Oil painting; What medium do I use under oil painting to sculpt a lot of texture?

I've been told to use Gesso, but in the store, that turned out to be a jar of runny liquid. I would imagine that I'd need something thick, but what? Before I start experimenting with plaster that is meant for carpentry, I would like to know if there is one made specifically as an artist supply. Can you help? ThanksOil painting; What medium do I use under oil painting to sculpt a lot of texture?
it is gesso because if you don't prime your canvas or panel your oil paint will go straight throught...gesso is watery but you have to do it! paint 1 layer of gesso at a time...for example...paint one layer then let that one dry and paint up to 2 layers..i had an oil painting class and i love building thick layers...trust me it works...if you don't put gesso over time your piece is going to be a real mess just because you didn't apply gesso...Oil painting; What medium do I use under oil painting to sculpt a lot of texture?
Yep, the guy who said acrylic modelling compound is spot on, his is the best answer...
There are wax mediums to use with oil paints, that are perfect for texture. I had a Friend that used them all the time and basically painted with palette knives.
What you're looking for is anything that involves impasto, which is the medium umbrella for anything of high relief texture involving painting. You can get impasto gels, waxes, resin-mix mediums, etc. from most paint or artist supply stores. Gesso is for priming a surface only and is basically the opposite of anything like an impasto surface. You could use gesso to prime an impasto'ed surface, for example.
whenever i used oil painting for texture, I put a tad(not too much) of turpenoid to the paint sit there for a 15 minutes or more and i paste it on my painting and palette it on with a palette knife, i like the in steel/tin palette knifes...the plastic ones i don't like. Then later after a couple of minutes or hours i stratch out some of the color on the canvas.





I like to make my own gesso which has plaster, glue, and a just deal of white paint and i mixed that in a container...it can also determined how thick you want it...like put more plaster into the mix. I usually do this in the underpainting.





There's also gesso with oil, but i never tried that stuff before. But i heard that it takes a long time to dry.


Well good luck! ;D
Gesso is made from calcium carbonate and glue. Plaster was used by medieval and renaissance artists to create textures and architectural elements in panel paintings. So you are on the right track but if you are using plaster on canvas it will probably crack. You should be working on a panel (wood or Masonite). If you simply want to have more texture mix powdered marble dust with your gesso.


http://www.dickblick.com/zz089/26/
You need to mix a special thing into the paint to make it thick and stay that way. Ask your local art dealer
Hi,





Since one can apply oil paint over acrylic (not the opposite), you can buy an acrylic modelling paste/gel and then either paint over it with oil or first paint with acrylic and then oil (this I don't know). But maybe it's better to apply a coat of acrylic paint first.





Best regards,





Jos茅