Should I Gesso A Painting By Numbers Canvas?
Yes, you should gesso a Painting By Numbers Canvas, because applying gesso. Doing this helps smooth the canvas and reduces the absorbancy of the canvas to help your paint go further. It also improves the quality of the finished painting. Please read and enjoy. At the end of this blog you will find some information about my book on Advanced Painting By Numbers Techniques.
This article relates to natural canvases and not artifical canvases. Natural Painting By Numbers canvases are usually made from cotton sheets. The cotton sheet is primed with various coatings ranging from a glue through to a liquid called gesso. Gesso is not an acrylic paint, but a chemical compound made of binders (to mix things together), fillers (to give bulk) and pigments to give color. Leave out the pigments and you get clear gesso. Clear gesso looks white in the can when liquid, but goes very clear when dry.
You should gesso the canvas with clear gesso as this will dry clear and you will still be able to see the numbers and cells. Seeing the numbers though can be distracting as they can also show through some of the transparent paints that you have. I have this post about Painting-By-Numbers paints, including transparent paints. Using white gesso is possible, but white gesso is opaque and if spread too thickly will cover the entire canvas with an opaque coating. Shining a light through the back of a framed white gessoed canvas should allow you to clearly see the numbers though.
You could mix some clear and white gesso to dull down the numbers, but still leave them visible.
As with everything, you get what you pay for, and the more you pay for a Painting By Numbers set, the better the quality of the canvas. A Painting By Numbers canvas often has the texture of a rough cotton shirt and can be absorbent and soak up the paint. Properly applying one or two coats of clear gesso can smooth the canvas making the paint easier to spread, and also cut the absorbancy of the canvas. Having said that, the canvas does need a little bit of roughness (called tooth) that helps drag the paint off the brush. Different types of painting require different levels of tooth. Portrait painting canvases usually require a smoother canvas (less tooth) than a landscape painting.
Correct Way to Gesso A Canvas
Get some a sheet of very fine sandpaper, and cut the sheet in half. Rub the two papers together to make them smoother. Using very light pressure gently rub the fine sandpaper over the canvas, then brush any dust off.
Then apply a thin layer of clear gesso over all the canvas. Some use brushes, I prefer a foam applicator.
Get some a sheet of very fine sandpaper. Cut the sheet in half and rub the paper together to make them smoother. Using very light pressure gently rub the fine sandpaper over the canvas, then brush any dust off. Then apply a thin layer of clear gesso over all the canvas. Some use brushes, I prefer a foam applicator.
When the gesso has dried, the surface will have a rough sandpaper texture. Give the canvas another light rub with sandpaper, wipe the dust, and you will find that the surface is smoother. Now add a 2nd coat of gesso if you want. You carry on until you are satisfied. I find that the numbers on the canvas can still be seen clearly with 3 coats of gesso.
Painting By Numbers: The Basics and Beyond is my new book on advanced painting by numbers techniques. Click here to go to your local Amazon web page (link now fixed) to read a sample. You can buy a Kindle version (for a Kindle device or Kindle App) or a paperback version. If you are in Australia, New Zealand or Japan then you can buy the paperback HERE.
