please help!!! whats the difference between white gesso, liquid white, and a medium?

Question

hello! I have recently started to oil paint.. and I have no clue what white gesso, liquid white, and mediums r all used for. for example bob ross always has used the wet on wet technique and I understand that he primes the canvas with liquid white first. so my question is, what r the differences between those three things? and also for ACRYLIC painting.. how could I make the colors blend on a canvas?? do I have to have one of those things for the acrylic paint to blend? thanks a lot! :)

Answer 1

Gesso is technically an acrylic primer, although people commonly refer to all primers as "gesso."



Liquid white is Bob Ross' patented oil painting medium. It is designed to create a slow-drying, slippery surface for the application and blending of additional paint. This is easier than adding a brush full of painting medium to each new color or mixture on the pallet. The final results of the two techniques would be identical.



Another art term with several meanings is "medium." A medium is the binder for pigments; some paints come premixed (oil paints, acrylic paints) while others are a powder to which the binder is added while painting (i.e., egg yolk and water for egg tempera.) Watercolors may be premixed in tubes or "cakes" to which the artist adds water. Or medium just refers to the genre (oil paintings, acrylic paintings.) Medium can also refer to the additives, thickeners, thinners, retardants and other chemicals artists add to paints.



Acrylic colors can be mixed on the pallet or on the support itself. The wet-on-wet technique is more difficult with acrylic paint because it dries much faster than oils, as in minutes vs. days. Blending can be enhanced with drying retardants and also by thinning acrylic paints with clear medium and/or water. The acrylic painter can also borrow the "wash" technique of the watercolor painters, letting a layer of paint dry, then "blending" with a subsequent layer(s) of thinned paint. A lot of experimentation is required. And don't forget the number one rule - never put acrylic paints, mediums, or glazes on top of oil paint.

Answer 2

White gesso is a primer that you put on canvass or sanded wood to paint on. It keeps the paint from soaking into the canvas or wood. I do not know what liquid white is; Perhaps it is Bob Ross's primer. To keep acrylic paint from drying so quickly, you can mist the area in which you paint with a spray bottle and use a retarder or slow drying medium in the acrylic paint so that it is blendable.

Answer 3

White gesso is used to prime, or coat, any surface so that the paint can absorb easily. For instance if you paint on glass, then actually painting it would be relatively difficult. Also, painting on a raw canvas would be difficult because the raw canvas would absorb the paint and wouldnt show right. Easiest answer is to always prime your surface with gesso.



I have no idea what liquid white is.



Mediums are used to change the quality of the paint. You can create your own mediums by mixing turpentine/solvents with damar varnish and linseed oil. There are tons and tons of possibilities on creating your own mediums. Or you can buy a premade medium such as liquin which is excellent for glazing and drying time. Mediums in oil paint can change the paint property by its viscosity, drying time, fluidity, impasto textures, etc.



Honestly, the easiest way to blend with acrylics is to pre mix them on your palette. Mixing colors along the way directly on the canvas can lead the colors to looking either too saturated or too "muddy." For instance, if you mix a skin color and make multiple piles that vary in value such as adding more white or yellowy white, you can easily make the blend or merge onto the canvas. Rather than taking a red and putting it on a canvas, and then taking a yellow and putting it on top of the red, and then a white on top of the yellow and then mixing it. The paint would dry too quick and would make the process unbearable.