Gesso that I know...

Sometimes gessoing a board can be real fun. Think about it, you do not have to concentrate too much, just make sure that the gesso brush moves evenly in vertical or horizontal strokes and make sure the edges are evened out. Of course, it could also take a toll on your back if you are not too careful about the postures, but I try to stretch out every once in a while when I am at this..

The process itself at once it brings to mind Pollock sitting down over his canvases thinking about where to let go the next drip, only here you do not contemplate that much, of course you could get lost in the wavy patterns of thickly built up pigment the moment they form and then follow their evaporative course until they dry, but I don’t have that much time.

I tend to use a professional grade of gesso that I manage to get from the Utrect outlet store about half hour from our house. A couple of coats over two days will get the board or stretched canvas as smooth as a baby's bottom...

Like I apply the oil paints, I like to lay the gesso thick so much so that the ridges and furrows give the final painted-on surface a special texture that I enjoy very much. All said and done, it was well worth the effort. Now to slap these four pieces with some meaningful paint on is another matter altogether...