Tonight was a small painting and it was mainly a test of Gesso.
I have been having trouble with the Gamblin oil ground that I have been using for the past months. It just takes too long to dry and the surface isn’t consistent at all. Some panels will have more texture than others, some will have more absorbency than others. This sucks, but its mainly the drying time that I have an issue with. Since I paint every night I have to have a large selection of panels ready to go all the time. This doesn’t work to well when you have 30 panels drying for a month while waiting for a second coat.
So tonight I’m using acrylic Gesso by Golden. I picked this because of all the quality reviews about the product and the fact that Golden has a ton of additives that I can use to adjust the texture and absorbency of the Gesso to minute details. Also because Aaron at Artist and Craftsman Supply said it was great, I love that store and the people there are super knowledgeable.
This painting went well, and the Gesso was nice. I would have wished for a little less absorbency though, so I may run by the store again and pick up a medium to adjust that.
