How to Gesso Paper

[@森下典樹]

The video got some detailing information that others lacks. Thank you a lot.

[@KathyBrooksArt]

Great tutorial, simple and straightforward. Thank you!

[@MitchAlbala]

You are welcome!

[@julius4054]

When the paper is dry and it’s not flat I put a stack of books on it and let it rest for a while, works pretty good for me:)

[@MitchAlbala]

That's a good idea, too. Books, an essential part of every artist's studio!

[@DG-mv6zw]

Great clear and practical tutorial. Thanks so much 👍

[@marinaspasova5597]

Thanks so much, it is very generous of you to share this technique!

[@lisengel2498]

Thank you its the absolutely most sensitive demonstrTion of how to gesso - and I learned many small details that I have not heard of before but that looks pretty attractive = and by the way thank you for your sublime notan video too

[@lifeismusicparnadonkers]

Wow thank you for showing how to gesso watercolour paper. I use 300 gsm watercolour paper i buy from my local budget craft store action in the netherlands 😊👋🏾👍🏾 i make my own canvas boards were i glue my 300 gsm watercolour paper on. I paint whit gouache. 👍🏾👋🏾😁 thank you again and have a njce evening or day

[@MitchAlbala]

Great! Netherlands likes working on paper!

[@stevenwmclean]

Great video Mitchell. I've been using 110lb cardstock with Liquitex super heavy gesso and it seems to work well. At least for practice. I always add a coat on the reverse side to help reduce buckling.

[@arttutorials2415]

A coat of gesso on the reverse side also? Thanks. When I tried gessoing heavy drawing paper it buckled severely. The techniques above sound great to try. I'm looking for a cheap way to paint ideas, colors and compositions before I start the actual painting on canvas. And I'd like to make a reference book for myself showing the colors I mix together to get certain flesh, sky, sea, etc. colors.

[@stevenwmclean]

@@arttutorials2415 I've never tried with drawing paper but 110lb cardstock works great. There's none to a slight amount of buckling. I've done many paintings this way including painting color wheels and swatches.

[@arttutorials2415]

@@stevenwmclean - Thank you. Thank you! This answers my question and solves my problem! ... joyce

[@katpaints]

Yes! Sealing the reverse side of any flat surface saves a lot of problems with warping. I used to do a lot of tole/decorative painting and first painting or sealing the reverse meant that the board would stay flat. And it won't change in the future when it is moved to a place that has more or less humidity.

[@greekveteran2715]

Do you use gesso on paper,for drawing with pencils or other medium please?

[@fothismatrixrespect9805]

Thank you veey usefull.. i am starting oil colour so i will try it .

[@slaznum1]

Really nice job Mitchell

[@MitchAlbala]

Glad it was helpful! Paint on.

[@SehrishAziz]

Very easy and informative tahnk you ✨👏👏

[@DarkFire1536]

Nice tutorial. Easy to follow and to the point.

[@barbarageis1728]

Thank you, very good idea!

[@yukihana4216]

Thank you!

[@marycunningham5050]

Thanks for the demo. Do you know if tape will lift up gesso if you tape down gessoed paper?

[@MitchAlbala]

I think that’s safe to do. I don’t recall tape yanking off already gessoes paper. Of course, there are variables. Don’t pull the tape too hard and, of course, don’t use tape that’s overly sticky.

[@BakerImageGroup]

Thank you. May I ask why use such expensive paper just to cover it in gesso?

[@MitchAlbala]

It's not necessary. I like Arches because of it's texture, but any brand of archival paper would work, as long as it was heavy enough.

[@MitchAlbala]

I doesn’t have to be. I use Arches because I like the texture, but if there's another paper that you like, that should be alright (though I do think it should still be archival).

[@bukopaudan]

Hello! I'm just starting out and have some sort of off-brand gesso, I think :/ But I wanted to ask would masking tape work? Is that what you're using in the video? And I have a cutting board I was thinking of using to tape them down on. I don't have a brush that big, but I will definitely start to look. Thank you for this!!

[@MitchAlbala]

Yes, I am just using generic masking tape. Some painters prefer artist's tape, which is low tack and less likely to tear the paper. But they all work. As for the gesso, use a quality brand like Liquitex, Golden, or Daniel Smith. Cheap, off-brand gesso is often too absorbent (the paint sticks so well you can't remove any of it if you want), or is too slick (the paint slips and slides around the surface and doesn’t stick very well).

[@bukopaudan]

@@MitchAlbala Thank you so much for the response! I'm running out of my off-brand gesso, so I'm going to try one of the quality brands that are available near me! Thank you!

[@MitchAlbala]

Yes, in the video I was using regular hardware-store grade masking tape. Nothing fancy. With any masking tape, do be sure to peel it off carefully, as you can tear the paper. I usually tape paper down to a fairly firm board, nothing too flexible. An old canvas panel is perfect.

[@didierleprince6106]

Merci 😊

[@DAVIDDAMIENR]

Thank You

[@sukumac9013]

Hello. Can you tell me what brand of gesso you are using. Thank you!

[@sukumac9013]

Mitchell Albala . Thanks, so much!

[@MitchAlbala]

Golden ... although any quality brand (like Liquitex) should work well. Avoid off-brand bargain basement brands.

[@renatobfa]

Hi Mitchell, first of all, thanks a lot, very useful info. One question regarding the blocks of watercolor paper. After gessoing the top paper, can i paint it with acrylics without worrying with paint going through and staining the 2nd paper? I have a 140lb (300gr) paper block here that i used for colored pencil art and i intend to use for acrylics now. Ty again

[@MitchAlbala]

Yes, you can paint on the top gessoed sheet, and it absolutely won't beed through to the underlying sheet.

[@MABO07]

what if you want to gesso a large piece of paper that's 50x50" ? Can you use this method without the paper warping?

[@MitchAlbala]

I haven't done it with such a large sheet, but very likely the warping would be difficult to manage at that size. At large sizes, definitely use 300 lb paper.

[@DahHar117]

I'm assuming that the reason for gesso-ing watercolor paper is to make it suitable for acrylics, right?

[@MitchAlbala]

Yes, suitable for acrylics ... or oil.

[@MitchAlbala]

Actually, you have to gesso the paper to make it suitable for oils. Oils on raw paper would not be archival, so a layer of gesso creates an archival barrier between the paper and the oil. Also, oil on raw unprimed paper would not respond well at. The paint would just get totally absorbed and you would have no ability to manipulate the paint.

[@brendaprescott2043]

What about yupo paper do I need to prime it too? Thanks

[@MitchAlbala]

No, I wouldn't gesso yupo.

[@katpaints]

Very interesting! Have you ever tried Arches made for oil paints? I was wondering if it still would need gessoing.

[@MitchAlbala]

I have tried it, and it definitely works. That's what it's designed to do. So if you want to avoid this whole gessoing route, Arches oil paper might be a good route. Though the paint goes down on it very differently than it does on gessoed paper. Try both and see what you prefer.

[@katpaints]

@@MitchAlbala back a couple of years later... I've been gluing the edges of paper pads with padding compound for paper pads, making inexpensive watercolor paper blocks. I think other glues work, but you use what you have. Michaels has a series 2 140 pound paper pad that even works fairly well for watercolor!

[@Magnificent1393]

Can you draw with graphite pencils on a gessoed paper?

[@MitchAlbala]

Yes, you certainly can. However, graphite does smear. So when you start applying paint and color, the graphite might smear and mix with that color. But yes, the graphite is perfectly archival and can be applied to gessoed paper.

[@danlightened]

I'm not much into painting but I'm looking to print my photography work on fine art prints. I didn't know paper had to be primed too! Only knew that about canvases.

[@MitchAlbala]

Printing fine art prints is a completely different thing from putting paint on a surface. With oil painting especially, the gesso acts as a protective layer. If you just put the oil straight onto the paper, it would not be archival, and could deteriorate. Printing photographs, on the other hand, on paper designed to be receptive to those inkjet inks, is perfectly safe. So, gessoing the paper is a painting thing.

[@danlightened]

@@MitchAlbala Ok thanks a lot!

[@tjloveprincess235]

How to do I wait to paint with acrylic ? Should it be completely dry ? ...

[@MitchAlbala]

Gesso is acrylic based, but even if you are painting with acrylics, you should let the gesso dry completely before starting your painting.

[@AliBaba-ke5jn]

Hi. My canvas paper 300gsm buckled with gesso.

[@MitchAlbala]

300 gsm is NOT the same thing as 300 lbs. They are two different measures. So your 300 gsm paper is really equivalent to about 140 lbs. Which is what was used in the video demo. Try 300 lb watercolor paper and you’ll see that it’s much heavier weight the 300 gsm. 140 lb aper will buckle, but if you tape it down, and use the stretching shown in the video, it should dry flat or nearly flat.

[@AliBaba-ke5jn]

@@MitchAlbala Thank you Mitchell.

[@bddybdz]

Do you need to do this for watercolours as well?

[@MitchAlbala]

Absolutely not! Watercolor paper is intended for watercolors to be used directly on it. No preparation necessary. Because I am using the gessoed paper for oil, I must prime it (cover it with gesso) first. So if you're painting watercolor, there nothing extra or special you need to so to the paper. :)

[@bddybdz]

@@MitchAlbala thank you! Makes sense :) 👩🏻‍🎨

[@MitchAlbala]

Absolutely not! For watercolors, you work directly on the paper, no gesso necessary. Gesso is only a necessary step if you are working in oils, because the oils need an impermeable layer between the paper and the gesso, otherwise it’s not archival.

[@oksusha2000]

I am confused. Why to gesso Arches?

[@Cube198]

in preparation for application of acrylic or oils. One can gesso any brand of watercolor paper, or any kind of cardstock or paper of other types/weights. Watercolor paper has the advantage of being 140 or 300# weight, and is generally acid-free.

[@Cube198]

The gesso stops the acrylic or oil mediums from "soaking in" to the paper causing all kinds of weirdness, underbinding among the problems.

[@oksusha2000]

A Desert Gardener I did not realize you were using it for oil. I use paper like this one only for watercolor. I did used arches oil paper, but it didn’t need to be gesso. Thank you for the reply. Your channel is great.

[@MitchAlbala]

It's archival. It has a nice texture that I like. It's a nice heavy weight (too thin and the paper buckles more than I'd like. You could just as easily gesso another type of paper/brand, as long as it was heavy enough and it was a quality archival paper. Would it work if it wasn't archival paper. Probably, but I wouldn't take changes. :)

[@paultaylor6167]

Acrylics are water based. They are touted as the new watercolor. You dont need to gesso watercolor paper. With paper, one can use all the water you want.

[@treatthetrich3129]

What do I do if the gesso is Sandy once it drys?

[@katpaints]

Do you mean if it has a rough texture? The sanding should push that back.

[@MitchAlbala]

Yes, sometimes a freshly gessoed surface will feel a little gritty or “sandy.” If that’s the case, simply sand the surface very lightly with a very fine piece of sandpaper.

[@lindalopez5951]

Why would I need to gesso water color paper?

[@bortsynapse3503]

For acrylic paints

[@MitchAlbala]

It doesn’t have to be watercolor paper. It can be any paper that is heavy enough and archival. I just demonstrated with Arches because I like that paper.

[@4um360]

Nice!

[@stephengreico2810]

Mine belts and warps

[@MitchAlbala]

1. You may be applying too much gesso. 2. The paper may not be thick enough. 3. You are using a very large sheets. This technique is much harder to get flat with very large sheets. 4. And of course, you have to tape it down.

[@quratulainabidi4230]

Why gesso a paper?

[@MitchAlbala]

1. You can’t paint with oils on raw paper; it’s not archival. So you need the gesso to act as a protective layer. 2. Paper is very lightweight and portable, good when painting outdoors or traveling. 3. Paper offers a variety of different textures, from very smooth to coarse, as opposed to always having the same texture of canvas.