Gesso Vs. Matte Gel Medium - What the heck do they do? A tutorial. + A WINNER

Earlier today on my Facebook page, the oh-so-snarky, oh-so-talented Chris D. of Chrispy's Creations asked me this question: "What's the difference between gesso and gel medium?" Well, Miss Chris, thanks for the inspiration! You made me get artsy and create another mixed media canvas. And this time I have a tutorial!


Gesso Vs. Matte Gel Medium:
Now, please bear in mind that I am a fledgling mixed media artist and learning and exploring. So I'm probably doing everything wrong. hehe. But I'll tell you what I use these things for.

What Is Gesso?

Gesso is a medium that most artists use to prime a canvas. It allows your paint/gelatos/next layer to spread easier and not just soak straight into the canvas so you don't spend umpteen million dollars on paint. They sell gesso in a variety of colors, but most commonly in black and white. 

Gesso can also be used to:
>Prime objects that you want to change color with another medium (like paint, gelatos, etc)
>Use through a stencil to create a pattern
>Stamp with

What Is Gel Medium?

Gel Medium is a substance that can be used for a variety of different things including:
>Sealing a layer on a canvas/art journal
>Gluing objects on a piece - much like mod podge
>Using through a stencil to do a resist technique

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The canvas that I'm working on is a Tim Holtz Ranger 6x8 burlap canvas. I applied one layer of gesso because I wanted the texture to still come through the finished project. If you want a smoother surface, you can add more layers of gesso. 

After the gesso was dry, I rubbed on some gelatos and blended them with my finger. Then, using a palette knife, I added a layer of matte gel medium (you can get glossy too). 

Why did I add this layer of gel medium? I knew that I wanted to add white texture paste over the gelatos and since they are reactive to water/liquid, if you don't add the gel medium between layers your texture paste will soak up the color from the gelatos and blend into it. 

So I wanted to break up the color of the background and decided to do that by adding some old music notes that a very special bloggy friend sent me (THANKS BETTY!!!)

Remember when I said you could use gel medium like glue? Here's an example. I painted the back of the music stuck it to the canvas, and then painted over the front of the music, which sealed it to the canvas., Then I added a layer of embossing paste through the ARTplorations Tribal Triangles stencil. See? It stayed white! Thanks to the gel medium. 

I added another layer with the ARTplorations Confetti Circles stencil and then sprinkled it with blue embossing powder while it was still wet then I set it with heat. It turned out beautifully!!! All puffy and grungy and cracked. 

I had these chippies, but I didn't want them to stay the color they were. So I added a layer of gesso to prime them and then used bright orange gelatos to recolor. 

Voila! A finished canvas! And one I'm very pleased with. Thanks Chris!


I'm going to enter this into the following challenges:
Mixed Media World - Stencils
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
STAMPlorations Mixed Media Challenge - Anything Goes Mixed Media

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Speaking of things I'm pleased with - I still have another 5 names to draw in my birthday bash giveway.

Today's lucky winner is going to receive The Bee's Knees PartyGirl stamp set. 

 

Entry number 36 is Gail from The Crafty Nomad! Congrats, Gail! Please email me with you address and I will pop your prize in the mail for you. :)