Keep working until the canvas is completely covered. And which color shall i use? Alternatively, use a fine, tight weave canvas, apply the Gesso first and then draw onto the canvas. Do I sketch my drawing before or after applying the gesso primer? Hello Will, I’ve been drawing since I was a kid, but just two days ago got interested in painting with vitrail after seeing the effects that can be created. It is made … I live in west bengal, India. For the number of canvases you are working on that would be: 88m sq x 100ml – 8,800ml A UK gallon is 4545ml (a US gallon is 3785ml) so 2 x gallon – 9,090ml If you are still unsure you can always buy a smaller tester pot and just try it out until you find a coverage you are happy with. Liquid white & liquid clear are brand names made famous by Bob Ross, who often applied a coat of ‘liquid white’ onto the canvas to work the paint wet into wet. I want to make a black and white photorealist portrait. Cheers, Will. Should I be unable to see any light through the back of the painting? When applying the gesso turn the canvas 90 degrees between coats to ensure an even coverage. Hello Will, I have been reading all the comments and questions on this site. Acrylic gesso does not require a size. You can paint over an acrylic gesso with oil, but can’t paint over an oil gesso with acrylics. The number of coats that you apply for acrylic painting is a matter of preference because the acrylic paint won’t harm the canvas. When I paint the cube let it dry and put new layer at bottom to darken it the paint doesn’t soak and continues go further. To ensure a nice, smooth coat, make sure you go over the surface enough times with the brush to make the gesso sink evenly into the canvas. I do note that you recommend the last coat of gesso be undiluted. It depends on the effect you are after with your painting, have a solid gesso ground will make it easier to apply paints to the surface. My preferred brand is Fredrix. Your explanation on color bias was also a break-through and I can only imagine how much my painting will improve as I work my way through your lessons. Hi Lily, you apply the gesso before you do your sketching. I’ve applied about three or 4 layers already and it doesn’t seem to be covering very good. Hi Colie, to get a more textured surface I wouldn’t use sandpaper as this will smooth the surface. Good idea? Gesso is designed to soak into the weave of the canvas and seal it. You might find this article of interest on the absorbency of your paint surface. When using PVA glue to make home made gesso it’s considered acrylic gesso because of the PVA glue or it will still be traditional gesso? :). The backdrops would be rolled up when not in use. it went mouldy!! I’m assuming brands like Golden would be better, but to start would using something like the Blick brand artist quality paints, mediums and gessos work? You can use either method depending on the aesthetic ell you’re after. It’s okay if the front side has already been painted (just make sure THAT side is dry!) I know it can’t be watered down. It has no center wood support. After completing half of my subject blue jays I realized that i had painted the opposite side of the gesso. I would apply a tonal ground for an oil primed canvas using quick-drying oils or quick-drying white mixed with an earth colour rather than acrylics. More absorbent add more chalk More flexible add more binder Less absorbent add more pigment. The midground one still appears a bit too dark even though it isn’t very detailed. Go for it and have fun, let me know how you get on. This tool will “comb” the gel and effectively provide an even distribution. Hope this helps. Your blog, indeed is very informative and encouraging, am passionate about drawing and i know that i have good skill, have worked with pencil colors and soft pastels and the out come is really good, people have told me why dont i pursue this sill on professional basis. Usually when I paint I staple the canvas to the stretcher, use some hide glue to tighten it and then prime with a couple of layers of gesso and then sand. When you try to paint onto canvas, even with an absorbent ground (the Golden is a good choice) you’ll still have issues with: The paint can be ‘lifted off’ very easily when you paint a new layer ontop. Cheers, Will. Primer suited to your chosen painting medium: gesso for acrylics or oils, oil primer for oils or alkyds, pastel primer, absorbent gesso for watercolors… take your pick! Hi Rosie, you could use a white emulsion, but you’d loose some of the absorbent quality and archival quality you have with acrylic gesso. For optimal evenness, use a cross-hatching pattern. I am putting 2 coats of gesso on each side to combat rippling. I asked if I could use a KILZ oil-based primer, which I could and did, but now the surface is starting to crack. This is from the Golden acrylic website on replacing Rabbit skin glue with acrylic mediums: Traditionally, rabbitskin glue (also known as hide glue) was used to reduce the flexibility of canvas before painting. I forgot to dilute the gesso with water on the first coat. What i cannot do is purchase giant amounts of quality artist acrylic paint because that would be out of control for cost. An old pair of tweezers can can be handy for picking out any rough brush hairs. I will never be using cheap canvasboards again, haha! Hi Katya, yes you can apply a clear gesso to your fabric, but I would recommend artist canvas so you can pull it tight on a stretcher bar to give you a taught surface to paint on top of. I need HELP! As the canvas begins to tighten, it smooths out any small wrinkles in the canvas. However, if you prefer adding the maximum amount of water, it’s best to use a measuring cup or graduated beaker. Hi Andrea, pleased you found it helpful, you can try with a roller but personally, I’ve found I get a smoother result with a brush. We acknowledge and appreciate the research of the Canadian Conservation Institute that helps painters and conservators identify the best PVA to use. And how each step will affect the painting. Wow. tighten a canvas that was fine when you started painting but the weight of paint and pressing on it has caused it to loosen a bit. Hi Alan, I don’t have a specific recipe for making your own acrylic gesso, but if you used an Archival PVA glue, powdered calcium carbonate (whiting) and Titanium white pigment you would get a basic acrylic gesso substitute. Just a note Will, hoping you are well. ps, there isn’t any art restoration center in my country. I have my studio organized and but brush in paint for the first time! The best way to learn is to actually paint, discover different brush-marks and get a feel for the materials. Hi Anna, The problem could stem from the differences in your gesso ground. Puede variar de una marca a otra, por lo que valdría la pena experimentar con otra marca de gesso sólo para ver si eso hace la diferencia. I’ve tried out different acrylic papers over the years and my favorite one is the Canson Montval acrylic heavyweight paper  on Amazon. Step 5 – Sand down the thin layer of gesso. Hi Will, Hope you’re well. Thank you so much! Painting on a pure white ground has the advantage of making the transparent colors appear brighter and more saturated than on the beige canvas. Work from the top to the bottom of the canvas, in parallel strokes from one edge to the other. My advice is to buy a couple of cheap pre-primed canvasses and get wielding that brush on an actual picture. I gesso it before I started ….. What do I mix with it to make it blend or flow better. My last question is, when you are applying gesso, does it matter what brush you use, or can you just use any brush? Over time, this constant swelling and drying of the film can cause severe paint-film cracking and delamination. Anyways, can you give me any advice on what brushes or tools will I need. I really want to ace my Introductory Painting subject so will probably pay for your acrylics course. Apply a final coat using the pure, undiluted gesso. Is this possible or do I really have to stretch and painting like that? Lisa, Hi Lisa, You don’t need to prepare the map at all you can just paint the acrylic straight on top. How many coats of Gesso or Clear Gesso would you recommend for an acrylic painting? firstly – thanks heaps for your kind and informative website. Hi Jilds, pleased you’ve been enjoying the site, yes I’d apply another coat of gesso to get a more even surface. Hi Patrick, I’m not sure about the suitability of the latex, it won’t give you a good ground surface to work onto. Carefully lay the piece that you are adhering down onto the wet gel and gently position it. I recently found a stash of old, unfinished paintings by my father that I would like to use as the under-painting. If the canvas is white, it has gesso painted onto it. Trying to avoid building a number of frames as they are larger than average. I’ve found a decorators brush works best, try to buy a good quality one or you’ll spend your time picking out hairs! She wants to cut it up and make her own painting What does she need to do to prepare it for painting? The gesso that you find in art supply stores is made from an acrylic polymer, white pigment, and calcium carbonate. What is the reason for this? Hi Robert, if you’re working with very thin layers then the easiest approach would be to use a finer tooth canvas or even board. 3 Reasons why artists varnish their work (and why some artists don’t), Adding an Isolation Coat to an Acrylic Painting. Also do i need to put a medium in my waters like you have suggested in your website? I paint acrylics and I’ll build my own canvases for the first time. While working quickly, smear a thin layer of gesso over your canvas. If you’re painting with acrylic you can mix in textured gels with your paints (here’s an example of a glass bead gel) or just apply the gesso more thickly using a stiff brush. As a general rule of thumb coverage is about 100ml per metre squared. You have helped a lot! Using warm water in a spray bottle, gently mist the backside of your stretched canvas. The gesso primer layer can soak up the oil from within the paint and leave a ‘dead’ flat underpainting that won’t have any sheen to it. as this will rapidly increase drying time. I’d like to do a series of acrylic painting. I read acrylic gesso should be flexible to avoid cracking in the canvas right? You can buy white Gesso and just add black paint to it, or paint a coat of white Gesso and then a coloured ground of black with acrylics. Follow one of my free step-by-step video lessons (there’s a landscape one) and don’t worry if you make mistakes, you can easily paint over them with acrylics. Now I want to paint them and I guess I’m here to ask you if i’m correct or if my “knowledge” needs adjusting in the following info: I want to paint the canvases with a matte acrylic paint bc I, – don’t want the paint to chip – ever – i will roll the canvases when not in use – I want them to still once finished be flexible without causing cracks or creases. Or can I just start painting? These brushes contain nylon bristles and they’re made for painting with acrylics. The thin paint will soak into the raw canvas which creates a matte surface. Applying t wo coats of GAC 100 before the primer/Gesso layer will reduce linseed oil penetrating into the canvas fibres. would you mind providing a detailed article on mediums/retarders and varnishing too. I textured it on. Cheers, Will. I have purchased large rolls of gesso preprimed 12oz duck cotton canvas. If you add enough water to reach the 1 cup mark then that’s the maximum 25% dilution. Pro tip: Golden paints make a hard gesso that can be useful if you are working on a board. The acrylic paint will dry at a normal rate once you build up a layer or two of acrylic paint. Hi Will, I found your website when I was finding out how to apply gesso on a canvas and more, I have a few questions. Hi Alexis, the ‘size’ is used for protecting the surface of a canvas support and sealing the fabric. Cheers, Will. If you keep on unpicking the staples from the stretched canvas every time it would also be very time consuming to do this every time you painted. I have a couple of questions for you regarding gessoing and painting my ground. This is because it absorbs moisture from the air and this causes it to expand and contract. Hi Mari, if you’ve removed most of the oil from the sky you’ll be able to apply your liquid white and work from there. Hi Liz, no, that canvas will have already have gesso applied, you’re good to go! With acrylics you can just paint straight onto the panel, you don’t need to gesso the panel. I don’t know how to determine it for sure, but it looks like oil to me because of the texture and build-up of paint. Hi Will, I am copying a Japanese Woodblock of a Geisha using acrylic paints. Hi Alan, you can read the details on the Golden flow release here, you can use it on raw canvas or gesso primed, for the method you’ve described of layers ontop of existing paint a medium would be better suited. Hello Will. I think I confused acrylic base with acrylic medium. I just got an acrylics starter kit for Christmas and I’m going to give it a try soon. Cheers, Will, Hello Will, I find your website very interesting. Repeat steps 1-4 one more time for a bright white surface. It will be a solid colour on the backdrop (not a design). I’d still appreciate your reply though! Hi Lina, if you’re going to be painting solid blocks of colour then you don’t need to add a colored ground. The clear gesso is very similar to matte medium except it has a rougher surface. Hello Will! Would it be appropriate for me to dampen the back of the canvas to see if it just needs tightened? This is important if you plan on painting directly on the raw canvas or if you’re going to use a clear gesso alternative. It is made from a combination of paint pigment, chalk and binder. I tested pencil, charcoal pencil, conte crayons, and acrylic paint on clear gesso and white gesso for comparison. Good luck with your move, Speak soon. read more in-depth here on the Golden website. I am working on wood panel. The spin cycle put some very deep wrinkles in the canvas which I was never able to completely remove. It depends on the opacity of the paint and the intensity of colour you’re after. So, I recommend applying two to three coats to prevent the linseed oil from soaking into the canvas. I usually prepare canvases a day before I plan to paint on them. Regarding the longevity of the cotton canvas, as you are painting with acrylics they will be fine, there is nothing in the paint that will damage the canvas over time. Thanks. 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