Gesso

A ground made of gypsum (gesso in Italian) or chalk mixed with water or glue to provide a dense, brilliantly white absorbent surface for tempera and some types of oil painting, it is usually applied to a panel in several coats before painting begins. The first application, a coarse undercoat, is called "gesso grosso"; the final application is a fine surface coat known as "gesso sottile". However, modern painters usually do only one coat because pre-smoothed panels can be purchased. When applied to flat panels, frames, or furniture, the gesso is usually sanded until very smooth and ivory-like. It is never used with canvas as it would be too brittle. Sources: Source: Ralph Mayer, "A Dictionary of Art Terms and Techniques"; Kimberley Reynolds & Richard Seddon, "Illustrated Dictionary of Art Terms"<br><br>A white ground material for preparing rigid supports for painting. made of a mixture of chalk, white pigment, and glue. Same name applied to acrylic bound chalk and pigment used on flexible supports as well as rigid.<br><br>Ground plaster, chalk or marble mixed with glue or acrylic medium, generally white. It provides an absorbent ground for oil, acrylic, and tempera painting.<br><br> An undercoating medium used on the canvas or other painting surface before painting, to prime the canvas; usually a white, chalky, thick liquid. In the mid-20th century, gesso became available already commercially prepared; before this time, artists often mixed their own gesso mixture.<br><br>Plaster or a fine plaster-like material made of gypsum, which is also called whiting, used for sculptures. An especially versatile medium in reliefs, gesso can be either a material cast in a mold or a material of a mold, a material to be modeled, or carved, or attached to something else. When used for molds into which molten metal is poured, it must be hardened with sand as a grog. Gesso may also refer to such a gypsum material mixed with an animal-hide glue and used as a ground for painting. For this latter use, it isWEAR A DUST MASK! usually applied to the surface of a wood panel or sculpture to become the surface on which an artist paints. It was used by Gothic and Renaissance panel painters, and is still used today. Oxgall (or another wetting agent) can be employed MEDICAL ALERT!to eliminate pin-holes in gesso surfaces by mixing it into the gesso before the gesso is applied. Like all other dusts, airborne gesso is hazardous to breathe ? every user should wear an appropriate dust mask. Also see slip and stucco.(pr. JES-soh)