Gesso is used as a primer for painting and mixed-media projects.
Gesso is a paint-like substance that artists apply to canvas, wood and other surfaces before painting or creating mixed-media pieces. Gesso creates a stiff, textured surface that allows oil and acrylic paints to adhere better without sinking too much into the surface. Gesso comes in many colors and is usually water-based.
Paintings
Gesso typically spreads out easily and smoothly when applied to canvas as a primer. It can be worked over with a knife or brush to create a texture. Gesso is a receptive substance and several types of paint and other media may be applied to it, including watercolors, oils, acrylics, pastels, gouache, charcoal and egg tempera. Artists incorporate gesso into their paintings to obtain textures that regular paints and other media cannot provide on their own.
Collages
Paper or canvas surfaces treated with gesso are optimal for creating collages. The added sturdiness allows the surface to better hold pictures, paint, glue and other elements of a collage, which could include glitter, small 3-D objects, cut-outs from magazines and pieces of fabric. Gesso comes in various colors that coordinate with a collage's color scheme. You can also write on gesso.
Art Journals
An art journal is a book whose purpose is to contain multiple pages of an artist's creativity. It is often highly personalized, but may also follow a particular theme chosen by the artist. To make an art journal, apply gesso to one side of an open page in your book. If your journal page is going to become the site of a heavy collage, apply a second layer or coat the backside of the page after the first layer has thoroughly dried. Once the gesso is dry, you can express yourself in your journal using oils, acrylics, collage materials, crayons, pastels, stamps or gel pens.
Mixed Media Decorative Pieces
Apply gesso to various surfaces such as wood and cardboard. Any object can be made into an artistic piece with a gesso base. Any paint, glue, findings and other media applied to the base will adhere better to the gesso-primed surface. Common objects such as boxes, books, stools and bowls can be used as the foundations of mixed-media pieces. One example is a cigar box decorated with paint and collage materials to create an artistic shrine or books that have been cut, pasted and decorated to create whimsical displays reminiscent of sacred reliquaries.
