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Gesso and Rabbit Skin Glue
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Message
Posted
Hello, I am just wondering if anybody knew what would happen if I used acrylic based Gesso over rabbit skin glue; would it work?
I am paintings with emulsion, and I know if i use emulsion over rabbit skin, the water from it reverses the effect of the rabbit skin. And using acrylic gesso alone doesn't tighten the canvas enough, so can I use rabbit skin glue first to tighten the canvas and then put an acrylic based gesso over it?
Thanks very much for any help! :)
Posted
No, don't do that - it would be very likely to just bubble up and peel off. You might be able to apply your acrylic priming and add the rabbit-skin preparation on top, but I don't see any advantage in doing that and you'd still have two quite different media at work, so bonding might still be problematic.
When you speak of tightening the canvas, you mean you're using a stretched canvas, presumably. You might find a look at the ACF canvases useful - they're very tightly stretched, and you might get on with the surface better. Otherwise, while the RSG does have an effect on the tightness of canvas, the real secret lies in the stretching rather than anything applied to the surface. I have no experience of painting in emulsion, I'm afraid, so my suggestions are partly speculative. A good quality, properly stretched canvas should sort you out, though; and failing that, one mounted on board.
Posted
I can confirm that the ACF canvases are indeed drum tight! You’re unlikely to find a better made stretched canvas, unless of course you’re paying for a bespoke service, which I’ve never done.
They’re not actually canvas of course, a synthetic material (Robert knows all the tech stuff), and being fairly smooth, there is a slight tooth mind you, more suited, in my opinion, to detailed work, something that I try hard to avoid, not always successfully it has to be said.
You don’t actually need to give the surface of these ACF canvases a coat of gesso, they’re already primed, but I prefer to - old habits die hard as they say!
Purely in the interests of this thread (I’m in no way trying to promote my work), I’ve added an oil which was painted on an ACF canvas.
They’re definitely worth a try, you might just be pleasantly surprised…
Windsor Castle from Eton Fields. 40x50cm
Posted
I've come back to this thread because I was hoping to find some more useful advice to give to a question asked today about spots on canvas - and I think there are some clues, principally Alan's remark about priming his own canvases: a practice with which I certainly agree, in general. And then of course I saw his painting of Windsor Castle again - I so wish I had the confidence to leave the foreground as he's left this one! No fiddly, distracting detail, not even very thick paint, just suggestive drawing and allusive colour: someone needs to show this to the King - if I were him (ahem.... not a lot of chance of that) I'd want it.
Posted
Hi everyone,
I see this topic was discussed many years ago, but I am a bit perplexed regarding acrylic gesso on rabbit skin glue. I agree with those who say it may flake or not hold well. However, here in France, several reputable companies, one of them is Maître Toiles, the other Dalbe (a bit lesser quality) sell linen canvases that have been coated twice with rabbit skin glue, then acrylic gesso. Why would these companies prepare these canvases this way if they weren't archival? They are made in France. Theu can be used for oils or acrylics. Maybe the gesso is not 100 percent acrylic, maybe there's a binder that somehow allows it to adhere well to the RSG? Does anyone have experience with store-bought linen canvases prepared this way? How did your work age? I plan to paint in oils on this canvas. Many thanks in advance. Cheers!
Posted
Robert is the one to answer this, technical stuff is not my forte.
When I wrote my feature regarding the working methods of Edward Seago in The Artist a few years ago, I referred to Seago’s method of preparing his canvases which included the use of RSG and lead white paint, which we can no longer buy in U.K. as it’s classified as hazardous!
I do know that the acrylic gesso that we buy today, is not the authentic gesso that was used years ago…
Let’s see what Robert says about it.
Posted
I don't see any point in applying acrylic primer (misleadingly called "gesso" by manufacturers) over Rabbit skin glue; and on a flexible support like stretched canvas, the stresses and strains as the two react with each other, and with the support, are very likely to cause cracking. RSG and a lead white primer is good for oil painting - but while it's not impossible to lay hands on lead white, it is very difficult: Natural Pigments (Europe) Ltd is somewhere you can go, and some of the older canvas suppliers can lead you in the right direction even if they no longer provide it themselves. And of course you can make your own, but - sooner you than me.
That's not the main point of the question, though; I would not use RSG at all on any flexible surface - I know that people did, and some still do; I know that prior to the development of acrylic primers, there wasn't a lot of choice in the matter. But while RSG has some flexibility, it struggles to match the temperature variations which cause canvas to swell, shrink, and otherwise develop; stretched canvas isn't an ideal surface anyway, even the best linen - just because it moves under the paint (of course, it's lovely to paint on; a tactile experience). There are so many better surfaces available nowadays, from Ampersand boards to ACF canvases (which are basically terylene); and they don't need extra priming, though you can if you want to.
Having said all of that, I have no experience of the canvases to which the questioner refers, and would need to know a lot more about them before venturing an opinion. There seems to be some confusion about what's in the gesso - perhaps alkyd is meant; but again, I don't see much point in using RSG as the base layer. I'll delve into a few sources and see if I can find something genuinely authoritative, but on the whole do not see any advantage in combining rabbit skin glue with acrylic priming.
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