Traditional Gesso panels

I'm in the middle of an experiment with various grounds.  The area of watercolor painting that I am most interested in is dry brush painting.  Contemporary examples are Andrew Wyeth's painting, many of the floral painters and the egg tempera painters especially Koo Schadler.  When you apply the pigment dryly the ground needs to absorb the moisture evenly and timely.  I've found that with 140# watercolor paper repeated applications of pigment do not dry leaving the layers of pigment giggly, like layers of uncured jello, causing all types of difficulty.

I've moved up the weight of paper to 300# Fabriano Hot Press and this works fine, but I want to explore my options.  I had the opportunity to listen to Victoria Wyeth describe her grandfather's technique, his ground was 400# cold press paper.  If you're willing to part with a body part, you can purchase this paper.

The next area of inquiry would be pre-made panels by Ampersand.  The watercolor panel, Aquaboard, works well.  It has a texture that took some getting used to and seemed to require more pigment application.  I must point out that I'm a novice with this technique and the critical questions are how dense and how dry the paint should be on the brush.  Here's an example

The application of egg tempera pigment and dry brush watercolor is the same.  In the past I explored egg tempera with Koo Schadler's excellent book, Egg tempera painting, a comprehensive guide to painting in egg tempera.  Her book has a comprehensive section on preparing traditional gesso ground.  This is my starting point for this post.

I began by purchasing the materials

Fredrix powdered marble which is Calcium Carbonate, CaCO3

Gamblin Zinc Oxide, ZnO

Gamblin Rabbit Skin Glue

I used 3/8 inch thick MDK, Masonite, cut to fit the back of a cabinet by Home Depot approximately $3/panel.  There's considerable chatter about treated versus untreated MDK, I purchased untreated.

I purchase a sanding block and sand paper medium grit and fine grit.  The sanding block is essential because it prevents the sander from creating waves in the surface.

I cut my MDK down into 5 by 7 inch panels and 2 by 3 inch panels.

My sanding block and 2 by 3 inch panels on a drop cloth.

I do all of this work by hand in my condominium.  It is messy and will create dust everywhere, a drop cloth is essential.

Day One.

Mix the Rabbit Skin Glue, RSG, and water and let it sit overnight.  I put it into a steel bowl, used for kitchen prep work, and covered it with plastic wrap.

Day Two

Cook the RSG.  You'll need a thermometer.  The target temperature is 135 degrees Fahrenheit.  A note about double boilers, you really don't need one, you can do the same thing with a steel prep bowl over a pot of water, I've done it and it works, but it is so much easier with the correct pot.  I purchased this one for $6 from a resale shop.  A double boiler hold heat.  RSG rises in temperature in steps, I've found that it's best to stop heating at 130 degrees and let the temperature rise to 135 by itself.  Over heating makes a weaker glue.

Apply the glue to the sanded panels.  Apply to both sides.  I think that this is essential for larger panels because the gesso (glue) is so strong it will warp a larger panel.

Cover and refrigerate.

Day Three

A picture of the Gesso cooking on the stove.  For my mixture, I made a quart of Gesso using 1.5 times the Marble Dust to the water or 43 Tablespoons of Marble dust and the entire 4 ounce container of Zinc Oxide cooked into the RSG.  Stir a lot.

The panels awaiting Gesso.  The white panels are old ones I did and I'm re-gessoing them.

 After the first coat of Gesso.

An individual panel after the first coat.  

Refrigerate and cover the gesso overnight.

This is the gesso the next day, it comes out in a plop.  Once it is heated to 135 degrees it is a thick liquid.

Day Four

Apply gesso to the panels in even thin strokes.  I used a foam brush.  Use care to cover evenly and prevent pin hole bubbles.  Allow to dry between coats, this is my biggest problem, if it's wet and you sand it you'll screw it up.

I covered the panels with 6 coats of gesso, sanding between coats.  I finish sanded with fine sandpaper, beveled the edges and eliminated all of the imperfections including pin holes.  Five panels did not pass inspection due to my carelessness.  

Before using the panel, polish it with a soft cloth.  It will have a translucent shine.

Here's the beginning of test picture, a portrait of my wife, on a new panel.  The gray fixture I use to hold my art.  BTW the finished portrait should take another 6-10 hours.

I had a lot of gesso left over.  I froze it.  It's my plan to experiment wit adding silica, chalk and bone ash to create panels that are responsive to metal point drawing.

Here's the finished piece.