Liquitex Clear Gesso

I saw some Liquitex clear gesso last time I was in an art store I should have picked some up to try it. I was wondering if anyone has tried it before and how it works.

I just got some recently. I bought some stretched linen a while ago, it's the natural greyish color. The packaging says its got a clear primer suitable for acrylics, but to add more gesso for use with oils. I love the color of it so I thought I'd try the clear gesso. I've got 2 gessoed, sanded and ready to go - but haven't painted on them yet. I need to come up with a subject that will let the background show through.

Thank you Callie for the information! I was thinking that it might be good option for me to gesso paper. I could sketch on the go and then use the clear gesso over the sketch and paint over it with the WSOs. Another way I thought of using it is printing off some grayscales and using the clear gesso over it and glazing over it with different colors and combination of colors to test different glazing options. Let us know how it works out once you decide on a subject.

It didn't feel any different from the white Liquitex gesso, same consistency.
It should come in very handy for what you want to do.

Sounds like a good solution for a variety of situations. I'll have to add that to my list.
Judy

Callie, good to know that it doesn't feel any different then the white gesso. I was wondering about that. Thank you!

It's essentially acrylic primer without any pigment added to it. The recommended application of any acrylic primer for oils is 3-4 coats on unsized surfaces, or 2 coats of size and 2 coats primer. This will give the surface (canvas or paper) enough protection from the oils. It's also recommeded that you wait about 3 weeks or so for all the water to completely evaporate as well as any chemical agents that may be in the primer to rise to the surface, and then wipe it clean. Most people don't bother with all that and start painting right away, only to run into problems later on.

Good to know, David. I "gessoed" my canvasses around 2 months ago, so they should be OK by the time I get around to painting on them.

David, Thank you for the tips! I guess I could mark the date that I primed the paper on the back to I remember when I did it to make sure I give it 3 weeks before painting over it.

The 3 weeks is just a safe number, like 6 months is for varnishing. It could be as little as a few days depending on the primer or how much water was used. Paper will likely let the water evaporate sooner if the back is open and unsized.

Thank you David for the info! A few days sounds good to me I'm not really patient.

Janet: How did that priming the paper with gesso work out? I am just getting back into painting after about 6 years, and will need lots of cheap stuff to practice on. I would love to have some practice sheets of gessoed paper. What type of paper did you use?

Crystal, I haven't been able to buy the clear gesso yet but I have worked with white gesso on paper and it works great. The type of paper I used was the Robert Bateman Cover Series Artist Quality Sketchbook. The weight of the paper is 110 lb.

Thanks for the info. I imagine that the regular gesso would work fine. I'll give it try.

An artist I am taking painting classes with uses the clear gesso with various scrap pieces of colored mat board for oil painting panels. He coats both sides of the mat board with one or two coats and then lightly sands when dry. That way you have a nice, colored ground to paint on, and I can do something with all those mat board pieces that have piled up in my basement. The clear gesso is used as a ground by pastel painters, so without sanding it has quite a rough tooth to it. They work pretty well with oils, and are a nice inexpensive alternative to the Gessoboard panels at Blick.

What a great idea! Thank you for sharing Song Dog! I'll give some a try.

I did try out the clear gesso over a pencil sketch on paper. It didn't work out so great. The pencil sketch gets smudged so much that it creates more problems then what it's worth.