Gesso

I have been reading about Gesso on the net and in books and magazines, when artists explain how they made certain pieces of art, collage, altered books, artists journals and artist trading cards.

I have not been able to find gesso in local art and craft shops.

I decided to buy it online at a discount from MisterArt.com. I have never purchased from them before.

I had a hard time deciding what to buy. I am on a tight budget so I decided to buy 8 oz. of white gesso (Golden brand) and 8 oz. black gesso (Golden brand) and some Golden Acrylic Gel Medium and then I spent a few bucks on a small container of metallic gold mica dust.

The order arrived yesterday but I didn't have time to do any art or even to check the products out.

Today I was surprised to see that gesso is smooth and seems just like acrylic paint. I am a bit unsure how artists end up making texture or roughing up the surface with such a thin, runny liquid. So I went online to learn a little more about gesso. Here is a great article which is educational.

Gesso: What It Is and How To Use It by aisling d'art

I learned a few things from that article that I had not learned elsewhere.

Today I put a coating of white gesso on a cardboard, empty, hot chocolate powder-mix container. I plan to collage on this surface. I also painted the back cover of my first/experimental altered book.

I plan to make time today or tonight to work on ATCs and to experiment with altered books. Now that I have the acrylic gel medium I may start working on a new altered book, using the gel medium to make blocks of pages to work upon. Perhaps tomorrow, after that is dry, I can begin coating the pages of the AB with gesso to prime them for collaging onto.

For the record it has been at least seven days since I've worked on ATCs in a serious way. I have only spent about ten minutes total in this last week working on ATCs. What I have been doing is mostly cleaning and decluttering the house, (so now all my art supplies are put away), and I've been homeschooling the kids and doing extra Cub Scouts projects and meetings. I really feel the need to spend time making art today!!