PREPARING MY PAINT SURFACE (Canvas, untempered masonite panels, birch panels, Italian Gessoed panels) – All my paint surfaces are prepared with two to three coats of toned gesso. What I like about the gessoing is that it fills up the interstices of the canvas and the toned ground softens the final layers of paint. (Toned Ground: Renaissance painters used a “grisaille – or a sketch in various shades of grey). I also don’t have to worry about covering all those darned white spaces at the edges of trees, buildings, etc. I mix a large amount in an old coffee can, apply with a regular “trim” paint brush and tone many canvases of different sizes at one time. Gesso “days” can easily turn into a “gesso week” – but once this is finished, I am free to think of the painting, rather than the preparation. Recipe: Liquitex gesso (amount depends on how many canvases you want to cover) – small jar(s) of Liquitex Payne’s Grey (mix to desired tone) – small amount of water to loosen gesso (I don’t want it to leave brush marks once it is applied). Apply in a loose fashion and try to have the canvas positioned in the same direction as the final painting. 10/30/14
