More recently I have stumbled accross the wonderful work of Rosemary at Villabarnes and been intrigued to see that she paints with gesso, which is now thankfully readymade and acrylic. (Perhaps it was back then but I was shopping in the wrong place!)
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| Rosemarys work |
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| Rosemarys work |
It seems to work well on heavily textured or carved items. She doesn't just use it on frames though. She used it on this bedside table...
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| Rosemarys work |
And even on fabric flowers!
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| Rosemarys work |
I was so taken with this look that I had to have a go.
On my wall I had this old picture...
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Then I painted it in white acrylic gesso (it also comes in grey and black.)
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| £3.99 from the art shop |
I was painting it on and wiping it off so it settles in the dips but wipes off the high bits. I did 3 coats. This was too much! It just looked very white when it dried. I took a sanding sponge to it and it wasn't easy to sand back but I got a bit of the original colour and the gold showing through. I thought I'd ruined it to be honest so I didn't get a picture of this stage. The whiteness was annoying me! I missed the original finish so I thought I'd stipple on dark wax to bring back some depth.
The whole thing came back to life and I love it!
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What do you think? I know mine turned out nothing like Rosemarys! I like it, but I liked it before too. I'm going to play around some more with gesso! Next time I'll have to paint it on something I'm not so keen on.
If you pop over to Villabarnes there are lots of tutorials with gesso and you can see Rosemarys lovely work.
Next up for the gesso treatment?
This vintage brass mirror my husband dropped. Good job we're not superstitious! His only bad luck is that he has to replace the glass for me!
Big thank you to Rosemary for allowing me to use her photos!
