gessoing paper?

[Amorphis]

hi,
I've never used gesso before, and was wondering if anyone's gessoed a large paper surface, (the one I want to do is about 22" x 30")
will this work or will it just warp the paper?
Any insight? Thanks :cool:

[Harra]

This will work great, go for it! Your paper may warp a bit until it dries, but should be flat then (give it plenty of time to dry: feel the back of the paper too). I gesso 140 lb paper (full sheet) for most or all of my paintings. The resulting support feels strong and resiliant. I like my gesso highly textured, so I use a big, cheap goat hair brush, doing swoops and swirls, pretty thickly, and be sure to pick out the cheap goat hair that molts off of the cheap brush. Oh well. Some like the texture smooth and therefore sand the surface, but my highly health concious painting teacher emphasizes you should wear some kind of mask if you choose to do this.
Do you know that the w/c paint never really sinks into the surface when you gesso, except that some colors stain a bit? This means you can scrub and lift back to nearly nothing, leaving interesting textures. I like to finish mine off with a pretty healthy application of spray matte finish.

I'm attaching a recent example "Apres Soleil". (maybe? never tried) Because I wanted to emphasize the overexposure to sun, I painted the figure with cad red, then scrubbed back out the lights, leaving the edges brighter and darker.

Oh. If the finished painting curls a bit over time in humidity (usually curls forward - mine are clipped up on the wall) it can be flattened before framing by dampening the back with a light spray, then weighting it down overnight.

Good luck!

[Amorphis]

Thanks for the helpful information! Sounds good... I'll get right to work :cool:

[gargoil]

Hi Harra,

What's the thinnest paper that you've tried and what thickness do you recommend? Thanks,

Gargoil
:)

[jenrou]

Hi,
I also use quite a bit of gessoed paper. I usually am using 140#, but sometimes heavier, or sometimes the lightweight Strathmore Aquarius II.
Often I gesso over uh-ohs then reuse them. I also like to gesso, dry, then use a coat of Golden Absorbant Ground on top. It makes it feel more like watercolor paper (a little more absorbant than just gesso). You can still wipe back to white or close to it.
You should use an acrylic spray or one of Golden's acrylic finishes over it when finished.
I'm not a real accomplished watercolorist, but I know really good artists who do this and study with Don Getz.
A good video on gessoed paper is "Goat Island" by Don Getz.:cool:

[WSPCEO1]

Hi
Ive used GEsso on paper. Of course you go for the thickest you can find. What I do however is tape it down to a flat surface and then paint while it is still taped. Once it dries you can untape and then coniune to work on it without risk of warping. Store flat though. I have used pen drafting paper with success as it repels moiature well.

Bill

[blkros]

To answer Gargoil's question, I've gessoed as light as 90lb paper without killing it. Taping is advised though. :)