Talk:Gesso
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Yes; but what IS it? Graham 07:28, 18 May 2004 (UTC)
I removed the following text: "Websters says odoriferous means strong smelling, in particular, sweet smelling - perhaps the original author meant 'stinks'?)" as it is factually incorrect. odoriferous simply means odorous (according to m-w.com)... that is, giving off odor. Perhaps odoriferous should be changed to malodorous or fragrant to be more specific. I, however, prefer the usage of odoriferous as it empirically objective.
As a further note, I believe such comments belong here, in the talk page, and not as a part of the article. Efflux 20:11, 26 July 2004 (UTC)
can someone tell me what is the best practice to Gesso the panel for painting?
[edit] gesso in art
I still don't understand when do you use gesso for priming, how do you use it, do you use gesso only, and where can you buy such a thing? Also how long does it take to dry. young artist
[edit] Pronunciation
How do you pronounce gesso? (please add to article) Abeg92 17:41, 25 October 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Some answers and comments
"Gesso" is pronounced "JEH-so." "JEH" like in Jerry. "So" as in so. :-)
Where to get gesso... Googling for "Easy Gesso Mix" and "real gesso" will bring up some hits for where to get real gesso. So-called acrylic gesso is available at just about every art supply store and web site.
Gesso and acylic gesso both dry very fast.
Real gesso is for panels, not canvas. Acrylic gesso is frequently used on canvas. Inexpensive pre-primed canvases are (almost?) all primed with the acrylic stuff.
Canvas has to be sealed against the oil, which will eventually rot the canvas. Yep, linseed oil (made from flax) will rot linen (made from flax). Strange but true. The sealer is called a "size."
The traditional way to prepare canvas is to size it with rabbit skin glue, to seal it against the oil, and then coat it with an oil based ground. Lead white paint, with or without chalk or whatnot is a traditional ground. Canvases prepared with lead white are best after they have dried for six months or more.
If you put enough acrylic gesso on a canvas, it will be sealed sufficiently. The question is how much is enough.
The traditional way to prepare a panel is with gesso (Italian for "chalk"), which is a mixture of glue, chalk, and frequently white pigment. Many people consider real gesso to be the gold standard of panel grounds. See comments below.
Now the comments.
Some of this entry reads like a polemic favoring acrylic "gesso." There may be better, modern alternatives to rabbit skin glue for sizing canvas, (I could not say), but acrylic gesso is by no means the only option. There's nothing here about the lingering concerns some have that the oil paint will eventually delaminate from an acrylic ground. (There are no three hundred year old paintings on acrylic gesso.) There is also no mention of two draw-backs: 1) Acrylic gesso stains immediately, making some kinds of underpainting methods impossible; 2) Acrylic gesso is hard and rough. It is next to impossible to sand. It wears on the brushes very badly.
Jive Dadson 08:31, 24 December 2006 (UTC)
