Issues with white gesso

[count zero99uk]

Right, ive had very good results in undercoating with black gesso but I am wanting to start painting some more vibrant figures so i thought that white would be a better starting point. Ive tried white gesso before but it hasnt been as opaque as the black and has shown the brush strokes quite badly.

I put this down to the fact that id picked up a different brand of gesso. So i decided to buy some white in the same brand, that is Windsor and Newton Galeria White Gesso Primer.

Ive put one coat on a tester model and the plastic colour is showing through the gesso at the moment, im going to wait for it all to dry before getting more annoyed.

Has anyone had good results with White gesso? And if so what brand and what did you do other than paint it on.

Thanks

 

[freakinacage]

Try mixing the two, the grey will allow dark colours to still be dark while allowing oyu to have a vibrant end of brights. It should also cover better

 

[count zero99uk]

Ive updated my blog (finaly) with a pic of the testor.

I think its a matter of i just wasnt brave enough with the amount i slopped on.

 

[Jbickley00]

I use golden gesso, and the key is to get a good coverage and let the gesso do its stuff. It shrinks quite a bit. Now I airbrush it on in two coats, but when I brushed it on I used one thick coat..more substantial that a paint layer, but not glommed on...there is a point where it will obscure detail. So go thick, within reason.

 

[Einion]

Ive tried white gesso before but it hasnt been as opaque as the black and has shown the brush strokes quite badly.

More thin coats. No reason not to with 'gesso' any more than with paint.

Just an FYI, Galeria is far from the best 'gesso' you can find as Galeria are student- or studio-level products, not artist-quality. There can be a stunning difference in quality in artists' materials at different price points.

Einion

 

[count zero99uk]

Thanks for the pointers, ive just put a second coat on now, when its dry ill upload, but i think it will be fine now.

As with everything Einion the more you pay typicaly the better it is. If this covers ill be happy.

PS Its just nice to be painting something again

 

[Einion]

BTW in case you don't know, it's okay to speed-dry 'gesso' with a hairdryer. With thin coats it works just as well as it does with paint.

Einion

 

[ced1106]

Does clear gesso work for you?

If I'm using gesso as primer, it's clear gesso. I'll then undercoat the figure appropriately (eg. brown on shaded areas, white or whatever on raised areas).

If you're going to use a brush, might as well take advantage of it!

EDIT: Sometimes, the gesso leaves a pitted surface on flat areas of a miniature (eg. axe blades). Fine for the bad guys, not good for the good guys. Ahmanagonna have to try some gesso straight out of the bottle to get an idea why this is happening. Could be anything from the paint I'm mixing with (eg. metallic craft paint) to the condition of the gesso on the wet palette (eg. using gesso left on the palette overnight, hehe).

 

[Zab]

Why gesso? Just curious, but is there an advantage over the vallejo surface primer I use? This is the first I've heard of gesso being used on minis and I like to expose myself to new mediums and techniques. Is this common, what is the general theory behind it?

 

[count zero99uk]

For me its what i found to be cheap and worked. The litre of gesso i got will last forever . But as for more specialised undercoats they cost more.

I do have some white and black vallejo primer that i need to test at some point, but as i said the black has been great, for me.

I think what i will need to do is just experiment and get back into painting.

 

[Einion]

Why gesso? Just curious, but is there an advantage over the vallejo surface primer I use? This is the first I've heard of gesso being used on minis and I like to expose myself to new mediums and techniques. Is this common, what is the general theory behind it?

There are some past threads where its use is discussed, worth hunting down for the range of opinions.

Einion

 

[Zab]

After reviewing the threads I may try it out just to say I did, but I'm still going to use Vallejo for my cabinet pieces and Krylon for my gaming pieces due to its endurance.

 

[genotype]

I've had mixed results. I've had more luck with black than white (Liquitex). White seems to fill in details more so than black for some reason; may very well be coincidence/operator error. I find the sweet spot between too thick (filling in details) and too thin (coverage is very spotty) is very narrow with gesso. That said, when it's too wet/dry/cold to spray prime I'll use gesso in a heartbeat. I've tried gesso in the airbrush ONCE. It clogged solid as a brick. Again, probably something I did wrong but I've been very shy about trying it again. Does anyone thin gesso with anything other than water? Flow aid? Matte-medium?

 

[Einion]

I've had mixed results. I've had more luck with black than white (Liquitex). White seems to fill in details more so than black for some reason; may very well be coincidence/operator error.

Don't be so quick to blame yourself, there's a good chance that there's more 'bulk' to the white type based purely on its colour - easier for them to have a higher proportion of filler in the mix, which is cheaper than the white pigment.

Einion

 

[Jbickley00]

Enion is right about different qualities of gesso. The three I have used are liquitex, golden, and tri-art sludge gesso. I have had good result ith all three. I use golden mostly because their technical documentation discussed how to thin the gesso for airbrushing (btw if I see, a golden fanboy, Its because golden's technical support is top notch. They have a lot of good online documentation, and you can call them. What we do with our models are a little outside their expectations, but they wll work he problem, so to speak).
I have use th tri-art for brushing, an it works great, I have not airbrushed it yet.