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Artist’s Gesso
If you are not comfortable with using gesso, then you need to change that. Gesso is so much more than a surface preparation or primer for your paintings. It is a tool for creating some really great art. Did you know that you can mix gesso with paint to create colored gesso for creating tinted grounds? You can also use gesso mixed with paint to cover up mistakes, even big mistakes.
A few coats of gesso can turn even the most mediocre painting surface into a heavenly place to paint. If you enjoy painting on a rough surface, you can add texturing materials to your gesso or paint gesso right over a surface with great big “tooth”. For a smoother surface to create your art on, add several coats. You can even sand your layers once they dry to make a canvas that is like painting on fine porcelain.
You can find acrylic gesso or oil gesso. The acrylic variety is the most popular due to the ease of use, quick drying time and it has fewer odors. When used in combination with mediums, artists can manipulate most any ground to alter its characteristics once paint is applied. You should really have some gesso in your art supply. You are missing out if you just used already primed painting surfaces when you can create a whole variety of customized art supplies to suit your own style.
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