Tuesday, November 25, 2008

GPP Street Team Crusade 25: Using Gesso


This is the simplest of the group and is also my favorite.
I painted gesso with thickened dyes & small stamps/ chops
Another in this tree series. Dye painted gesso, gold leaf & small stamps/chops


I always look forward to Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Crusades each month. I am have so much enjoyment & learning through her varied studies. This month Gesso way the key word. Using Gesso to achieve something other than just a prime on canvas. I had a great time making these ATC cards using Gesso as a textural element. Some of my textures looked like trees - & so this became my 'tree series'. I have some more in the works - the designs are more holiday oriented but I used the same sort of textural effects. I like the chalky whiteness of Gesso too - and this stark color can also be just as important a design element. I sure hope that Michelle keeps this up for another year - I cant imagine how lost I would feel without these fun things to learn about and try, Well, what do you think? Have you ever worked with Gesso as a fun tool? I'm rather partial to Golden brand Gesso - but that's strictly a personal preference. I also have a jar or two of Liquitex brand Gesso in my drawer full of primer goodies

Michelle is the wonderful, generous, talented woman who designed my new blog header. I would dearly love for her to do my web site someday ...I need help in that area and she is just the person to do it. I know - I need to win a lottery. Michelle is one of the most creative spirits I have had the pleasure to learn about in blog land. How lucky is that ?! Thanks Michelle - hope you're planning to keep cooking up these fun "Crusades" next year too!!! If anyone would like to trade an ATC -let me know. I like the way these turned out enough that I am going to make some regular greeting cards too.
More dye painted gesso combined with some gold leaf & acrylic paint
I almost threw this one out. After re-doing some of the dye painted areas with some thinned transparent
acrylic paint & the addition of a bit of gold leaf I decided that it was worth hanging on to.

13 comments:

michelle ward said...

oooh marie - great visual details of you using gesso! i appreciate that you shared your preference of brand to give us something to think about when buying. i tend to go cheapest - Pearl Student Grade Gesso for me - by the gallon! thanks for sharing with the team, and thanks you for the kind words. it's all about community - and the team would be nothing without the enthusiastic participants like yourself. i'm definitely planning on continuing the crusades. happy thanksgiving marie.

Leah said...

I absolutely LOVE your blog header. And your gessoed cards are pretty, the turqouise and purple colors are great, if you can't tell, i love color. I just learned today how to make ATCs, if you're up for trading one let me know. Thanks for the inspiration! I have tried using gesso a few times in collages, sometimes I have these ideas in my head but without a ton of experience experimenting with a technique or product it makes it harder to be proficient at something, so I just need to keep playing around with it and then I'll get better. But I also love reading about what others do, like tonight I have to admit I've been blog surfing for about three hours instead of doing the other things I'm supposed to be doing (mostly I'm just procrastinating).

Sandy said...

You've done some wonderful things with the gesso. Just think-several years ago I didn't know what it was. Now I'm always needing to buy another one.

me2 said...

These are fantastic! I see something different each time I look at them. I love how you made it your tree series, they are very "natural" to me.

Anonymous said...

These are great! I love the thicker ones that reveal a strong texture. I need to give that a try!

Robin said...

Yay... Your cards are fab!!! They make me want to paint on PAPER again. I see in one the the Jerry's Artorama (hideous name, eh?) catalogs that you can buy pre-cut ATC papers/cards of various types and finishes. Oh yeah, I can cut my own... but it would be kinda fun to get them ready to go. I agree with you about Golden gesso. However, I don't use it much since I've discovered Golden absorbent ground (which takes color much better than gesso) and crackle paste (which has that delightful crackle texture)... I have made sample cards with many of the Golden grounds and mediums... Want to come see this weekend?

Robin A.

Chris said...

these are AWESOME! woah!

Anonymous said...

Hi Marie
just soooo glad that you did not throw away the last piece! Love the shy colors of it, makes it mysterious to me.
Hedwig

Anonymous said...

Hello Marie,

I love the texture in your backgrounds ! I think I use a bit too less gesso, so the texture doesn't come out so well as yours...

I have two bottles of gesso : a cheap one and a golden one. It depends on my project what I use...

greetings from Belgium
Inge

Anonymous said...

oooohhhh... i love the textures you have come up with! very nice!

Robin said...

Of course the purple one you almost threw out is just about my favorite!

Kathryn Costa said...

I love your results - on ALL of them. They would be great materials to use in my journal. {wink, wink}

Anonymous said...

You know, the one you nearly didn't keep is probably my fav. Looks like you had fun. Thanks for sharing with us.

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