Auntie Mame

This is a piece I did for my Aunt Mary Ann, who has (dyed) flaming red hair and used to study ballet. I am slightly disappointed with the face, but I feel my strengths show in the background, the dress, and the skin tones.

Shannon.

This piece is wild. I did it for Shannon, to celebrate her engagement (soon to be marriage) and all the other changes in her life (school ending, entering the “real world”, etc.) Of course, I don’t know miss Shannon as well as some of my readers do, however I am lucky to know her at all and I am so excited for her future. Although this piece is a a bit “messy” I feel it is a cornerstone for my work as an artist; I felt a complete shift whilst working on it. I am happy to embark on this new artistic journey (as corney as that may sound). This pretty much concludes my work for the semester, I look forward to what I am going to create next semester!

Federica Rossi- Nel profondo

C’è

oro       dentro il tuo sorriso

e rosso un fiotto

una miniera di cretti in nidiate di  grida

e aironi     rose che sbocciano istantanee

tra bianche spiagge di gesso

le ringhiere delle parole affollate dai gelsi in fiore.

Io non aspetto

la primavera

non aspetto l’estate

il sole viene

quando tu sciogli le nuvole della distanza

e il tuo fiume

scorre accanto al mio

fino al mare

una sola mutazione di colore

una notte che si fa profondissima e viva.

Oro

la luce         in quel nero

si ricongiunge  al fondo di un

ora senza più tempo senza più    m e t e.

After 5 months away it’s good to get back in the studio and start painting. As much as I enjoy painting outdoors, I always feel the best work comes when conditions are under control and there is limitless time to consider things

.

The first thing I did when I got back to the studio was pull out the last demonstration painting I did at the workshop in Pemberton. At the time I was wrestling with it and hurrying to get it finished. I just wanted to see where it would go with a little more time and less pressure.

I attacked it with a 1″ house painting brush full of gesso , leaving the central core of previously painted watercolor untouched. After the gesso dried, detail was added and blotted back with tissue.

The pigment sits on the surface of the gesso, so can be sprayed and blotted back similar to yupo paper. This produces the subtle effects seen in the detail above. It is an interesting, very controllable way to work and produces unusual results.

A tutti sarà capitato di vedere all’opera, sui marciapiedi o sulle strade delle nostre città, i cosiddetti “Madonnari” dipingere con i gessi pregevoli volti di Madonne ma anche riproduzioni di celebri capolavori e ritratti.

L’inglese Julian Beever dipinge sui marciapiedi ricercati paesaggi a tre dimensioni, impressionanti per il realismo della illusione ottica e per il modo di mescolare elementi architettonici già presenti con i dipinti, in modo tale che gli osservatori percepiscano cavità o oggetti tridimensionali che in realtà non esistono.

La tecnica prospettica utilizzata da Beever è detta “anamorfismo”, un effetto di illusione ottica per cui una immagine viene proiettata sul piano in modo distorto tale per cui il soggetto originale è riconoscibile solo guardando l’immagine da una posizione precisa (ana- + morfosi = forma ricostruita).

Nei video alcune opere di Julian Beever:

e Julian all’opera:

]]> http://apdsji.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/o-prego/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 13:59:03 +0000 Sara Kelly http://apdsji.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/o-prego/ http://sarahpaolucci.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/custom-christmas-card/ Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:45:45 +0000 palooch http://sarahpaolucci.wordpress.com/2009/11/20/custom-christmas-card/

My latest commission was for a Christmas card. They wanted something different, but personal too. They love their dog, Sparky, and decided to feature him on the card! I also decided to take a few pictures in-progress to show you how I complete a drawing in colored pencils.

They provided me with a few different photos and this is the one I chose to work with:

They wanted me to spice it up and make it look “more Christmasy”. So I did a sketch for them that looked like this:

Which they loved. (Sparky really does like to open presents too!)  I figured we could put text on the inside that said, “No peeking” or something along those lines.

Here is the final sketch:

It’s more refined than the initial sketch I gave. That was just to give them an idea of what I was thinking. This final pencil drawing is fully shaded on illustration board and made to the correct size and proportion of the final piece.

Then, I put a thin layer of gesso right on top of the drawing. I usually spray fix the pencil, just so it doesn’t smudge with the weight of the brush. I use a cheap foam brush, so I don’t get any brush marks and it goes on nice and evenly.

As you can see, the drawing underneath the gesso is still visible. The gesso is thinned slightly with water and when it dries it’s slightly transparent. You don’t want to thin it too much because then it defeats the purpose of putting gesso down altogether. …but on the other hand, if you don’t use enough water, it becomes opaque and you lose the drawing you just did. This might take some experimenting to get the right mixture. I use gesso because I like to thin out the first few layers of colored pencils with turpentine to give it a more solid feel. A lot of times with colored pencils you can see the white of the paper through the wax. (sometimes, I use the color of the paper to enhance the colored pencils, such as in this piece) Using a solvent, such as turpentine, with eliminate the white show-through.

As shown in the photo above, the red bow has been thinned with turpentine, and I’ve just laid down the green on the present — see the white of the paper through it? That will be a smooth surface after painting it with a solvent.

This pic is a little smaller than the others, but you can see that I have my reference shot to the left and the present is just about complete. Sparky is sitting patiently waiting his turn to be colored!

And here is the final product!

Original illustration created in colored pencils on gessoed board, approx. 6″ x 6″.

Contact me if you’d like your own custom portrait and/or custom greeting card for the holidays or anytime!

Betsy wins the challenge today…

and thanks to the many who chimed in to help as well…

I decided to bring the panel into the kitchen to provide better light and warmth and set up a spot light at a raking angle, then started with a thin sanding sponge. Some grit on one side and sponge only on the other. Dipped in a little water it quickly brought up a slurry of gesso and in seconds had repaired an imperfection. The key turned out to be starting with the grit side and water…just a little bit…and then wiping in a broader circle with the sponge side which quickly smoothed it back down.                                                                                                                              

The panel is 32″ x 48″ which is a lot of real estate when you are bending over and squinting and it took almost 2 hours of work to reach a satisfactory surface. I was apparently gloating for just a moment and when I took it outside so I could clean up the studio kitchen the wind knocked it over onto Finnegan’s water dish. UGH. Another 15 minutes of repairing those dings and it was back in shape.

Now safely returned to the warmth of the studio I am going to let it dry overnight before proceeding with the oil out that I do as the next step. It will be interesting to see if the surface is not too smooth or if this gesso will provide enough tooth. I’d hate to have to take an abrasive back to it.

 So thanks again Betsy, the sponge wins !

By far the most annoying part, for me, of being a painter is preparing the panels. Last fall, and then again this spring, I did a marathon panel prep and now have a trailer full of various sizes to choose from. All have five or six coats of gesso already on them but there is still a good deal of texture revealed from the portrait grade canvas that I use…and I do not like this.

On some paintings where I use lots of paint and deliberately rough up the surface, like roiling seas and wind blown landscapes, that texture is just fine and gets hidden quickly in favor of the brushstrokes.

For other works, like finely detailed still lifes and interiors, I want the texture to be of my design, not the canvases.

I have experimented and struggled for years now to produce a reliable and smooth gesso finish. And the first three or four coats which I apply with a wide putty knife go on great. But once that weave begins to fill in every single tiny speck of dust of dog hair or wooly caterpillar fluff gets caught in the sweep of the blade and drags a gully across the panel.  UGH !

I tried to get a photo of this to help illustrate the problem…but didn’t have the patience to light it right…here’s a shot of the gesso I have found to be the best for the final coats… Art Boards Gesso which I get from Dick Blick. (This is not a plug for them…just a reference since I had some difficulty finding it in the usual haunts. I have found it to be the best as far as pliability on a rigid surface as well as having just the right tooth for the oils I use.)

I’m eager to get to the easel to work on some of the new ideas I collected while on Martha’s Vineyard last month and I worked all day yesterday to get a sketch ready for the first one up. Last night I hauled out a panel and applied a final coat of the gesso to dry overnight. In the light of morning most of the gesso had smoothed out but there were dozens of those nasty streaks so I got out the sander and took it back down to a uniform level…which or course sanded off more gesso than I wanted so I decided to thin it down and re-apply with a brush.

Disaster. It dries too fast and the brushstrokes become clumpy and no amount of raking light can reveal all the imperfections. With nothing to lose I went back to the putty knife and had a little bit more success leveling out the hills and valleys. But not much.

I’ll have to let this dry and then give it a wet/sand finish which is very time consuming and a big mess…but it does work. You slowly build up a slurry by taking a wet-sandpaper of 400 or 500 grit and progress in small increments. The advantage is that you do not remove any gesso…just smooth it around but it’s tedious work and I am low on patience at the moment.

I’d welcome any thoughts and suggestions on how you other artists handle the gesso messo.

For now that’s enough whining !!! …as Pat says…everything happens for a reason so I must need the practice…and it’s a beautiful grey November day here in the studio yard…

take note if you will …that pole leaning on the lilac bush, circled in red, is the one that drove itself into my sinuses a couple days ago…quite a wake up call…doing just fine now …and the lingering soreness is all the reminder I need to get back to painting thank you !

Unter scratches oder auch scratchen versteht man das Kratzen. Viele von uns haben das sicher schon in Kindertagen einmal gemacht. Es ist einfach und effektvoll.

Diese Technik ist auch bekannt als Sgraffito, was übersetzt ebenfalls kratzen bedeutet. Sgraffito ist aus dem italienischen abgeleitet von “sgraffiare” und war in Italien während der Renaissance von Bedeutung.

Im 16. Jahrhunder kam diese Handwerkstechnik nach Deutschland und wurde später nicht mehr nur an Hausfassaden zu sehen, sondern mit den unterschiedlichsten Materialien auch auf Leinwand u. v .a.

A lot of us will probably be reminded of their childhood when hearing ’scratches’ or ’scratching’. It is simple and effective.

This technique is also known as ’Sgraffito’, which also stands for scratching when translated. Sgraffito is derived from the Italian word “sgraffiare”, a technology that was of importance in Italy during the Renaissance. In the 16th century, this craftsmen technology also came to Germany and could not only be seen on the front of houses, but also on various other materials, for instance on canvas etc.

Scratches/Sgraffito – Schritt für Schritt

Material/materials
Cardstock, Leinwand etc./Cardstock, Canvas
Öl-/Wachskreiden/oil crayons
Acrylfarbe zum Abdecken/Acrylic or Gesso
Brayer
Kratzwerkzeug/Scratching tool
Stempel/Stamps
Stempelkissen/Stamp Pads

Schritt 1 – Step 1

Den Untergrund mit Ölkreiden in verschiedenen Farbtönen einfärben.

Colour the surface with oil pastels in different shades.

Schritt 2 – Step 2

Mit dem Brayer über die gesamte Fläche eine Acrylfarbe aufbringen und trocknen lassen.

Brayer acrylics over the entire surface and let dry.

Schritt 3 – Step 3

Nach dem die Oberfläche getrocknet ist, ein Motiv aufstempeln.

Once the colours are you can stamp a motif on it.

TIPP
Um die Kontur etwas stärker hervorzuheben, kann der Stempelabdruck embosst werden. Aber Vorsicht, die Farbe schlägt leicht blasen, wenn sie mit zu viel Hitze in Berührung kommt.

HINT
In order to accentuate the outlines, the stamped motif can be embossed. But be careful: The colour can get puffy easily if it gets too hot.

Schritt 4 – Step 4

Mit dem Kratzwerzeug an den gewünschten Stellen das Motiv freilegen.

Expose the desired areas of the motif with the scratching tool.

Schritt 5 – Step 5

Nach dem das Motiv freigelegt ist, die Karte fertig gestalten. Für den Hintergrund abermals Ölkreiden aufbringen und mit dem Finger verreiben.

Once the motif is exposed add further details to the card as desired. Add another layer of oil pastels for the background and smooth it out with your fingers.

Mit Brilliance weitere Motive stempeln und Embellishment befestigen.

Stamp further motifs with Brilliance ink and attach embellishment.

Verwendete Stempelmotive: a capella (Häuser), Heindesign (Swirl), Non Sequitur (Schrift)Stampers Anonymous (Baum), Stamp Zia (Akt),

]]> http://oficinadearte.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/presepio-gesso/ Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:00:22 +0000 Maria Duarte http://oficinadearte.wordpress.com/2009/11/01/presepio-gesso/

Materiais:

- presépio de gesso

- tinta acrílica fosca creme

- tinta acrílica metálica ouro velho

- lixa para madeira 220

- pano macio (limpo e seco)

- 1 pincel chanfrado

- feltro marrom

- tesoura afiada

- cola transparente de PVAc

Passo a passo:

- Com um pedaço pequeno de lixa, retire as imperfeições das peças de gesso.

- Limpe as peças com um pedaço de pano para retirar o excesso de pó.

- Com o pincel chanfrado, passe 1 demão de tinta fosca creme em toda a superfície das peças, inclusive na base. Aguarde a secagem.

- Passe duas demãos de tinta metálica ouro velho nas peças, intercalando a secagem.

- Recorte pedaços de feltro marrom e cole sob a base das peças usando a cola tranparente de PVAc.

Dicas:

- A ponta do pincel chanfrado facilita a pintura nas reintrâncias da peça.

- Depois de aplicar cada demão de tinta, verifique se a peça está toda pintada, pois as reintrãncias das peças de gesso tendem a necessitar de retoque.

Obrigada pela visita e volte sempre!

http://oficinadearte.wordpress.com/

Clique aqui para ver fotos e passo a passo de outras peças.

Clique aqui para ver dicas de artesanato.

Prep work for a fresh batch of ATCs for November..

We have new Claudine Hellmuth Products by Ranger including Studio Paints, Gesso, and Mediums.

Rackham's Kelt Musician with a fresh coat of gesso

I finally finished the base and painted on the gesso primer this evening.  It will be totally dry in 24 hours.  I can’t wait to start painting this.

In the meantime, 50 stands of Copplestone City Guard Spearmen are distracting me.

Ecco un contest davvero originale e carino!
Erika di Giocattoli Creativi ha deciso di mettere in palio uno dei suoi giocattoli, e visto che la scelta è vastissima, ha deciso di mettere a disposizione 4 regali, a seconda delle fasce d’età che sono presenti sul sito.

In questo modo la vincitrice del giveaway potrà scegliere il suo regalo preferito tra i 4 proposti.
I regali tra cui scegliere quello vincente
Fascia d’età 0-3 anni:
La casa impilabile
Fascia d’età 3-5 anni:
Vestiamo Gigio e Gigia
Fascia d’età 5-7 anni:
Casa – Costruzione in gesso
Fascia d’età 7-12 anni:
Rubik 360 – Sfera Rubik

Come funziona:
- Lasciate un commento a questo post;
- Linkate il giveaway sul vostro blog, se ne avete uno.

C’è tempo fino a Domenica 11 Ottobre!
Il 12 Ottobre verrà annunciata la vincitrice, che potrà scegliere uno dei regali offerti da Giocattoli Creativi, e dovrà inviare ad Erika l’indirizzo per la spedizione.

Se você já quebrou o braço e precisou engessá-lo, então provavelmente teve contato com um material originário de Araripina, no sertão pernambucano. A cidade de Araripina e seu entorno (incluindo principalmente os municípios de Trindade, Ouricuri, Ipubi e Bodocó), no chamado Sertão do Araripe, produzem 95% de toda a gipsita (matéria-prima do gesso) consumida no Brasil.

Para discutir essa indústria do gesso, que gera quase cem mil empregos (entre diretos e indiretos) na região, realiza-se de 2 a 4 de outubro, no município de Trindade, a I Expogesso; o evento é realizado pela prefeitura de Trindade e pelo Sebrae-PE.

E o principal tópico para discussão está definido: a busca de novas matrizes energéticas para processamento da gipsita em gesso. Atualmente, duas são as fontes utilizadas: queima de madeira da caatinga (muitas vezes extraída de forma ilegal) e uso de coque, derivado pesado do petróleo. Além de agredirem o meio-ambiente, essas técnicas são ineficientes e caras.

Existe a preocupação de que, com a conclusão da Ferrovia Transnordestina (cujo trecho pernambucano deve começar a operar em 2011), os atuais compradores prefiram comprar a gipsita bruta e processá-la em outros locais, com outras formas mais eficientes de energia.

Como a região encontra-se a aproximadamente 600 km do Recife e a 500 km de Fortaleza, não será fácil encontrar outras fontes alternativas; um estudo técnico foi encomendado por diversas associações de indústria, desde a local até a nacional. Os resultados do estudo, que custarão R$ 450 mil, sairão no início de 2010.

Jesus Soares descobriu a identidade artística na figura dos marginalizados

Jesus Soares eterniza pessoas com quem se depara no cotidiano (Foto: David Arioch)

Há 24 anos, quem via o garotinho Jesus Soares esculpindo faces desconhecidas em barrancos, nem imaginava que ele se tornaria um dos grandes nomes das artes plásticas em Paranavaí, com trabalhos expostos em diversos países da América Latina e Europa.

A relação de Jesus Soares com a arte começou por acaso, aos 11 anos, quando ele e os irmãos Paulo, Gílson e Adauto Soares se divertiam criando os próprios brinquedos e dando novas formas a alguns espaços. O que para a maioria era apenas um cenário ordinário e natural, na perspectiva de Jesus e seus irmãos era um universo de possibilidades de transformação.

“Uma vez vimos a capa de um livro e aquilo nos influenciou a criar algumas faces em barrancos”, conta o artista plástico Jesus Soares. O feito dos quatro irmãos pode ser interpretado como uma peculiar, mas ocasional concepção artística do Monte Rushmore, um monumento rochoso situado nos EUA.

À época, ainda crianças, Jesus e os irmãos, que cultivavam uma profunda relação de amizade entre eles, produziam arte sem perceber, perdidos em uma realidade lúdica. “A gente fazia apenas porque gostava, era uma forma de divertimento”, afirma Soares, acrescentando que encarou o próprio trabalho como arte somente a partir de 1998.

Naquele ano, a artista Tânia Volpato foi até a residência de Jesus Soares e se deparou com um presépio. “Quando disse a ela que fui eu quem fiz, a Tânia ficou surpresa, e eu mais ainda porque já tinha feito um monte de peças, mas nunca pensei que fossem arte”,  admite Soares, um artista que se destaca pelo talento em criar esculturas com as mais diversas matérias-primas, como arame, madeira, resina, gesso, sisal e fibra de média densidade (MDF).

Embora Jesus já tenha manipulado muitos materiais, o artista é mais conhecido pelas esculturas em arame, o que se tornou uma marca registrada. “Nessa linha de trabalho, já atendi a Fundação Cultural, Rotary, Faculdade Estadual de Educação, Ciências e Letras de Paranavaí (Fafipa), Fundação de Esportes (Fespar) e Associação Comercial e Empresarial de Paranavaí (Aciap), além de outros”, acrescenta.

Quem conhece o trabalho de Jesus Soares logo identifica características do realismo surgido no século XIX. Algo que se deve não ao fato do artista seguir tal tendência, mas sim ter descoberto a identidade artística na figura dos marginalizados. Soares tem o dom de eternizar pessoas com quem se depara no cotidiano, aquelas que parecem inexistir socialmente.

Algumas das obras do artista estão em exposição no corredor do Teatro Municipal (Foto: David Arioch)

“Pra mim, a escolha de um personagem a ser transformado em escultura depende muito do contexto. Além disso, quando me pedem algum trabalho sob encomenda já me foco no tema, daí faço um esboço levando em conta questões sociais, históricas e econômicas”, revela o artista que encontra na arte de esculpir um exercício de introspecção e reflexão sobre a vida e o mundo.

É impossível mensurar quantas obras Jesus Soares já produziu, mas muitas estão espalhadas pelo Brasil, além das enviadas para exposições na Áustria, Alemanha, República Dominicana e alguns outros países. “Há poucos dias, recebi o convite para enviar peças ao Chile”, finaliza o artista.

Material embutido de significados

De acordo com o artista plástico Jesus Soares, a escolha do material para se trabalhar a confecção de cada peça já carrega alguns significados. Um exemplo são três obras criadas pelo artista sob influência de Guernica, pintura de Pablo Picasso. “Foi uma encomenda que me fizeram em Amaporã. Selecionei três personagens do quadro e criei as peças”, conta.

Em uma das obras recheadas de crítica social, é possível ver uma criança no colo da mãe. O bebê em óbito foi idealizado a partir de uma minúscula colher. Levando em conta o contexto da guerra, os bombardeios alemães a pequena cidade espanhola de Guernica em 1937, Soares usou o talher para destacar uma metáfora; a infância perdida como a sobremesa dos alemães.

O artista plástico, que também trabalha com cenografia em parceria com os irmãos Paulo e Adauto Soares, está sempre atendendo pedidos de novas encomendas. “Pra ter uma idéia, recentemente fiz cenários para a peça ‘As Aves’, do Grupo de Teatro da Unipar, também criei três obras em MDF e ainda preciso entregar mais de 300”, assinala o artista que cobra de R$ 35 a R$ 150 por peças de 35 a 50 centímetros. Este mês, algumas das obras de Jesus Soares estão em exposição no corredor do Teatro Municipal Dr. Altino Afonso Costa.

Serviço

Para entrar em contato com o artista plástico Jesus Soares, basta ligar para (44) 3902-1049

Fragmentos em gesso envelhecido para jardim.

Coluna em gesso, imitação de mármore.

Coluna em gesso, imitação de madeira.

Criação de logo para VZ Artesanato – marca da artesã Vivianne Zoega – que trabalha principalmente peças em gesso com pintura estilo barroco mineiro, além de outros tipos de peças e materiais em madeira, espelhos etc. Neste caso criei duas versões da logo, sendo uma com mais profundidade (mostrando mais detalhes, capricho) e outra em uma cor só para adequar aos variados tipos de aplicações.

Logo for VZ Artesanato – brand of artisan Vivianne Zoega, who works mainly with plaster pieces in a specific baroque style painting from Minas Gerais, Brazil.

VZ Artesanato | versão color

VZ Artesanato | versão 1 cor

Chique né! Pois é, estas caixas e bonecas foram para uma encomenda internacional. Espero que vocês gostem!

Priming With Acrylic Gesso

by Hyun (weetoysoldiers.com)

Originally posted: September 19, 2005.
Last updated: February 27, 2007
Latest changes: Added some photos of painted miniatures that were primed with gesso.

Click here to jump to the new section. Click here to see the history of changes to this page and project.

September 19, 2005

I first came across gesso a few months ago on TheMiniaturesPage.com discussion forum. At once I was intrigued: Here was something that could be brushed on, was non-toxic, water-thinnable and water-washup, and works wonders as a primer? I must investigate!

I had primarily used spray-can varieties of primers, anything from hobby-specific like the Tamiya Gray Surface Primer, to the hardware store-variety like OSH or Krylon or Rustoleum Painter’s Touch. They all work well more or less, but, in my opinion, have a few major drawbacks. One, the weather and lighting condition has to be right — too much humidity or too windy or too late at night, and you’re out of luck. Second, and more importantly, the solvent- and lacquer-based primers have nasty, often carcinogenic, toxic chemicals that I’d rather do without. Third, unless you’re really careful, it’s easy to overapply the primer and end up with buried/obscured details.

Gesso is a thick-ish liquid surface preparatory compound used to prepare artist’s canvass before painting. It contains finely ground chalk with some sort of glue or binding agent. Different brands of gesso are made differently — apparently some carry carcinogenic warnings, and some are certified non-toxic. I’ve also read that it’s made of plaster of Paris with glue. Either way, it provides an excellent adhesive “tooth” for paint to grab onto. I’ve been priming miniatures with gesso for the past six months, and have been very pleased with results.

Now, the obvious down side is that it is brush-applied, and thus, somewhat time-consuming. This may not matter if you are a sloooooow painter like me, for whom the measure of progress and achievement is not the number of finished miniatures, but rather a happily cluttered workdesk full of miniatures in progress. I’ve heard of people asking about airbrushing gesso, but I honestly wouldn’t recommend it — the mix is thick enough to guarantee blocking and messing up your airbrush. And if you thin it to the point of being able to somewhat successfully airbrush it with an external-mix airbrush, then I would venture to guess that it would lack the cohesion to act properly as a primer.

The local craft stores carry Liquitex brand (the only brand I’ve used) of acrylic gesso in white, black, and clear. You can tint the white and clear gesso with inks or paints of your choice (well, you can lighten black gesso as well, I suppose, but most people will find it easier to go from white to darker than black to lighter). I started out with white gesso and tinted it with black craft acrylic paint, to give a nice, neutral grey look. I thin it with Tamiya airbrush thinner, but you can also use distilled water. Liquitex website states that you can use up to 1:4 ratio (20%) of water to gesso to thin, and to use water and the Liquitex Matte Medium in equal amounts if thinning more than 20%. I’ve thinned it way more than 20% using the Tamiya Airbrush Thinner, but I’ve found that thinner gesso tends to get scratched off easily in handling.

Image 1.

I eventually got a bottle of black gesso as well, as I found myself applying a coat of black ink wash to grey gesso-primed miniatures when I absolutely needed a black basecoat.

Here are my supplies for making primer mix — Gesso, Delta Ceramcoat craft acrylic black paint (99 cents at the local craft store), Tamiya airbrush thinner in a dispenser bottle, and of course, a mixing pot:

Image 2.

The following image shows the progression of mixing gesso: first you start out with a dollop of gesso (the quantity obviously depending on how many miniatures you are going to prime!), then add black paint, then add thinner or water and mix thoroughly, and finally, you have a nice, shiny, smooth solution of primer, ready to use.

Image 3.

Here are two pictures of the Lord of the Rings plastic Warrior of Minas Tirith figure, before and after priming with gesso:

Image 4.

Image 5.

When applied, gesso goes on thick and obscures details, but as it dries, it shrinks down and goes on flat. In fact, it works so well that you can apply it directly to prepainted figures with no loss of detail (this would obviously depend on how thickly the paint was used in painting the figure):

Image 6.

Image 7.

Another nice thing about working with gesso is that you have absolute control over how it’s applied. Put it on too thickly?

Image 8.

No problem! Just use the brush to wipe away the excess. Much easier, cleaner, and safer than trying to damage-control over-applied spray can primers.

Image 9.

… notice how gesso obscures details above when it’s wet. It dries down to reveal the details:

Image 10.

Here is a comparison photo showing gesso-primed plastic gun (above), and before priming (below):

Image 11.

Here’s a picture of a white-gesso-tinted-with-black primed metal miniature, from the Dark Age line of figures. The leftmost one is primed with gesso, then baremetal, then a figure primed with Tamiya spray can grey primer:

Image 12.

Click here to view larger version (1800×1123, 407KB)

… and a closeup of the gesso-primed miniature:

Image 13.

Click here to view larger version (1200×989, 271KB)

When the leftover gesso dries, it peels off in one rubbery piece:

Image 14.

One note about gesso safety. Apparently, some brands of gesso come with carcinogenic warning labels. The Liquitex brand I use is certified non-toxic, including meeting the California Proposition 65 requirements. Here’s the blurb from the MSDS (Material Safety Datasheet) for their gesso:

“Product has been certified as non-toxic by The Art and Creative Materials Institute, Inc. and conforms to ASTM D-4236 Standard Practice for Labeling Art Materials for Acute and Chronic Adverse Health Hazards.”

There you have it. Obviously, if you have hundreds of figures to prime at once, or if you are working with smaller models (say 10mm and smaller) where any kind of primer might obscure details, it may not work for you. But if you are looking for a safer, use-at-any-time method of priming your miniatures, give gesso a shot!

Added: January 17, 2007

Over on TMP, there is a thread going on about using gesso as primer. As regular visitors of WeeToySoldiers may know, I’m a big fan of using gesso for priming figures for many reasons, not the least of which is that I like to paint late at night, which effectively precludes using spray can primers.

One poster, a user of gesso, commented to the effect that you don’t really need to add water or otherwise thin gesso. His exact words were “jam the gesso into the crevices and glop it on. Dries perfectly thin.” This piqued my interest, as well as (it must be admitted) a dose of skeptism. I’ve always thinned my gesso, and have gotten good results with it. Oh sure, usually you have to go back and touch up where gesso shrank and created bare “pinhole” spots, but that’s easily done (gesso shrinks as it dries, which makes it an ideal primer, as there is no or minimal loss of details). Thinned gesso also seemed more prone to being scratched off or otherwise damanged in handling, but I attributed that to just “gesso being gesso.” To be sure, painted figures that were primed with gesso seem to wear handling just fine.

So, my curiosity being aroused, I decided to experiment with non-thinned gesso, straight from the bottle, and furthermore, to “glop it on” and see how it’d dry. For the experiment, a brave Urban Mammoth Junkers Convict Legionary “volunteered”:

Image 15.

Here’s my black gesso, a Liquitex brand variety:

Image 16.

… and here’s the gesso, straight from the bottle. I actually ended up using about 3x that amount, as I applied it rather liberally!

Image 17.

Now, here are the pictures of the experiment in progress. First, we have the Legionary with its side and front profiles:

Image 18.

Here the gesso has been applied. Notice the complete loss of details! I had to edit the image to overexpose the shots, to draw the details out.

Image 19.

Some people say to let gesso dry for 24 hours before painting over them. I don’t know if that really makes that much difference. I’ve painted over gesso-primed figures after as little as a few hours, and have had no negative results, but I can’t say conclusively that you have to or don’t have to wait X number of hours.

Anyway, here’s the figure, two hours after the gesso was applied:

Image 20.

Well, I do stand corrected! It seems pretty amazing that all that gesso dried up and shrank, but it does seem to appear that that’s the case, doesn’t it? There’s a pinhole bare spot on the shield that I’ll need to touch up, but the shrinkage-induced bare spots are far, far fewer and smaller than when I use thinned gesso. Well, how about that!

The next two pictures show comparison shots of the head area, and the shield details:

Image 21.

Image 22.

I’d be interested in hearing about your gesso techniques and habits!

Added: February 25, 2007

Watching Paint Dry.

Well, actually, not paint, but gesso.

The section above on using non-thinned gesso has turned out to be quite popular, judging from the website statistics. A common refrain I see that it’s almost unbelievable how much gesso manages to shrink as it dries.

Well, wonder no more. Here’s an interesting time-waster for you to enjoy — a series of photos of gesso drying on a miniature! Thanks to the intervalometer setting on my digital camera, this was achieve with minimal fuss and also with far greater precision than anything I could’ve managed manually.

Basically, I set up the camera to take 100 photos in sequence automatically, one every minute. Then the figure was primed, and the camera activated. So we went from:

Image 23.

… to this…

Image 24.

… to this:

Image 25.

… and you get to see it, each step of the way!

There are two ways to view it. The first is a vertically scrolling webpage with the 100 photos (actually 101, including the shot of the figure before it was primed) in sequence. You can see that by clicking on the image below:

Image 26.

The other method requires you to have Javascript enabled on your web browser. It’ll launch a new window, in which the 101 photos will display in sequence as an animation. The default setting is for image to change every 0.5 seconds, but that can be adjusted by you during the playback (”500″ is 0.5 seconds, so if you want one second delay, type in “1000″ and click on “Change Interval” button; “250″ for 1/4 second, etc.). There’s a 3-second pause before it’ll loop again once it reaches the end of the animation.

Click here to see animation of gesso drying.

Hope you found this interesting!

Added: February 27, 2007

Here are some finished miniatures that were primed with gesso.

The LotR High Elf Warrior and the Ultramarine sergeant were primed with gesso; the Imperial Fists marine in the middle was spray-can primed.

Image 27.

Night Goblins from The Battle for Skull Pass set, primed with gesso:

Image 28.

Dwarf Miners from the Skull Pass set, primed with gesso:

Image 29.

Skull Pass Dwarf Thane, again primed with gesso:

Image 30.

Image 31.

Skull Pass Dwarf Warriors (can you tell what I’ve been working on lately…)

Image 32.

History of changes:

September 19, 2005 — article posted online.
October 26, 2006 — general content addition, including spray primer hazards, non-toxicity of gesso, and thinning gesso. Added external links to the Liquitex gesso product information page, and its MSDS (Material Safety Datasheet) page. Added two pictures of a gesso-primed metal miniature. Changed the article title from “Acrylic Gesso as a Primer” to “Priming with Acrylic Gesso.”
January 17, 2007 — Added test results of applying non-thinned gesso straight from the bottle.
February 25, 2007 — Added 100 sequential photos of gesso drying. Yep, watching paint dry!

For more information:

• Gesso product page on Liquitex website
• Gesso MSDS in PDF format on Liquitex website

Hi Everyone,

Saturdays are great for plenty of craftiness!

Share what crafty ideas you’ve been working on this week and link to this post. You can use the button.

******

This is a lovely activity to do with children or friends. Make little sets of magnets as gifts. You can make magnets to be coordinated with your room. Use magnets when learning foreign languages and make words into magnets or make message magnets. They are a lot of fun.

To make magnets you will need:

• pens, paint or paper to decorate the magnets
• A brush for your paint and glue
• Scissors
• chipboard pieces. You can buy them pre-cut into various shapers or cut out your own from a sheet
• Magnetic self-adhesive Sheet (if you can’t find self-adhesive, use glue instead)
• Gesso
• Decoupage glue (Mod Podge is ideal)

Step 1

Cut out shapes for your magnets out of chipboard.

Place  your chipboard cut-out magnet shapes onto the back of the magnetic sheet and draw around the shape. Cut the magnetic sheet slightly smaller than your outline.

Step 2

Draw around your chipboard shapes again this time on your favourite papers and cut the paper slightly bigger than the chipboard shape. This is so that you can cover the whole surface of the chipboard and curl over the edges.

Step 3

Cover one side of each chipboard shape and the sides, with gesso.

Step 4

Carefully place your paper on top and smooth over and around the edges. Bend the edges around and glue them on the back of the chipboard.

Step 5

Paint on top with decoupage glue to protect the surface and smooth out the bubbles.

Step 6

Stick on the magnet to the back of the chipboard. Trim with scissors if any of the magnet is visible from the front side.

Step 7

Admire your finished magnets

In my creative space today are all my favourite art materials that I like to use.

Here are my top recommendations for building up your artist toolbox. Go for quality over quantity and build up your toolbox over time. I have found there is a big difference in the quality of art materials and how long they last, for example, I bought these berol felt tip pens in my first year of university and they are still as bright and vivid as ever over ten years later! Cheaper paints and gesso need more coats and therefore, run out sooner and take longer in painting and the colours are not as vivid. Where to save money is on scrap ephemera in your art journalling and collage, use found objects in your art and scrap paper and cardstock.

A range of sketchbooks in various sizes. I love spiral bound sketch books, but the choice is yours.

A large easel if you have the space and also one for when you’re on the move. I like my tabletop easel that comes with me on holiday. It even came with its own little travel bag and I really like the design of it because it holds my paints, brushes and pallet inside and then opens up as an easel:

A selection of paints. I like acrylics for layering and they dry quickly and also painting a background colour in my journals. I also use acrylics to mix with clear gesso to make different  coloured gesso.

Matte Medium is great for thinning acrylics, as well as, a varnish.

My favourite kind of painting is in gouache. Again, I use Winsor and Newton.

I really like Caran d’Ache Neocolour II Artist Crayons. They provide lovely, vivid colour and are a mix between pastels and crayons. Use with water to create a watercolour effect.

A selection of paintbrushes and spatualas

 Derwent Fine Art Pencils are my favourite

A great selection of pens is a must for pen lovers! Plenty of bright and pastel colours for doodling, edging, outlining, lettering and labelling.

Micron05 pens; Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens; Sharpie Pens; Triplus fineliner assorted colour pens by Staedtler and Sakura Gelly roll pens

Gesso - read about Gesso here

Plaid Modge Podge seals and glues in one application – great for a finish on decoupage. Available in matt and gloss; and dries clear. Sparkle finish modge plodge adds a glistening effect to projects and outdoor mod podges is great for plant pots, sealing and protecting wood, slate , tin etc.

An xacto pen knife is a must for cutting out rubber stamps and making stencils and cutting out shapes

A good pen knife and scissors are essential kit items for cutting card and paper. I use Fiskars softtouch multipurpose scissors for fabric and have a pair in my knitting bag too. I think they are the best on the market.

Don’t forget an eraser and sharpener too.

Ric Stultz website

Oh, My. The Horror!

All the images are made with gouache, gesso and ink on paper. All measure 12.5 x 9.5 inches

Gouache is not the easiest medium. Like other water-based pigments, you can’t tinker with it too much. On the other hand, it can be kind because it is opaque. The ability to cover your mistakes…well, you get the drift.

And having worked small for a number of years, I can tell you it is back breaking hard. Not a lot of room for error. Literally.

It would be nice to see if he could pull off some true miniatures.

Enjoy.

Gesso is essential for any artist’s toolbox. My favourite brands are Daler and Rowney and Winsor and Newton.

When it comes to art materials I always believe in quality over quantity.

Stick to good quality brands and they will last far longer and you’ll use less.

These brands of gesso need only one coat.

Gesso is a great primer for your canvas, sketch book or ATC etc.

Gesso strengthens paper

Gesso can be used like glue.

Gesso provides a smooth surface.

Use gesso to paint blocks as a background to art journal pages or ATCs.

Gesso prevents wrinkling.

Gesso absorbs paint and glue.

Gesso is great to add texture

Use gesso to white colour or black colour a page.

A dark priming brings the elements of your painting together and also saves time when painting.

Mix acrylic with clear gesso base to make your own coloured gesso.