How to make Gesso at home for Oils, Egg Tempera or Acrylics 

So you used 1:5 glue to water initially, let it dissolve and then warmed in lukewarm bath. Then you added another ‘cup’ of water to change the ratio to 1:10 as noted elsewhere. Then you added 2 cups of chalk to this 1:10 mix for the first gesso layer ( make it more sticky - why ?). Then lastly you added 2 more cups of chalk to make a thick gesso for final 2 layers ( 3 in all for practice - but 6-7 needed if gilding is to be done.) would be helpful to know the amt in ml or oz of the small cup and the tahini bottle. Made it look so easy - thank you.

Once you overcome the initial confusion - due to the many recipes available - and actually go for it, traditional gesso panels are actually quite easy (and even fun) to make. The recipe I decided to go with is 1 part rabbit skin glue to 9 parts water. In the batches I made, I used both chalk and marble powder (either just one or the other, or in a 50/50 mix). Whatever I tried, the panels came out just fine. I begin by sealing all the sides of the 1cm thick MDF panels with plain rabbit skin glue, and then proceeded to coat them with the rabbit skin glue/calcium carbonate (chalk and/or marble powder) mix. Given the size of my panels (60X40cm or larger) I used short hair paint rollers to apply 6 to 8 layers on the main surface and 2 layers on the sides and back. The paint rollers, apart from making the job a lot easier, also give the panel a 'tooth' similar to fine grain watercolor paper. This fine grain can later be sanded smooth, if so desired. Thank you @antonis for you very informative videos, and congratulations on your beautiful artwork! Since I have just started trying egg tempera, the information you provide is vey helpful! I'm very glad to have stumbled upon your channel!

Thank you so much antonis for your tutorials, they make every thong seem easy, and also your passion pass through the screen and you make us want to jump to our work stations and feel we are better artists and work more for the Glorification of Holiness. I would love if you can make a tutorial on dorure a l'assiette with armenian bol, and also a tutorial on your favorite varnish, synthetic or natural, olifa or wax or shellac, etc... thank you again, and cant stop watching all your tutorials. To me, you are my prefered mentor 🙏🏼

Your content is so so valuable, These instructions were almost lost. Thanks for sharing

Thank you for sharing this and taking time to explain everything in detail! I understood everything perfectly! Very grateful 🙏 Loukoumi is making sure you don't make a mistake😊

Thank you for sharing! You have read my mind!

This recipe is my own I have been used since the 70, you get white zinc powder and strong Elmer's glue and some water the mix is up to you but what I do i make one to one but the water is just to make soft so you can brush on the canvas, but you have to dissolve the white zinc good that looks olmos liquid and apply to the canvas as much you want on it, left over have to be stored in a plastic bottle well sealed or the glue will harder, very simple

Αγαπημένε Δάσκαλε πάλι βρέθηκες ένα βήμα πιο μπροστά 😉. Σε ευχαριστούμε που με τον τρόπο σου και το γέλιο σου κάνεις τις διαδικασίες να μοιάζουν εφικτές και ευχάριστες ακόμα και για εμάς τους αρχάριους. Χαιρετώ με σεβασμό κι εύχομαι από καρδιάς Καλή Ανάσταση κι Ευλογημένο Πάσχα ! 🙏 Ώρα καλή!

Την συνταγή την δοκιμάσα με επιτυχία και ευχαριστώ θερμά γιατί με την κουνελόκολλα δεν τα είχα πάει καλά στο παρελθόν. Ευχαριστώ θερμά για όλα τα βίντεο που ανεβάζετε. Να σας χαρίσει ο Θεός όλο και πλουσιότερο το τάλαντο που σας χάρισε! Μία παρατήρηση μόνο. Επειδή εγώ ακολούθησα την παραδόση να κολλήσω το ύφασμα πρώτα, διεπίστωσα ότι χρειαζόταν παραπάνω από 6-7 χέρια για να μην φθάσεις σε αυτό. Έκανα και ένα ξύλο όπως το δείχνετε και δεν είχα κανένα πρόβλημα. Ευχές θερμές.

Very helpful video, thank you Always wanted to try using rabbit skin glue Going to make my own gesso from now on

Thank you so much for your videos, you are amazing and very talented!

Thank you for sharing Antonis! When I first started learning about icons I was living and moving in different countries so it was difficult to know where and how to ask for the white powder. I have found all these different names for it: calcium carbonate, carbonato de calcio, levkas (leukos), blanc de Meudon, blanc du Troyes, blanc du Paris, blanco de España or gesso. You can get it in places from a chemical supplier, hardware/paint shop or art supplier. You just have to ask around.

Thank you for your explanations. I find them very clear and easy to follow. and you have a great dog :)

Hi Antonis, I make my gesso with casein glue, I put first a very thin cloth to fix the first layer , glued with casein, and when it is dried then I put some chalk in my casein and make 3 layers, that I sand when it is dry. It is a very dry gesso that can make little cracks, but it can be interesting to have small cracks to make old painting effects.

Thank you, this is a wonderful video. I was wondering if this process would also work on stretched canvas or linen?

you are amazing, thanks for sharing your knowledge and experience, God bless you :)

This is very helpful. Thank you

My thanks for your time and most helpful instruction with my recent investments in understanding one of the oldest art forms the world has ever witnessed. As far as any additional ingredients being used in oil or egg-tempra panel sizing agents, I have seen some recipes in which ground marble dust was included, and one instance that the he's so included White Lead, but its now discouraged because of the health risk involved. My only query about your method is its use with canvas for oil painting, and just how resistant this sizing is to cracking if used on flexible substrates such as Cotton or Linen Canvas affixed to wooden stretcher bars? Have a very Happy Holiday Season.

this was so nice to watch ,you have a beautiful voice .where are you living ive een painting in acrylics and watercolors for 27 years now .i love learning on you tube.thank you i look forward to what i can learn next god bless your life and channel here on you tube

I think that by the look of your dog, he does not go to much with your painting hobbies 🙂. Thanks for sharing master. Your simplicity is superb. You dont use a fabric cloth on the base of the board?

You are truly a master of this, at least I do guess so. 🙂

A great help, thank you

Hello! Thanks very much for this (and all your others) easy-to-follow video. Can this be used on a very large linen canvas, sized with Rabbit Skin Glue, or is this only for rigid planes, like wood, or perhaps only small canvases? Thank you.

Thank you for your demonstration. I was curious why you didn’t add a layer of linen on top of first layer of size and gesso board. Also did you size both sides of boards? I have been doing Cennino’s gesso process using calcium sulfate, slacked plater of Paris which is mixed with hide glue, 1:15 one part hide glue to fifteen parts water. Then thick paste like putty is scraped onto sized linen that has dried upon the board which creates very smooth layer. The layer can then be sanded lightly with the back of the sand paper then agate rubbed onto surface to smooth. Then the mixture of putty is thinned with hide glue and brushed on boards. The texture is very pleasing to work with and not too hard and works well on pre-made canvas, the calcium sulfate thinned with hide glue mixture.

Great demo, thank you. I did this many years ago with no problems, but my recent efforts have been extremely frustrating. I simply cannot get the chalk to combine with the glue. I just cannot get them to combine no matter how much I mix or how much time I let it sit. Is my glue maybe too warm? Or the glue too strong? Or gone bad? It’s like trying to combine oil and water. Appreciate any advice, thank you!

Thank you!!

I have a question: As your Pannels here were at the beginning of the video already primed with a few layers, did you add the linen cloth, that is usually added to the panel after applying the initial layer of Rabbit skin glue, or do you brush the Gesso directly on the glue covered wood without adding any cloth between or beneath the Gesso layers? Thanks for your time and keep on the good work!

Thank you for everything❤️ god bless you, please i want to ask if i have the gesso what do i mix it up with?

1 to 5 is extremely strong glue, it may cause ground cracking with relatively short time. Regular strength of glue for thin gesso for wood used in previous centuries was around 8 to 10 percent (1 part glue to 12-9 parts water). Of course applied on previously glued board. Todays conservation standard is around 8 percent.

THANK YOU VERY VERY MUCH DEAR

Amazing thank you. I'm surprised the board doesn't warp with all that water

Great source of information!! Does this mix works on guache tempera?

Hello and I hope you are doing well, Antonis! Regarding the calcium carbonate, how much do you recommend somebody buy? Does it depend on how many boards are going to have gesso on them and where do you usually buy it from or recommend someone buy it from? Ευχαριστώ πολύ!

Can we paint egg tempera on the store bpught ready made canvas which most of them already hv gesso on it?

Thank you

κ. Αντώνη πολύ ωραίο βίντεο όπως πάντα ... αυτή η προετοιμασία είναι κατάλληλη και για στιλβωτο χρύσωμα; επίσης δεν βάλατε καθόλου τσίγκο έτσι;

Hello, I would like to ask please, for painting with egg tempera on unprimed masonite is better to attach or (stick) canvas? I appreciate an answer. Thank you very much.

That's a very practical tutorial! Thanks! One question: how one should search for true wood on internet to avoid buying MDF or some other type of composite?

Hi, do you think rabbit skin glue is archival quality? I am not so sure about it... I think it can be rewetted and gets brittle after time. And if your first layer gets brittle and rubs off, that could be a problem. Did the old masters really make their gesso with rabbit glue? They obviously didn´t have acrylic ;-) Btw, I recommend watching Baumgartner restauration´s channel. It´s awesome to see him dealing with all the old materials... thanks for the video!

Αγαπητέ κύριε Αντώνη, αυτή τη συνταγή μπορούμε να την χρησιμοποιήσουμε έτσι ακριβώς και για στιλβωμα εικόνας;

Thanks for this Antonis. When I started egg tempera painting seriously a year ago I eagerly bought all the things needed to make my own gesso, but the more I read about it the less I wanted to try. I've read from other painters that it can be disastrous to get it wrong, and there are a million ways to get it wrong. If you get the temperature or the water wrong (or any other little thing) the gesso will crack or bubble and destroy your painting. So I resigned myself to only buying icon boards made by professionals.

Αν είχες κ υπότιτλους στα βίντεο σου θα ήταν για όλους πιο προσιτά.Ευχαριστω κ καλή χρονιά να εχεις

You make it look very easy :) I will definitely try this recipe. My local art store calls the calcium carbonate "marble dust", but I think it is the same thing chemically speaking.

Hi Tony Thanks for your helpful. Last time when I did gesso I found cracking after painting

Hello, I want to ask if I can use bamboo wood for the panel ?

Dear Antonio please tell me were can i bay chalk? Thank you. Antonina

Thank you for this video, What is the best per GSM maximum should be linen to attach plywood in egg tempera? I am waiting for answering, thank you.

Χάρηκα πολύ με το βίντεο σας γιατί ήμουν ένα από τα άτομα που σας το είχαν ζητήσει. Ήταν πολύ ευχάριστο και κατατοπιστικό. Αν περισσέψει υλικό, μπορούμε να το φυλάξουμε ; Αν ναι για πόσο καιρό και κάτω από ποιες συνθήκες ;

Love your channel. Thank-you for your efforts. I'm from India...trying hard to find rabbit glue.....so difficult.....do you know the process with any other glue? Maybe gelatin?

Συγχαρητήρια πολύ κατατοπιστικό βίντεο Αντώνη !!!!!!!

Can I ask what means if gesso reactivates when I start painting ?

Πολύ ωραίος μπράβο, δεν κάνεις και με ελληνικά για καταλάβουμε και λίγο καλύτερα;

I am a bit confused the one rabbit skin glue to 5 parts water We leave them in water bath and add then a cup of rabbit skin glue and another cup of water is that right or i got confused ?

Καλησπέρα σας!!!τι σκόνη είναι αυτή στην κουνελοκολα;;;κιμωλία;;; Η τσίγκος;;;

Hello. It would he helpful and will clarify your drections if you would kindly write out the recipe and directions. You know English well,,but your spesking pattern is difficult: you tend to draw out vowel sounds amd add fillers, ums, ahs. Your icons are wtitten beautifully. Uou sre a master.

Well, we got to see his dog :) And we got to see how he applies the gesso. Beyond that, I'm not so sure... But seriously, you don't put a layer of plain RSG on the board before applying gesso? And what I got at the art supply shop was marble dust, which I think is calcium carbonate? They had hide glue (expensive), but not real RSG, so I'm not still not quite to the proper gesso stage :(

can I replace rabbit glue with gelatin?

Κύριε Αντώνη μπορείτε να μου πείτε τι είναι αυτή η σκόνη παρακαλώ😢😢😢😢γιατί αγιογραφώ και δεν καταλαβαίνω και καλά τα Αγγλικά

Add a litle linen oil 30 ml

Πόση ώρα περίμενες όταν ανακατέυτηκες την κουνελόκολλα και το νερό (1/5).. 3 ώρες περίμενες; δεν γίνει σκληρὀ για τόση ώρα;

What is this white powder??

I just made my first boards, and some of them gets like little hole/bubbles, why is that? Thank you.

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

Βρίσκω πολύ ενδιαφέρον το βίντεο. Αν καταλαβαίνω καλά δεν χρησιμοποιείς ούτε καν στην τελική φάση τρίψιμο με γυαλόχαρτο; Ευχαριστούμε, Αντώνη και καλή Ανάσταση!

Γιατί δεν τα εξηγείται στα ελληνικά;;;

I know that normally on the board we shall stick a piece of cloth (canvas) with skin glue and after that cover it with gesso . Why do you apply gesso Direct on the board?

Είσαι πολύ καλός αγιογράφος και ζωγράφος.θελω να μου γράψεις τις αναλογίες για το γλάσο στα ελληνικά αν μπορείς γιατί δεν καταλαβαίνω.Σ ευχαριστώ εκ των προτέρων.Γεωργια Μ (Μαθηματικός)

Tahini??? What do yo mean?

Thank you, useful but hard to listen

Αντώνη σεεεε παρακαλώ γράψε μου τις αναλογίες εδώ. Πλιιιιζζζζ

Woww 👏 awesome Keep going! Do check out my artworks too 😇 😊

Thank you!!