How to Mix Gesso for a Canvas
- 1). Take roughly two dollops of gesso and add half a cup of water, suggests The Empty Easel website. Stir until the mixture reaches a smooth consistency, which the site defines as being able to drizzle from a spoon. Apply to the canvas in even horizontal strokes; let dry. The site recommends two coats of gesso -- more if the gesso mixture was on the thin side.
- 2). Mix a half-and-half mixture of modeling paste and gesso, according The Easy Oil Painting Techniques website. This is to further smooth the surface of a primed canvas when a very fine canvas texture is desired. The site recommends applying the gesso mixture with a very blunt confectionery knife -- in fact, it recommends rounding the blade off with a grinding wheel. When the layer is dry, sand any tiny ridges down with a 120-grit sandpaper.
- 3). Tint gesso for special effects, or use colored gesso. Artist Aisling D'art states that she has tinted gesso with concentrated watercolors, watercolor paint, acrylic paint and even unsweetened Kool-Aid powder. She also mentions that gesso powders can be mixed into acrylic gessos to make them thicker or more textured.
