied over it." - Wikipedia Gesso
Here's Emmy from Jerry's Artarama, Jerry's Live Episode #JL307: All About Gesso
By the way, subscribe to the Tuesday afternoon Jerry's Live shows - always good, endless topics, and occasionally you can win something! This video is well worth your time to learn more about the what, why, hows and choices available about gesso.
Usually you will find gesso in Titanium White when you purchase it, but you may find it in Black as well. But, good to know, you can color your own gesso too, which I think can make a great base to begin on for many purposes.
How to Gesso
There isn't necessarily a right or wrong - its up to you and what you want to achieve on your surface. This is where applying gesso goes "off the edge of the canvas" (as opposed to "off the rails"). And it is interesting to understand that there are as many ways of applying gesso as there is in brands of gesso. Again, its all in the artist preferences and you don't know that until you give it a go one way or another. Here are a few suggestions.
- You can apply gesso with a soft brush, palette knife, or trowel
- On an acrylic-based gesso, you can apply with a wet brush or you may admire the texture of the non-watered down application.
- Acrylic based gesso has very easy cleanup of your brush or tools with water.
- You can use an acrylic-based gesso UNDER an oil painting but you cannot use an oil-based gesso UNDER an acrylic painting.
- If doing an acrylic painting, you can start painting gesso as soon as the gesso is dry to the touch, which is fairly quickly.
- If your doing an oil painting, wait at least 24 hours before applying the paint over the gesso.
Do You Use Gesso? - From our PWAS Members
The question about gesso was asked of our Prince William Art Society members and wow, I'm sure glad I asked! I learned even more just by sending the question out there. The PWAS membership consists of artists at every level, from art beginners to VERY experienced professionals. Some members studied art while in school and college while others are self-taught.
Here is the wonderful feedback that they sent in...
From PWAS Member Patti Durbin
"Sometimes I use one coat of gesso to create texture on the canvas before painting."
From PWAS Member Otis Stanley, PWAS Photographer
From Elizabeth Stathis, PWAS President 2024-2025
From PWAS Member Janice "Cookie" Bell
From PWAS Member Mickey Winslow
From Bettie Sperty, PWAS Co-Secretary
From PWAS Member Mark Clifton
From PWAS Member Kacy Egan
From Donna Liguria, PWAS Blog Admin
"I didn't use it at first...as a self-taught artist I had to learn to use it and why. Since then, all of my canvases have at least 2 layers of gesso, sometimes 3 (except for the mini canvases). At 3 or more coats, the acrylics start acting weird, so I have found that I like the 2 coats better. Occasionally, I use sandpaper on it for more smoothness, and I apply the gesso with a plastic straight-edged trowel. Next time, after this blog post, I'd like to try it with a brush - this has been enlightening!"
Do you gesso? What can you share about your process? What brand do you like and how do you apply it? Drop a comment below.
For Further Exploration on the Topic
Oil Over Acrylic Application Guidelines
How to Prime a Canvas using Gesso for Acrylic Painting
Artistry Spin Blogmaster and an artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.
Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
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