Yes, that is the main reason for the gesso. If you had a panel made of hardboard or some other less porous surface the gesso would help to make it more appropriate for painting with encaustic.
Thank you for your question Renee. We reached out to R&F founder Richard Frumess for a response and here is what he said: "I would not use regular acrylic paint...not because it would make encaustic gesso lose its adhesive properties, but because it would increase them. You don't want encaustic gesso to be too tightly bound or it loses its porosity. I would recommend Golden's High Flow acrylic or any tinting colorant in a hardware store that is used for water-based house paints. They're probably much cheaper than the acrylic paints and generally have no binder. Don't use the ones for oil or solvent based paints or stains since paints, since those may contain alcohol that can affect the acrylic binder of the gesso."
I’ve tried other gessoes but I find this the best. I even use it when the base is wood just to cut down on air bubbles.
We think it works pretty well too! Glad you are enjoying it. :)
I'd like to try it with silverpoint rather than encaustic. Can it be used on paper?
Do i need to prime the back of the panel as well?(In case of both gesso priming and encaustic medium priming)
Other than a beautiful white surface are there other advantages to using encaustic gesso vs just encaustic medium to prime the board?
Yes, that is the main reason for the gesso. If you had a panel made of hardboard or some other less porous surface the gesso would help to make it more appropriate for painting with encaustic.
The board in the video is Ampersand Encausticbord?
Can I tint the gesso with acrylic paint without it loosing its adhesive properties? What ratio would work & heavy body or fluid?
Thank you for your question Renee. We reached out to R&F founder Richard Frumess for a response and here is what he said: "I would not use regular acrylic paint...not because it would make encaustic gesso lose its adhesive properties, but because it would increase them. You don't want encaustic gesso to be too tightly bound or it loses its porosity. I would recommend Golden's High Flow acrylic or any tinting colorant in a hardware store that is used for water-based house paints. They're probably much cheaper than the acrylic paints and generally have no binder. Don't use the ones for oil or solvent based paints or stains since paints, since those may contain alcohol that can affect the acrylic binder of the gesso."