More Gesso

Here is the refrigerated leftover from my previous gesso session, fresh out of the fridge.

After adding a bit of distilled water and warming the mix over warm water in a double boiler arrangement, the gesso was a lighter consistency than last time. As the temperature dropped off, the gesso began to set up--at some point becoming too thick to brush. I was just playing, searching out the limits of this medium.

For finishing I didn't bother with the scraper, instead going straight to the 400 grit paper. I found the paper loading quickly as the gesso, although dry to touch, was still a bit wet. Increased drying with a hairdryer helped as did switching to a sanding block. A couple of slaps and it's clear of sanding debris.

I will let this board dry overnight before final sanding with 400 and then 600 grit paper.

Easy Gesso

Last night I cleaned up an old gesso panel, sanding off all traces of a previous painting. I was left with a panel full of pin holes that had not previously surfaced--a perfect panel for testing. Using Natural Pigments (NP) Easy Gesso Extra Fine, I began to get the feeling for panel making.

This NP product comes with rabbit skin glue mixed with calcite and titanium white, ready for a 1:1 mix with warm water. Let this stand for at least two hours to gel up, warm slightly and paint it on. I placed a bowl of gesso mix above a pan of warm water and then spaced out, leaving it probably too warm for too long.

My mix was horribly peppered with chunks of mix that I learned to avoid by not dipping the brush too far into the bowl. Clearly I need to work on proper mixing, or at least pay more attention when heating the mix. Also, perhaps I was being so careful to avoid air bubbles in the mix that I didn't get a good smooth mix. Whatever, it was a good start on learning about handmade gesso panels.

Sanding between layers wasn't working well, probably because I couldn't find a sanding block. So instead, I used a scraper. It's a great little tool for creating a smooth surface but once I found my sanding block, 400 grit did a much better job. It cut faster and didn't leave behind shading that I attribute to the metal. For the final sanding, I switched to 600 grit.

Here's the smoothest panel I've ever felt or seen. And, not a pinhole in sight.

New Arrivals

Look what Katharine sent me! On the left is goatskin, on the the right is Kelmscott vellum! Now how cool is that? :-)

Here are a couple of Katharine quotes:

"Suppliers are William Cowley of Newport Pagnell, world-renowned parchmenters (they supplied the ancient-looking vellum for some huge map in Pirates of the Caribbean, no less)."

"... the wondrous William Cowley, who deal in various forms of animal skin for museums, calligraphers, artists, furniture restorers and so forth. It's the most beautiful surface and is very often used by botanical illustrators with watercolour or tempera..."

In this backlit shot I'm trying to illustrate the wonderful translucency of these skins. I had difficulty getting the images I wanted, but we'll be seeing more of these supports. I've picked an older graphite drawing as a start for a tempera piece. I need to decide between vellum and goatskin. I never thought I'd be facing this decision! :-)

Thanks Katharine! :-)



An order of 9" x 12" gesso boards from Realgesso is bringing satisfaction. Fairly smooth. No pinholes! Notice the upper right where I sanded with 600 grit. I was indeed able to reach an incredibly smooth surface and never found a pinhole. Now, I must say that this only one panel and the sanding has been limited but at this point I am pleased with this product. We'll be looking more at these panels soon.