The Quick and Easy Way to Turn Anything into a Canvas
If you’ve been following the blog for a while you’ll know that I’m a really bad cook. But I’ve got a surprise for you today. I’m actually going to share a recipe GASP!! But not one you’d normally use in the kitchen. Nope, that would be way too dangerous 😀 This is a recipe for gesso so you can turn almost anything into a canvas. Almost anything includes plastic, glass, wood, polystyrene, paper, linen or this humble palm seed pod.
Don’t you just love giraffes? They one of my favorite animals, they’re so comical. Did you know in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp? Go figure? If I ever take my pet giraffe for a walk there, I’ll have to remember that, 😀
Anyhoos, before we get to the gesso recipe, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or Instagram. And don’t forget to subscribe so you’ll never miss a post!
How To Turn Almost Anything into a Canvas
Gesso pronounced guess-o or jess-o has been used for centuries to prime a surface before painting. I always say guess-o but I have no idea if that’s the right way to pronounce it. I’m Afrikaans and we have a tendency to say things in a weird way. Think “jean pants” 😉 Way back when it was made with lime (not the fruity kind) and resin. Famous artists like Leonardo used calcium sulfate and rabbit skin glue. Ewwww, that’s so not going to happen here. To make your own all you need is some PVA glue, craft paint, and talcum powder.
The gesso you buy in arts and crafts shops consists of three parts; a binder, chalk or gypsum and color pigment, normally white. To make your own you’ll need:
- 1 portion of warm water for mixing
- 1 portion of PVA glue. The glue acts as a binder.
- 1 portion of craft paint
- 1 portion of talcum powder.
Talcum powder creates a fine texture and gives the paint some teeth to adhere to the surface. You can also use crushed chalk or plaster of Paris. I have found that plaster of Paris doesn’t keep and gets cloggy. If you’re looking for something with a little more texture, you can replace the talcum powder with sand.
Note a portion could be a cup, a teaspoon or any small container depending on how much you want to make.
You can use any color paint to make gesso. When I painted the Wild Woman I used black acrylic paint. Just make sure it’s waterbased. That’s just the fancy way of saying that you can clean your brushes off with water 😀 Mix the water, glue, and paint together and then add the talcum powder until it looks like a thick gooey syrup without lumps.
Making and Prepping the Canvas
Apply the mixture to whatever you decide to use as a canvas, in my case a dried palm seed pod 😀 I cleaned it off with soap and water first and cut it to the size I needed.
You can apply the gesso with a paintbrush, palette knife or just use your hands. I prefer the hands-on approach because I like getting dirty I can feel the texture of the gesso and squish it into the crevices.
The mixture dries pretty quickly, depending on how thick you apply it and you can add as many layers as you want. The pod needed two layers, with a light sanding in between, to create a smooth canvas. Once it’s dry you’re ready to make some art.
The homemade gesso is suitable for most media types including acrylics and oils. Just a word of warning, it’s not archival. So if your art is going to hang in a museum one day, it’s probably better to buy the real thing 😉 But hey, our cute giraffe couple will be going on our gallery wall in the bedroom, so I’m good with the homemade version.
Gesso creates an absorbent surface with ‘teeth’ that allows the paint to grab onto the canvas. This comes from the talcum powder. The glue in the mix protects and seals the canvas, which is important if you’re using oils. They can be corrosive over time. The giraffe couple was done with oil pastels and while I don’t think they’ll corrode a seed pod, you can never be too sure. Prepping your canvas with gesso is a great way to make sure that nothing seeps through from the “canvas” into your masterpiece 😉
I’ve used the gesso recipe for so many things, like this fairy water feature and to create a bark effect on our Spirit of the Forest wreath. We even used it when we made our giant rusty faux metal key. It’s inexpensive and perfect for those times when you don’t want to drive to the craft store. Homemade gesso should keep for about 1 month, but I tend to make a new batch every time based on how much I need.
Don’t forget to save the recipe to make your own Gesso
Feel free to experiment and add more talcum teeth powder. You can also add fine sand if you want a rougher canvas with loads of texture. Oh BTW, and you can download the cute giraffe couple here if you’d like to make something similar. Just add your own spots.
And if you’d like to make something similar or prefer to buy rather than DIY, we’ve got you covered Disclosure: Clicking on the links below, means we may receive a commission from Amazon. But don’t worry it won’t come out of your pocket, and it helps us come up with more crafty ideas to share with you
Or if you prefer to buy rather than DIY.
Happy creating everyone and have a blessed week.
Just love your giraffes in a pod! They are so precious. Thank you for the recipe for gesso. Will give that a try.
Next time I take my giraffe to Atlanta, she and I will be like two peas in a pod, seeing the sites together! 🦒💗😊
😀 I love that, Karen. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have a pet giraffe
I appriciate your recipe. Nice to read a SA blog.
You’re welcome Greg.
This is a fantastic idea Michelle! I too love giraffes and yours are delightful!
Great minds think alike 😉 They’re just the cutest, gawkiest animals ever. Thanks Maya
So creative, and so beautiful. You make it sound so easy, but I don`t think it is 🙂
This one really is Cristina, all you’re doing is just sealing the “canvas”. Just mix and stir 😉
This is so amazing. I am glad to have the gesso recipe but I love the idea of using the palm seed pod as a canvas. And you know I have one just waiting to be cut down.
Thanks so much Debra. I love the shape of the seed pods, they’re so unusual.
What a fabulous project!! You really are so creative and talented!
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Thank you Jodie 😀
Michelle, this is so great to know! Thanks for sharing. The giraffes are too cute and they look wonderful on the seed pod!!
My pleasure Keri 😉
This turned out amazing and I’m absolutely going to have a go at it! My nephew loves giraffes and he would be so happy if I made him something like this. Now I have to find a cool canvas. Thanks Michelle!
Yay, you need to find something that as gorgeously wacky and unique as what you are Angie. I’d love to see it
Oh I love this – so creative and fun! My little boy dylan loves giraffes too, I will show him this in the morning.
That’s so cool Yvonne, Dylan’s got good taste in animals 😉
What a cool craft! I like how versatile the recipe is so that you can make any amount you need. And those giraffes are adorable! I’d love to give this a try sometime over the summer. 🙂
I hope you do Gina. All those beautiful things you find while you’re foraging would be perfect as a canvas
This is a fantastic tip! It’s going to be so useful.
Glad you like the tip Lisa. It works out so much cheaper than the gesso you buy in the shops and I love the fact that you can change the color to suit what you’r painting. It makes it so much easier
This is really an awesome work, the giraffe is my favorite animal too, they look so cute here. Michelle, in your post you explain so nicely that anybody can understand.
They’re just the cutest animals in the world. Thanks so much Sadhna
Oh wow. This is very cool. I absolutely love the giraffe print, and I’m not sure I would have thought to use it on a palm pod. It looks fantastic!
Thank you Amy, I love the shape of the seed pod. It kinda fit with the tall giraffes
Thanks for the recipe!
Question.. can cornstarch be used instead of the baby powder?
Cornstarch will definitely work too
You never cease to amaze me with your creativity! Your giraffes are adorable! I will have to remember if I ever get a pet giraffe, and take it to Atlanta Georgia to never ever ever tie it to a telephone pole or street lamp, lol.
I use gesso every once in a while, but just bought some more not to long ago. I will have to try and make my own next time I need some. Thanks for the recipe, and the tip ?
LOL, that rule just cracks me up Linda. I wonder where you are allowed to tie a giraffe 😉
How cool is this? I need to do it!
Glad you like it Deborah 😀
This is so cool! I love the giraffes. Your diy gesso looks easy to mix together and I love that it can be used on all kinds of surfaces. Pinning. This is going on my must try list!
That’s great to hear Beverly, thanks so much for the pin 😀
Michelle your giraffes are so cute! I’ve never seen a plant turned into a painting before. Very creative. It looks wonderful wonderful with the plants. That is a very interesting technique.
Thanks Mary. The possibilities to change something into a canvas are endless as long is it prepped with some gesso 😉
Oh my Goodness [I’m pretty sure I start every one of my comments this way 😉 ] but how do you come up with this amazingness? is that a word? I’m floored yet again, I just love this so much Michelle! Here I am painting flower pots – booooooring! This is so cute and I just love how you used the palm pod as a canvas! I’ll look at palmtrees in a totally different way now!
LOL Katrin, thanks so much, I really appreciate all your comments and love, it doesn’t matter what you say. And painting flower pots isn’t boring, you’ve got talent streaming out of your pores. They are going to look elegant and gorgeous if you do them.