Luisa’s Scrapbooking IdeasCapture Family Memories With Fun Scrapbooking Ideas

Since the early Renaissance, artists working on portraits in oil (or any other subject for that matter) have always started with a layer of size to seal the raw canvas or board prior to the gesso ground. It’s role is to protect the canvas from the chemicals in the paint that may cause it to decay. Today, if you use an acrylic primer, size is not always necessary, but it’s remains a good way of protecting the canvas and if you make your own gesso is a crucial part of the preparation. It can also be a helpful additive when preparing water colour grounds, as it helps reduce the absorbency of surfaces for works where great detail is required, or where it is preferable for the colour to have a better flow over the surface. For the artist, size is something that can made quite easily and cheaply made:

Preparing size
Size is made from animal glue or gelatine and water. One part glue in fifteen parts of water is the about the right strength to use on canvas. If you wish to apply size to a panel you should use one part glue to ten parts water. First off, put the dry glue and water in a heat proof dish that can conduct heat well and leave it to stand. Depending on the size of the glue particles it will take anything between half and hour to six hours for the glue to soak. When ready the glue will have taken up some of the water and become soft without actually dissolving. You now need to put the dish in another larger heat proof dish that can allow boiling water to be poured between the gap. This should give enough heat to finish melting the glue and produce a pure liquid. Gently stirring helps it dissolve faster. Once it is fully melted the size solution is ready to apply.