Liquitex BASICS® Acrylic Gesso is an opaque white primer designed to prepare painting surfaces for optimal paint adhesion, durability, and performance. This versatile titanium white gesso creates a matte, absorbent surface with the ideal amount of tooth, helping acrylics, oils, charcoal, pastels, and pencils perform at their best.
Applying gesso helps seal porous surfaces, improve color adhesion, increase surface stability, and create a more consistent painting experience. It also stiffens canvas and provides the proper absorbency needed for smooth paint application.
The bright white finish creates an excellent foundation for artwork and can be used directly from the container or tinted with acrylic colors to create custom-colored grounds.
Suitable for use on canvas, wood panels, paper, illustration board, and many other painting surfaces.
Features
- Classic titanium white acrylic gesso
- Creates a matte, opaque white surface
- Improves paint adhesion and durability
- Adds tooth for better paint performance
- Helps stiffen canvas surfaces
- Establishes proper absorbency for painting
- Can be tinted with acrylic colors
- Suitable for acrylics, oils, charcoal, pastels, and pencils
Ideal For
- Priming stretched canvas
- Preparing wood panels
- Painting grounds and underpaintings
- Acrylic painting
- Oil painting preparation
- Charcoal and pastel surfaces
- Mixed media projects
Compatible Media
- Acrylic paint
- Oil paint (when fully dry)
- Charcoal
- Pastels
- Graphite and pencil
How to Use
Standard Priming
- Use directly from the container or dilute with up to 25% water.
- Apply evenly using a wide, flat brush.
- Allow to dry for at least 24 hours before painting.
For a Smoother Surface
- Sand lightly after drying.
- Apply additional coats as needed.
For Oil Painting Grounds
- Apply 2–4 coats.
- Sand between layers for a smoother finish.
- Allow each layer to dry thoroughly before applying oils.
Custom Colored Grounds
- Mix with acrylic paint to create tinted gesso.
