Hi everyone! It's Lisa Adametz (aka papergrace) here with my VERY first #TexturalTuesday post for the CLASSroom and the fabulous ladies at Ellen Hutson LLC. I'm super duper excited to be here and I hope that I'll be able to help you all on your mixed media journeys. Whatever they may be. :)
Today I thought it would be fun to show you one of the basics in the mixed media "tool chest". And that would be GESSO!
First off the let's talk about pronunciation and what it's used for. The "G" sounds like a "J" so, it's more like Jesso. Don't worry, I called it "guess-o" for a loooong time. ;)
From Wikipedia:
Gesso is: a white paint mixture consisting of a binder mixed with chalk, gypsum, pigment, or any combination of these. It is used in artwork as a preparation for any number of substrates such as wood panels, canvas and sculpture as a base for paint and other materials that are applied over it.
I'm going to be using Gesso today in a variety of ways. Just to show you how versatile one product can be. First off, here is what I created!
I used Julie's new Mondo Poinsettia Stamp set and Die Set and the Noel stamp from Mistletoe and Holly.
1. Cut a piece of Ranger Sticky Back Canvas to 4" x 5½" and coat it liberally in both directions with Gesso. (First in one direction, allow to dry-- either with heat tool or air dry. Then a second direction, and the same drying method.)
2. The canvas (when it dries) will still be pliable but ready to take paint, ink, or any other mixed media fun you wanna throw at it without sinking into the canvas and bleeding.
3. I usually stamp onto canvases of any kind using an Archival Ink, this time in Black. I know that Archival Inks work wonderfully on canvas, but if I notice that it's a bit faint for my liking, I'll use a Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen to go over the stamped image to get a darker outline as I did below. These pens use India ink, which are lightfast, waterproof and bleedproof. Perfect for these types of projects. After it's stamped, I then die-cut the image with the matching Mondo Poinsettia Die Set.
4. Using Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils (one in a lighter pink and one in a dark red) start coloring in the flower. Lightly color in with the light pink pencil and go heavy with the dark red pencil just in the center. (Ignore the very center of the flower as I changed my mind and decided to go with Liquid Pearls. They look like creepy little eyeballs!)
5. Using a small brush and a water cup blend the water from the darker areas out and shade where the two petals meet. Blend more color with the darker pencil at the base of the petals, if desired. These pencils blend so easily and so beautifully.
6. Once you have them blended as YOU like them, give 'em a quick zap with your heat tool to get the colors to set (not necessary, but *I* like doing this, personally). Add a bit of NON-TACKY liquid adhesive (something like a thin smear of Gel Medium, Glossy Accents, or something similar and sprinkle liberally with Distress Stickles Dry Glitter in Clear Rock Candy. Be sure to tap off the excess. Add Liquid Pearls in Daffodil for a pretty and dimensional center.
7. Using a second piece of canvas that was Gesso'ed (it's now a verb!) color onto the background using a few Gelatos® from the Red Set (or if you prefer, the watercolor pencils). Spritz the panel relatively heavily with water from a mini mister and allow the colors to blend and drip. (Note: having the Gesso applied allows for this to happen without bleeding through.) Heat to set or allow to dry once you are happy with your background.
(I use a paintbrush, my fingers, a rag, and sometimes a baby-wipe to assist in the blending of the colors.)
8. To get a bit of a bleached effect off of the background spritz some water, heat set it, and then lift it with a rag.
9. Dip a small paintbrush into the Gesso and use a corrector to clean up any areas of your watercolored image that aren't to your satisfaction. So easy! And Gesso can be tinted, too.
10. Dip the same paint brush back into the Gesso and hold over the background. Tap the paintbrush close to the end to allow for the Gesso to splatter over the background. Gesso creates awesome splatters!
11. Since this background IS canvas you can use a pair of scissors or a Craft Pick to pull some of the threads away to give it a more rustic/rough edge.
12. Then it's time to start (FINALLY!) finishing this card! place some 3-D Foam Squares on the back of the Mondo Poinsettia. Make a lovely loose nest from some vintage silver thread and place that under the Mondo Poinsettia and adhere to the background. Stamp the sentiment onto a scrap of some White Cardstock with Brilliance Graphite Black and then heat set with clear embossing powder. Cut sentiment strip to size and notch to create banner with scissors.
13. Attach background to card base (standard A2 card base scored and folded on the horizontal). Attach banner using Tiny Attacher. Embellish with various colors of enamel dots for added interest.
So you can see, you can use Gesso as a primer, a color corrector, as a means to tint other colors (if desired), and to create texture! It's really quite invaluable.
If you have any questions about how to use Gesso, please ask me in the comments below. I'm always willing to help!