Hey artists . . .?

Question

What is primer? With oils and acrilics what does primer do? Can u use primer for watercolor? Do most artists use primer? And how do u use it?

Answer 1

Primer is just referring to preparing your painting surface. Canvas will rot and the paints bleed through if the you paint on raw canvas You gesso the surface of the canvas to hold the paints and protect the canvas. gesso used to be ground marble but current gesso is acrylic based.

Watercolor is meant to be absorbed by the paper. Most papers have been polished with calcium carbonate before you buy them which give them a better polished surface. You can buy rough, med and a highly polished hot press. If you have every painted on rice paper you will appreciate the watercolor paper finish.

But every rule made in art has been broken by someone and I love to break the rules. I tell my student we are going to mix these materials together and if it does not explode we will frame it.

Answer 2

primer is just a paint that you use to prepare the surface for painting. gesso is for acrylics on canvas it keeps the canvas from absorbing the paint. there is primer for watercolors on canvas and there is special paper for painting with watercolors but i think you still have to prime it I was always told to tape the paper on the easel all the way around to keep the paper from bunching up. I always use gesso when I paint on canvas because one time I didn't and I wasted a lot of time and paint going back over stuff. there are other primers for oil paints and wood surfaces. some artists prepare the whole canvas and some just prepare the area to be painted, I mostly paint on canvas with acrylic so I paint the whole thing down let it dry and paint over it. all in all its just something to make your painting look smoother and more professional and make it esasier to paint. try going to a craft store that has a good painting section you'll find that there are all types for specific media and surfaces. hope I helped.

Answer 3

I use watercolor paper for watercolor. No primer. No fixative. No varnish. That is the traditional and archivally-correct way to paint in watercolor.

I have heard that some people have begun to use watercolor on canvas. I don't see the point of doing that. I also don't see how the paint will bond to a primed canvas the way it does to watercolor paper. But, people are going to do what they want to do.

Answer 4

Hi,

I say primer. In USA people say gesso.
Gesso here is plaster.
A primer bonds to the surface to prepare it to be painted.
There's a paper from Art Spectrum «Colourfix» that can take watercolour. It's a watercolour paper with an acrylic primer.
This paper is mostly used for pastel due to its sanded paper.
But it can take washes.

Kind regards,

José
http://sitekreator.com/hushcolours/index.html