Grumbacher52516 16-Ounce Gesso (Hyplar) Artists Acrylic Medium Jar

Good consistency. Very pleased with this gesso.

I have always used a different brand of Gesso. Someone recommended trying Grumbacher Gesso (Hyplar) Artists' Acrylic & Oil Paint Medium, that they had made the switch and I might like it too. I ordered a jar. I love it! It is thick and creamy, not chalky like some, not thick as mud as some and not a water liquid as some gessos are. It is a nice white, creamy like a medium body paint, easy to work with and also works well as a 'white' paint. Very happy with it and will be the only gesso I purchase from now own. If it were in the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, it would be the 'just right', perfection that was sought after!

Use this as white in my paintings, sealing canvas works great.

While I sometimes use an oil-based ground for prepping canvases or rigid supports prior to oil painting, I've also been happy with this heavy-bodied acrylic gesso by Grumbacher. It's a lot simpler to use and dries to a ready-to-use surface much faster than the oil-based options.So many of the acrylic gesso products on the market today dry to a slick, almost plasticized-looking finish. That's why I like the difference of this gesso by Grumbacher. For starters, it's a much thicker consistency -- in fact it's thick enough that you can even trowel it on if you like that type of textured painting surface. For a smoother finish, I thin the gesso significantly with water until it's about the consistency of heavy cream. I then brush the thinned gesso onto my canvas or board, using a few coats which I allow to dry and then sand prior to each subsequent coat.Another great difference in this Grumbacher acrylic gesso over other acrylic gesso is the fact that they add calcium carbonate (marble dust) to it. This gives it much more "tooth" for applying your paints. One important thing to note, though, is that because of this marble dust, this gesso leaves the finished ground MUCH more porous so take that into consideration. Some artists like how their paint soaks in and dries quickly. However, when using this as a base for oil painting, I usually apply an undercoating of a faster-drying oil pigment on top of this porous gesso so that my finished layers of paint remain on top and don't loose their glow and luminosity. Most other acrylic gesso products that I've used are little more than a plastic-y acrylic disperson mixed with white pigment and your layers of paint float on top rather than absorbing.I often use it as a troweled-on base, but for those times that I want an even deeper, more heavily-grooved troweled finish, I instead use Liquitex Professional Super Heavy Gesso which is considerably thicker than even this thick Grumbacher gesso. It's much like modeling paste (but, unlike modeling paste, it can be used with oil painting); however, it unfortunately has the slick acrylic finish that I mentioned earlier. I've had some luck with adding a bit of my own marble dust (calcium carbonate) to it as I trowel it on.

This product was wonderful at covering a canvas that had a print on it I didn’t care for. Once covered and dried we created a whole new painting that I am not happy with. Instead of throwing away any canvases in the future, I will just cover them with gesso instead. Great product!

This gesso is great for priming hardboard/other absorbent surfaces (and probably other surfaces too) for painting. It has a tiny bit of tooth which is really nice with my oils. I apply a generous amount of this and then when its dry I tone my canvas with neutral grey or burnt umber before painting. It is pretty thick, and does hold a brush stroke so if you don't want that I'd thin it a bit with water (just a little) and apply in 2 layers.

I previously used the Winsor & Newton gesso, which was VERY thin. I had heard about this gesso watching Jerry Yarnell's videos. For those who don't know he's a professional artist/teacher who uses this stuff and swears by it. He uses it as a gesso and as his white paint, since it is more opaque.I knew this stuff was going to be thick, because the jar was heavier than expected. And yes, this stuff is THICK. Not too thick to where it doesn't want to spread, but I'd say it's as thick as it could be without getting in the way of spreading nicely. I certainly have no complaints and can't imagine switching to any other gesso in the foreseeable future. Give this stuff a try.

UPDATE: The company honored my return right away. That's service!AGAIN, the lid was cracked open and the gesso was spilled inside the the box. NOT HAPPY because this has happened twice before through different sellers.