| Milliande Creativity Club
My favourite Art Journaling Supplies
~ Gesso
~Gesso is an opague medium which primes and covers almost any surface so that it can be collaged and altered.
~ Gesso prevents paint from soaking through to your art surface ( art journal paper pages, canvas, assemblage object etc)
~ If you have a glossy surface like an art journal cover it will provide a matte coat for you to work on once you painted it on.
~ Gesso is a mixture of glue and either chalk or plaster of paris applied as a ground or coating to surfaces in order to give them the correct properties to receive paint.
~ Gesso can also be built up or molded into relief designs, or carved.
~ Gesso adds stability to art journal pages when they are heavily collaged, ideal as a base ground ~ I use it to cover collaged text and magazine cutouts that I have glued on as a background and now want to paint or journal over it
~ I also use gesso in combination with my watercolor crayons, rather than thinning them out with just water I used watered down gesso which gives the watercolor a chalky appearance , almost like a light acrylic which I like
~ Take a peek at the video to see what kind of pastel effect you get when blending watercolor crayons and watercolor pencils with gesso
What is the difference between Gesso and Acrylic Paint ?
~ Gesso has a different texture from acrylic paint, it is thinner and when applied leaves a little bit of a bite .. ie a surface that other materials can stick to
~ I find white acrylic is not as easily blendable, dries faster leaving less time to manipulate it . It also is quite dominant whilst gesso blends more into the background for me
~ I use Goldens heavy body white acrylic when I want to completely cover something up in my art journal in small delicate spaces ( like eyes etc)
~ Both Acrylic and Gesso have their place in my artwork for different applications
Can Gesso be mixed with other Colors ?
~ gesso can be mixed with acrylic paints, you will get a sort of pastelly shad of the color added as it has quite a chalky consistency
~ I like using Golden liquid acrylics as they have a lovely color intensity in their pigment but also dont alter the fluidity of the gesso too much
~ When adding acrylic paint you will get a more thicker consitency of the paint
~ You can also add concentrated watercolors like Dr PH MArtins Watercolors or colored inks
~ colored pigments can be added to gesso as well like twinkling H2o's, Pearl Ex Powders for a shimmering effect
~ Gesso lends itself well to experimenting with different additives
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