Position:Home>Visual Arts> Do You Have to Leave Gesso 24 hours to dry...................?

Puppy is right, of course!.

If it's acrylic based gesso it will dry just as quickly as acrylic paint!. Usually within an hour of less!. So forget the hairdryer!. Just prop it up somewhere and let it dry!.

I make all my own frames for my larger canvases and stretch the canvas and gesso them!. First coats dry pretty quickly!. If you want to apply a second coat I would wait two hours!.

It's always worked for me!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Sure you can use a hairdryer if you want or even better put it in the sunlight so you won't have to use any power other than natural solar-power!. The gesso will dry quickly as it comes in the can, but it will dry even quicker if you mix it with some water!. One can thin it down as much as you want but for the first layer of gesso I think it's best to use a half and half mixture of water/gesso!. I keep that formula in another older container , one that has a seal to make it airtight, then I paint it on the cotton duck surface and it drys really fast, then sandpaper it with a fine grade sandpaper and gesso it again with gesso that you haven't mixed with water, and let it dry!. Then gesso it again, and sand again!. You can do this as many times as you want and you can do it right after the gesso is dry, you don't have to wait any longer than that before painting gesso over it!. You want to do it more than once though because if you only gesso a canvas once it might not keep the oils or acrylic paint from bleeding through to the cotton or linen canvas and if it does you might as well throw it away because the canvas will rot in no time at all!. For the last coating of gesso, one shouldn't sand it, but leave it as it is when it dries!. If you read the instructions on the side of the gesso jar it will give you a good idea of what to look for when gessoing a canvas!. All gesso is made of is white pigment and glue mixed with water, so it doesn't hurt it to thin it out!.!.!.!.or to dry it anyway you want!. Mine dries in about twenty minutes if I paint it on during a summer day with the windows open (about 80 degrees outside) and try to sand it down to take off the ruff edges and smooth it out, except for the last coat before painting!. That one you don't want to touch, just leave it as is so the paint has something to hold it to the surface!. But remember you can remove it from anything it gets on by saturating it with water and it will desolve but once it dries, it will stay put for good!.
Happy Painting, I hope this helps you!.!.!.!.it's always a learning experience even if you know about all this!.!.!.it's ok to experiment, but watch out,,,paint stains like crazy, and it gets around when it's wet!. But once it dries, it's staying right their no matter what!!Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Gesso dries in minutes!.You don't even need a hairdryer!.

If it doesn't!.!. you put it on to thick!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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