Both gesso and gel medium can be used to prime a canvas or other painting surfaces before you begin painting. If you are working with watercolor paints or oil pastels, chances are you will be working on paper, and you will definitely need to protect the paper, which you can do by priming it before painting.
A lot of people don’t know about priming painting surfaces. I didn’t know about this when I first began and I was simply painting the canvas with white paint. Now I know better, and my medium of choice is gesso.
In this post, we will be looking at gesso and gel medium. You will learn how each works, and have a better idea of which medium you should be using to prep your canvases, art paper, etc. before painting.
Let’s get started.
Gesso vs Gel Medium Comparison
| Factors | Gesso | Gel Medium |
|---|---|---|
| Good for priming canvas | Yes | Some gel mediums are good for priming while others are better for certain effects |
| Easy to use | Yes | Yes |
| Good as an adhesive | Somewhat | Yes |
| Used for glazing | No | Yes |
| Price | Less than $10 for 8 ounces | $10 and up for 6-7 ounces |
What is Gesso?
Gesso is a medium that was once made with a mixture of chalk or plaster and glue. The word “gesso” comes from the Italian word for “chalk”, and it has a similar texture once it has dried.
Today, gesso is made with calcium carbonate and an acrylic polymer medium. It is used to prime canvases and other painting surfaces before you begin working with acrylic paints.
If you were to paint on a canvas that was not primed, there is a great risk that the paint will seep through the canvas. This will not happen if you have properly primed the canvas with gesso first.
There are actually several different types of gesso, including clear and colored gesso. This primer works best when it is being used for acrylic or oil painting.
Most often you will find two grades of gesso in art supply stores, student and artist grades. There is also professional-grade, but this is much more costly and totally unnecessary in my opinion.
I use the cheapest gesso I can find, and it works fine for my art. It can be used right out of the bottle, so I don’t have to worry about adding water before I use it to prime my canvases.
You can apply gesso to a canvas or other painting surface with a brush, and it can also be sprayed on. When it is dry, it will absorb layers of paint so they do not bleed into the canvas, which can damage a painting over time.
If you try different brands of gesso, you will notice that each brand has a different texture and consistency. Some are thin and more like liquid, while others are much thicker. Some brands apply smoothly, whereas others give you a bit of texture or tooth.
There are even some types of gesso that are so thick that they can be used to create sculptural effects. You can use a brush or a palette knife to do this.
I tend to use gesso that comes in a squeeze bottle, but you can also find it in glass jars or even in spray form. I like to use the squeeze bottles because the gesso is a bit thinner and easier to pour onto a palette (although I tend to simply dip my brush right into the bottle).
What is Gel Medium?
There are many different types of gel mediums, and it can get pretty confusing to figure out which type you should be using for your art. You will find soft gel, regular gel, heavy gel, liquid gel, matte gel, gloss gel, etc.
For the sake of simplicity, let’s just say that gel medium is a binder that has no pigment. It is an acrylic substance that is often used to create texture in paintings and is quite popular with artists who use acrylic paint. This is because they can get textures that are similar to the textures of oil paints without having to use oil paints.
Gel medium will increase the transparency of acrylic paint. It dries clear and can be used with all types of acrylic paints. Gel medium is lightfast, flexible, water-based, and permanent.
I have noticed a lot of crafters use gel medium, as it has many uses. For instance, it can be used as an adhesive for decoupage, and it can even be used as a top coat instead of a glaze to protect your paintings.
Let’s take a look at the different types of gel mediums.
Soft Gel
Soft gel is very creamy and is often mixed with acrylic paints to create glazes that are rich and translucent. It also helps artists to create brushstrokes with soft edges, and create velvety textures.
If you work with paper, soft gel is a great adhesive. It is smooth, and it is easy to manipulate so you can move things around long before it dries.
Regular Gel
When you use a regular gel medium, you can make your paint stay wetter for longer periods. This is great if you want to be able to blend colors right on the canvas.
The paint will still have its normal consistency, and when mixed with regular gel it can be used for impasto techniques as well as glazing.
Heavy and Extra-Heavy Gel
The heavy gel will thicken your paint and allow it to hold peaks. The extra-heavy gel will allow you to have even more texture, which is great if you want to try impasto painting but don’t work with oil-based paints. You can also use heavy gel for impasto techniques.
While heavy and extra-heavy gels are great for creating texture, they are not ideal to use as glazes. I would stick with soft gel for this purpose.
Sheens
All of the gel mediums I have mentioned here today come in a variety of sheens (shininess). The higher the sheen, the shinier the finished product will be, as well as more durable when it is cured.
Matte gel mediums will give you a dull finish. This type of gel contains matting agents (white silicate particles). It can take a long time to cure depending on the conditions in your studio.
All gel mediums are cloudy, but they tend to dry relatively clear, except matte gel. It does tend to dry a bit cloudy.
Semi-gloss and gloss gel mediums are used for many things. They can be used to highlight certain areas of a painting, and they can even be used for decoupage and image transfers.
Conclusion
So, how do you decide between gel medium and gesso? It depends on a few things, including how much texture you want to have, sheen, etc. In the end, it will likely all come down to being a matter of preference.
Sari Green is a semi-professional artist and professional writer. She has been hosting paint & sip parties for the past couple of years, and truly enjoys helping other people to create their very own masterpieces. She loves to create, and you never know what she’s going to come up with next!