What is gesso?

[cassandramalfoy]

You can pretty much use gesso for anything in the art world of painting, drawing, mixed media, collage, crafts, etc. I use it for all of the above as an artist ;)

[zefiroxable]

stop in the moment 0:09

[bass109]

Jesus christ is way everyone. ask for his mercy

[zekehooper]

This looks like an old vid so I don't know if my question will get a reply? Can you color gesso to something you like instead of the white? I want to have a "skin" color.

[owlsandelephants]

@zekehooper you can add color to gesso. i've used acrylic in the past.

[KayAy1995]

Is it possible to use Gesso like a glue? Like, I dont have modge podge or anything like that. I do have glue sticks and such, but just as a question, does it work as a glue like for collages?

[owlsandelephants]

@KayAy1995 i'm sure you could, however this would cause a lot of wrinkling I think.

[KayAy1995]

@owlsandelephants I just tried it out the other day, and you can use it as a glue, and It actually doesnt wrinkle as long as your using it for like a background or something where you can apply gesso on the front and back of what you're gluing. Like, I glued down old book text, and it worked out perfectly, I think just having the brush go over it on the front smoothed it out. I only tried it a couple times though, so i cant say for sure since I havnt tried it on different things.

[jessieaniel155]

hah my nickname is gesso for some reason...

[shishkebab1000]

you can mix it with the paint u want to cover ur mistake with for ex: u could have mixed the purple with gesso then painted on the green: same effect but no waiting

[blackreazor]

feel good, I'm in art 3 nad I can't draw =(

like I have to do an art journal for my class, and I don't even know what to do...

[echooo18]

Thank you so much for explaining this! I am doing this project that involves aging paper and it required GESSO and I was like what the heck is that? You answered it. Thanks again

[finebond]

Gesso is a primer and is used to prime wood or canvas. Its used as a base in icon painting and is made up of gelatine powder and white whiting. It gives a really smooth surface to paint on( when using egg tempera.

[applepie1991]

yup , primer for canvas , so that the ink/paint dosent sink into the canvas :)

[peachez77]

Gesso is the bomb, Thank Goodness for it. You can do whatever with it really when it comes to art. I even used it on the cover and back of an old journal to cover up over top of writing and decoration that came on it. I totally gesso'd the whole book and then I added my own embellishments to it along with scraps etc. soooo I totally recommend Gesso of any sort to all artists alike.

[jazznjava]

thanks good explaination.

[Thezeronumber]

I'm proposing to make a costume for a game character using Liquid Latex. It involves a Unitard/Zentai (full-body stretchy-lycra suit to put it simply), having thin foam shapes glued to it to for the impression of muscle/armor, and then severall layers of Liquid Latex mixed with paint/colouring to give it a smooth and elastic 'thick skin' consistancy that won't tear.

Does Gesso have similar properties to that of Liquid Latex? Could it replace the Liquid Latex used in the above method?

[owlsandelephants]

I accidently removed the second half of this...but honestly...I couldn't answer that. I've never worked with liquid latex. Not have I worked with gesso beyond a page. I couldn't price latex for you. All I can say is I got a fairly large jar of gesso for around 5 bucks from hobb lobby. But it wasn't like one of the fany=cy brands, just the store brand. Wish I could be more help.

[Thezeronumber]

Ah, well that's ok, i'm just asking incase you did happen to experience both. ^_^

$5 would be around £2.50 for me, and for £5 i can get a small tub of liquid latex (basically $10), so you can see what i mean about the price difference! XD

I only asked as someone once mentioned i should use Gesso instead of Latex, so it just sparked a mini-research-hunt and i came actross this video whilst doing so.

Thankyou for your help anyway.

[owlsandelephants]

Welcome and sorry I couldn't be more help.

[rubyrules1994]

THANK GOODNESS I FOUND THIS!!

This answers ALL my questions!

Thankyou x

[barefootspark]

Awesome explanation!

i generally use it as a base for my paintings, but a pretty cheap alternative i have found pretty useful is non glossy house paint, because gesso IS pretty darn expensive.

[debcoart]

"Glitter I've never seen before"  I swear to you....I laughed out loud on that comment! I find these items in my eensy little studio from time to time and wonder where it came from and how come I haven't used it yet.

I think you made us all LOL on that one. It really IS distracting to find these hidden treasures, eh?

[owlsandelephants]

hahahahha. I'm not super organized, so finding new stuff happens often for me.

[lostonaisle4]

"Make stuff look cooler"

LOL

& I can hear your dad talkin0g.

AHAHAH glitter.

[owlsandelephants]

actually....i think that was the TV. I made this while I was alone.

i can't even remember for sure tho. but i think i was watching everybody loves raymond.

[ronnnnie]

great explanation. That's the only "official definition" of gesso I saw on the bottle. And it took me forever to figure out how to use gesso to merge collage images or simply to make it cooler. My method is to use a dry brush method to put a really thin layer of gesso to merge images or put on top of a layer of old book page or acrylic paints. I haven't try using a towel to wipe it off yet. I'll try today.

[owlsandelephants]

yeah i had to play with it for quite a while before mastering the look that i like. and it still doesn't always turn out the way i would like.

[willsmine]

whohoooo nice treat to find your vid today....also for the info...whohooo I love the covering up mistakes part....lots of those hehehe XD

[winx12b]

add me again..cool new video way cool.

[InkandParchment]

aahahahahaha!! distracted by glitter! too funny

[wastedwinter]

Although I love handmade journals I really don't have the time to spend on cutting, binding and buying materials. Plus art supplies can be pretty expensive so I'd rather spend my money on that!

I use old books for journals. I think my current one is from an old encyclopedia collection. I glue a couple of sheets together - usually 3/4 - with modge podge, then I gesso the pages to blank out the text & for a base.

Et viola - on big ass book with thick pages. The best part is that it's CHEAP!!!

[wastedwinter]

Speaking of bases you can use it to add texture. Stick on a thick layer and use any available item to scrape it and create peaks, etc.

oooh... glitter.... *blinks*

[timeinfluxtwo]

That is such a cool idea..I will try it. Thank you for sharing it!!

[arttxcentrix]

LOL...glitter I've never seen before! One of the things that I use Gesso for is when priming wood pieces, then the paint sits on top of it instead of absorbing into the wood and it makes the end result brighter. Happy creating!