by Nancy Pingree Hoover

Created on: November 21, 2009

Making Primer for Sanded Supports

Have you ever thought maybe you could save yourself money by making your own primer or preparing your own sanded paper rather than buying already prepared supports at the art store? Then, of course, you may wonder how do you go about doing so? Is it difficult? Does it cost a lot? Can I do it? Or perhaps you've only wondered just how the manufacturers prepare those supports? Well, you've come to the right article, because I'm going to explain how to make a primer, and how to prepare your own support. It's easy, inexpensive, not messy, and has minimal clean-up.

GESSO

The main ingredient you will be using is gesso. What is gesso? According to WiseGEEK, traditional gesso was equal volumes filler or chalk dust, white pigment either from the powdered chalk or another mineral such as zinc, and animal-skin glue, which were then heated and stirred. However, this gesso is brittle when dry and therefore susceptible to cracking. In 1955, an acrylic paint company called Liquitex developed the first water-based acrylic gesso. Modern gesso is a mixture of calcium carbonate with a pigment and an acrylic polymer medium. The pigment is usually titanium dioxide or titanium white. Gesso is used by painters to prepare their canvases or boards to take oil or acrylic paint. Even in Renaissance paintings, the panels had to be prepared properly and create a surface that would accept the paint and keep the paint from soaking into the wood panels as well as to add a bit of texture or tooth to the support. Today, gesso is used to prepare all types of supports, from wood panels to canvases, from paper to film, metals, and many other types of supports. Generally, gesso comes in white but today you can also find it in many different colors. You can purchase your gesso inexpensively at Jerry's Artarama or Dick Blick. Both stores have their own brand of gesso that is much less expensive than the other brands.

SIDE NOTE: If you are a painter and would like to prepare your next support yourself, you will need at least a 16 ounce jar of gesso. If you would like to make a colored gesso, you will need some acrylic paint in the color you wish to use. Remember, when you add the acrylic paint to the gesso, the white gesso will tone down the acrylic color quite a bit, so you will need to add some color and mix it, then repeat until you reach the color intensity you wish. If you need to tone down the intensity of color due to adding too much color, simply add more

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