How to Prepare a Canvas for Painting : Gesso

Gesso creates a surface that fills in the pores of your canvas, covers it smooth so when you paint you can just paint right over it. Learn how to stretch and prepare a canvas for painting from a professional artist in this free video.

Expert: Anna Greene-Smith
Bio: Anna Greene-Smith is a freelance illustrator who graduated from MassArt in Boston in 2006.
Filmmaker: Christian Munoz-Donoso

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• art
• painting
• canvases
• art canvases
• painting canvases
• gesso
• paints
• art supplies
• painting supplies
• stretching canvases
• stapling canvases
• flicking canvases

[ValleyMermaid]

The blank canvases I have purchased say they have already been treated with Gesso. Do I still apply more layer of Gesso? And does it matter if it is transparent or not? Thanks!

[suntanners]

@ImDeejian Gesso doesn't change the surface of the canvas, the texture stays unless you sand it. Oil painters should especially be using gesso because oil paint bites into the canvas and your painting will be gone after years if you don't.

[sinfuledge]

Wow You suck.... apply Long even strokes throughout the canvas...... for a nice smooth surface....

[ImDeejian]

If you're using oil paint you would probably won't use gesso because gesso loses the effect of the whole canvas and oil paint texture (also the nice dry fade out of the paint), but if you want to you can. Other than that, in sketches you wanna use the least amount of color so using gesso is good as well.

It's all your choice, really.

[rhythm2007mc]

@Yusrararts no

[Yusrararts]

@rexenne .... water do not mix with oil i know :)

[rexenne]

@Yusrararts From what I can see (since she doesn't really ever say) she's using acrylics, not oil. Water to acrylic, yes. Again, oil & water do not mix. Try it & see.

[Yusrararts]

@rexenne .... I did not answer to any thing .... but in this video she says ' if I use water to the paint ' so I just asked a question can we add water to paint , as I never add anything to my paints when I draw .....

[rexenne]

@Yusrararts Does oil mix with water? That's your answer.

[Yusrararts]

i have a question : can we use water with oil painting !!!