"What's so great about Gesso?" Topic

I generally paint soft and hard plastic figures but do have some metals using acrylic paint. I see numerous posts about priming with Gesso. Hell, even Bob Ross (think happy trees) primes his canvases with the stuff. I have been using Rustoleum prime+paint for my plastics and it works OK. I have to be careful not to spray too heavily or it covers the detail on the figures and will flake off. I've seen it at the local craft store and wondered if it was worth a try except it seems a pain to have to paint with primers since it is so easy to spray from the can. So, what's good about it and what are the best uses?

I would like to know as well. My concern is that it will be too thick and cover small details. It has been a really humid summer so far in northern Virginia this year and spray priming has been placed on hold for better weather, but there are several figures I would like to paint that need to be primed first.

Thanks,

Matthew

I live in a condo so spraying opportunities are few and far between. If my game table is vacant I can spray there, otherwise I do brush-on priming. I like Gesso a lot.

First, it shrinks as it dries so does not obscure detail even with a thick coat. Notice how thick it is at the start:

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Comes in white, gray and black. You can add color to the white and make custom primers.

It's cheap.

But if your primer works for you, why change?

I primed with gesso also. My one recommendation would be to wait at least 24 hours before trying to paint over the top of the primer.

Gesso is an artist primer. It can be had from art supply stores in a wide array of colours if you look hard enough, but white, grey and black are most common.

It thins and cleans with water. 24 hour drying and curing is best.

I stopped enjoying spray primer. Gesso sticks to everything. Here in Sin City, with our 5% humidity, it dries in under an hour. And I can use it indoors while spending time with la familia.

I even use it with 15mm figures. The shrinking of the Gesso seems to make it adhere better, but like others I always give it at least a day to cure before I start painting.

Personally I find that the gray works best for me, but ymmv.

Jim

I've not tried it so I can't speak from experience but my concern would be that it wouldn't pass the finger nail test and it wouldn't bond at all well to metal.

Gesso will rub off, so sealing the finished painting is a very good idea. I am a huge user of The Dip, and Magic Wash, both of which will do a fine job of sealing the paint, and the Gesso, in place. I've had plastic mini's sealed, without any primer (plastic Army Men figures, acrylic paint applied directly to the soft plastic), which have undergone quite a lot of handling, without issues -- The Dip works to protect your paint, like little else will. Cheers!

Well, I've not scraped any of my finished figures with finger nail or file. But paint has not chipped or rubbed off through handling by players at conventions. I've used gesso for several years and I also seal my figures with a matte varnish.

I don't think I will ever go back to spray paint, but understand that primer like brands of paint is often a personal choice as to what works well for each person.

Thanks for all the information. My spray priming is good when the weather is right. But it has been horible for months now and I have buildings to paint.

once dry, the gesso can be stained with thin acrylic paints.
this provides some vert unique shading opportunities that other primers wont allow without a lot of effort.

I was surprised when everyone raved on it, it has not performed so well for me …… But then again, it shouldn't!

it is an acrylic primer that is designed to enter the fibre of the subject and form a tooth – it specifically works well with canvases and good quality canvases with have three coats of Gesso. But it will do other typical art materials such as fibre board, MDF, stone and cardboard etc. I'm pretty sure it is not intended for use on materials like metals and glass. I wouldn't use it, but plenty of others swear by it with real life experience of using it on metals – so that's hard to argue against.

For a hand brush primer, I can highly recommend the Vallejo air brush able poly primer – it works fine with a brush and is excellent. Sometimes you have to go in a second time because you will see metal still exposed. You can get white, grey or black.

All of the above seems to jibe with my experience, except the "will rub off." Overall, a very good, multi-surface primer.

I used gesso for years, until I started painting Perry plastic Nappys, which have very small faces, and lots of detail. For grins, I tried Vallejo's Surface Primer, and found quite a difference in thickness and roughness of the surface between the two. I haven't gone back.

What timing! Last night I started one some plastic figs, after a long hiatus, and found that the black Liquitex I usually use for priming had dried up. Luckily I had a bottle of Bob Ross Black Gesso that I had inherited, so I gave it a try and it worked beautifully.

If you are using acrylics, gesso will stick better than anything else, that's it's job.
If you like nice clean plastic paint palettes, coat it with pva/white glue. Dried paint will peel off. If you want messy paint palettes, that you can't clean with a week of soaking and a sharp chisel, let the gesso dry in the tray.
There is no science in this opinion, only experience.
Professional artists who pride themselves on the quality and longevity of their paintings use gesso- they don't use spray on enamel primers.
I don't use gesso. I intend on having my whole collection buried with me…..that's another story/thread.

Acrylic "gesso" – Modern "acrylic gesso" is a widely used ground[5] that is a combination of calcium carbonate with an acrylic polymer medium latex, a pigment and other chemicals that ensure flexibility, and increase archival life. It is technically not gesso at all[6][7] and its non-absorbent acrylic polymer base makes it incompatible with media that require traditional gesso such as egg tempera.[8] It is sold premixed for both sizing and priming panels and flexible canvas for painting. While it does contain calcium carbonate (CaCO3) to increase the absorbency of the primer coat, titanium dioxide or "titanium white" is often added as the whitening agent. This allows gesso to remain flexible enough to use on canvas.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gesso

There are two different grades of gesso: Artist grade and Student grade. The difference between the two amounts to the different ratios of pigment vs. filler. The Student grade is cheaper because it contains more filler than the Artist grade. Artist grade has more pigment than Student grade, making it thicker and more opaque. These differences are reflected in the price, and also in the quality. Student grade is usually available only in white, but as mentioned earlier, you can add acrylic paint to the gesso to make it more pigmented.

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Hope these help.

--
Martin Stephenson
The Waving Flag | Twitter | eBay

For anyone that engages in plaster casting gesso is by far the best possible priming media….no big surprise there for the art history majors!

Overlooked here (unless I'm missing something) is gesso in a spray can offered by Krylon. It's the best parts of using a spray and traditional brush-on gesso. The final result is resilient, works on plastic and metal, and has teeth for good paint adhesion. I get mine at Hobby Lobby in the canvas prep area. It's about $9 USD, but bring up the 40% coupon on your phone and you're golden.

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Spray on gesso sounds great. I'll give it a try.

You can also airbrush gesso.

I haven't found any great reason to use gesso over brush-on primer. However, I've used it as something of a texture paint, for post-apocalyptic sidewalks with Secret Weapon Miniatures Concrete and Sewer Water washes. I used too much Sewer Water on these bases, but you get the picture: