Up until about a week ago, I really had no idea what Gesso or Mod Podge was. It was the **[Rorschach Squiggles](http://ift.tt/2jgVtZ5)** post by @reddust that turned me onto gesso and its possibilities. # What is Gesso? Pronounced **"Jeh-sso"**, *(a slight pause between the double S... It's an Italian thing)* it's a primer for canvas (or other surfaces that you are prepping to paint). According to **[Art-is-Fun.com](http://ift.tt/2ih4DpJ)**, it's similar to acrylic paint but thinner. When it's dried, the surface is more stiff and should have texture or teeth so it can accept acrylic paint better. # I'm cheap so I made my own Honestly, I have no idea whether I'm going to love or hate working with acrylic paint. It's been a really long time since I used it. But with cheapy starter art set and a token canvas, I figured it might be time to give it a try! That being said, I did the budget thing - looked on Google for some Gesso recipes and did a little bit of shopping.
Ingredients for budget white Gesso
### Recipe: * Sealed jar (preferably water tight) with at least a 20 oz. capacity * 4 oz. Elmer's School Glue * 1 TBSP white acrylic paint * 8 oz. lukewarm water * 3 solid squeezes of the baby powder (I'm going to roughly guess that it was about 1/2 cup of power give or take) Basically, what I did was empty the glue into the jar then use the glue container to get the right portion of water. I added the white acrylic paint for a little pigment/primer, squeezed baby powder in, and shook the dickens out of the jar, adding more powder until it sounded like I was shaking thin pancake batter (or heavy cream).
# Experiment with paper I bought a grid journal on discount with the idea of prepping a few pages to draw/paint when I was on the road... A keepsake to take with me wherever I go, which is an idea inspired by @opheliafu So I prepped one page with 3 layers in total, allowing each coat of Gesso to dry completely (with the help of a hair dryer).
You can see the grid lines are still visible, which is okay with me because, if you remember, I'm really new at this arting stuff. LOL So I decided to see if the gesso really made a difference. **Please note:** I do not have quality materials or supplies. ### What I noticed: * **Colored Pencils.** Well, my colored pencils suck...but Gesso did not really make an impact on the color or vibrancy. * **Pencils.** Better on non-primed paper. * **Oil pastels.** Gesso kind of made it clumpy but if I tried to rub or blend it, I basically erased it. Conclusion, oil pastels need regular paper. * **Ball point pens.** It's hard to tell. While the color seemed more true there wasn't enough of a difference between regular paper and Gesso prepped to be notable. * **Markers.** ***Definitely a difference*** The color is definitely more vibrant and true. * **Gel Markers.** ***WOW!!!*** The non-primed side basically soaked up the color. The side with Gesso actually stayed true to the marker color - to the point where it actually looked like the color on the marker's cap. *I was impressed.* ###
Mediums I did not yet attempt: watercolors and acrylic paints.
which is silly because I need to experiment with acrylics, right?
# Putting Gesso on everything LOL. Okay, not *everything* but taking another page from @reddust, I had a brown paper bag from Cracker Barrel and wanted to experiment with it. What would white Gesso look like on brown paper?
One coat of homemade Gesso on brown paper bag
Considering it's the first coat, I think that's pretty good coverage! I'm still letting it dry and cure before I put on the second and third coat but I can already feel the difference in how firm the paper is. # What's your experience? * Have you ever used Gesso? * Have you ever made your own? If so, what were your results? Are you willing to share your Gesso recipe? -----
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#
Come frolic with me until Friday!
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