Liquitex® | PROFESSIONAL Gessos

Liquitex® | PROFESSIONAL Gessos

With Liquitex® PROFESSIONAL Gessos on an acrylic base you apply an ageing-resistant and acid-free primer layer to your support – the ground you are working on – before you start painting. These gessos have sufficient bite & grain and the right absorbency for good adhesion of your (paint) layers.

They make a flexible support – such as canvas – stiffer and more stable. At the same time, the gesso layers themselves remain sufficiently flexible to move with your canvas. If you work on a non-flexible support – e.g. wood – we recommend priming the reverse side as well. This will prevent your backing from warping.

Tweak it – you can also adapt this gesso to your own needs!

For example, add PROFESSIONAL Matte medium to get a less absorbent, less absorbent surface.

Or mix these gessos with one of the Liquitex® textured mediums or gels to add more structure and special effects to your primer.

If you want an extra absorbent ground for (soft) pastels, charcoal, graphite or chalk, then try 3 parts gesso to 1 part PROFESSIONAL Modelling paste.

Feel free to experiment! But always test whether your primer is still suitable for oil colours. If you use a lot of mediums or gels, your primer will become less porous. Oil colours may then adhere less well. On the other hand, modelling paste can make your ground very absorbent that too much oil from your oil colour is sucked into the ground, your paint then flakes.

Liquitex® | PROFESSIONAL Gesso – white

The classic variant. Gives an opaque white result, with a matt finish.

With this transparent gesso, you leave the colour of the ground visible. For example, you can include the beautiful colour of linen or jute or the structure and grain of a wooden panel in your work.

At the same time, it protects your ground. It also prevents your paint from slipping and becoming dull. Do bear in mind that a transparent gesso does not block UV radiation from (day)light. UV radiation can discolour your substrate. But of course, you can also use that effect!

Liquitex® | PROFESSIONAL Gesso – black

The already coloured variant. Gives an opaque black result, with a matt finish.

Experiment with metallic, fluorescent, interfering or iridescent colours on a black background. The results are surprisingly different from those on a white background. This is because black absorbs more light, making your colours stand out more.

But even ordinary colours work separately and distinctively on a black background. Try it, you will be amazed!