Wet-sanding

[@SWNelson7]

These are the kind of videos that made youtube worth getting on in the first place. Thank you.

[@isabelarnaud5340]

Best advice EVER! Thanks so much

[@petkaanitabielert1179]

Thank you so much for this informativ video. I think of trying this tecnique. A little question occured. Is there a way to clean the sanding sponge? Maybe wash it out in water, or something.

[@paulstetsenko5721]

Easy! Since this gesso is based on rabbit skin glue, it is all dissolved and washed off with warm or hot water from the faucet. Just one suggestion: try not to squeeze the sanding sponge too agressively. If squeezed repeatedly in hot water, the sanding sponge develops grooves. The good news, it is relatively cheap ($5), but I prefer to keep them pristine and always ready to use.

[@love4art420]

Oh ok I gotcha, I literally just tried it out. I have sanding sponges already except mine is more course so I ended up getting sanding "crumbs" mixed in it lol I'll have to go get some fine sanding sponges tomorrow. Although it didn't come out so well it still did come out a lot more smooth. I noticed as I continued to sand while it started drying the gesso would ball up kind of like pencil eraser. Maybe this is due to using the course and or possibly too much water? I build my own canvas and I tried this on a scrap hard board I had already gessoed with a paint brush but I'm thinking about doing a stretched canvas along with adding hard board for support just under the canvas if you get what I'm saying? What are your thoughts on this? I love to do charcoal and dry brush oil paintings so I'm looking for the best way to create a paper like feel/texture on canvas..

[@paulstetsenko5721]

+Daniel Maestas, there was at some point a technique of gessoing canvas for something called "two-side tablets". Download this book: american-iconography.info/downloads/Mother%20Iuliania/The%20Iconographer%27s%20Labor.pdf On Page 25, there is a description of how to gesso a piece of canvass for egg tempera. This technique only works for smaller pieces only, no bigger than 28 cm by 19 cm (11 by 7.5 inches).

[@love4art420]

And the gesso I use is jerrys gesso it's a local art stores brand it's good stuff, just not sure on the ingredients

[@gideonros2705]

I'm guessing this is a traditional gesso with animal glue?

[@paulstetsenko5721]

yes, it is. Rabbit skin glue (10%), chalk (1:2+ proportion of RSG to chalk by volume). If you add more chalk (that's why I call it 2+), you get a softer gesso, which is even easier to wet-sand, and works better with water gilding.

[@love4art420]

I've been looking for a video like this. I'm looking to get my canvas as close to a paper smooth finish as I can. What grit sand paper did you use? And how smooth does it feel of you were to compare it to paper weight?

[@paulstetsenko5721]

+Daniel Maestas, This is not sandpaper. Look closely! It is a sanding sponge; you can buy it at any home improvement store such as HomeDepot or Loew's. The grade of the sanding sponge is "fine". The resulting surface is very smooth; even too smooth for my taste. Since my initial drawing before working in egg tempera is in pencil, it's too slippery to make a good drawing. Some tooth to the surface would be good to have. Lastly, what is your gesso made from? Is it rabbit skin glue and chalk, or something else? This technique might not work on canvas as it is not a hard support. This is, after all a hard panel for egg tempera.