How to Seal and Gesso a Wooden Panel

If you're an ambitious creative or visual artist looking for a versatile surface to work on, ARTdiscount Artists' Wooden Panels are an excellent choice! They're a great alternative to our best-selling pre-primed canvases. 

The timber used for these panels is sourced from FSC-certified, sustainably-managed forests. The lightweight and sturdy Paulownia hardwood is has been sanded to a smooth finish and has been reinforced to prevent warping and twisting when working with wet media. Our wooden panels have a 23mm (7"-8") deep cradle, which further adds to their long-term stability.

Our wooden panels come in a huge variety of sizes from A4 through to A1, in both rectangular and square shapes. Since wooden panels are already rigid right from the get-go, they don't need framing and can be hung straight onto the wall, which will give your art a stylish, contemporary aesthetic.

Preparations Before You Start Using Oil or Acrylic Paint

If you're intending to use oil or acrylic paints with these panels, there's some preparation you should do before you start.

First, lightly sand your panel with a fine sandpaper in the direction of the wood grain,  then wipe off any dust with a dry microfibre lint-free cloth.

Next, apply a size to all the exposed wood on your panel, which will seal the wood. Give your panel at least two thinly painted coats on the front, back and sides. Allow drying time between coats. Then lightly sand and dry wipe. Wait until it's completely dry before you apply the gesso layers.

If you're not going to apply gesso for the painting, protect the cradle sides and back with masking tape.

Now you can apply gesso to all areas that are going to be painted. Lightly sand and dry-wipe after each coat of gesso. Give the panel at least three to four coats and allow drying time between coats. You should apply three to four coats especially when using oil paint, but when using acrylic paints, only 2 coats are needed. When applying gesso, a good tip is to turn your panel around with each layer, move across horizontally with one layer, then wait for it to dry. Then work gesso vertically with your next layer and so on.

Brushes for Sealant and Gesso

Soft synthetic brushes will not leave too many brush marks, though if you want an exceptionally smooth surface, finish you can use a silicone wedge to smooth out the gesso. However, if you wish for a rougher surface texture, you could use a harder bristle brush.

Why Should I Seal my Wooden Panel?

Sealing your wooden panel with a size such as Golden GAC100 is very important before applying the gesso and painting. This seal creates a barrier between your surface and the gesso. This stage is easy and will prevent any disintegration of the wood from the acids in the oil paint, or any impurities or pollutants from the wood being drawn up and seeping through, which can discolour the paint. This happens especially whilst using acrylic paint as a painting medium; Support Induced Discolouration (known as SID), can occur if you do not size your panel first. 

Some painting surfaces such as wooden panels, MDF, and unprimed canvas can be very porous or semi-porous. If left unsized, they would absorb too much of the wet medium. Golden GAC100 if a fluid medium that's easy to use straight out of the bottle. It has a creamy viscosity, meaning there is no mixing required. It appears white when applied, but dries clear. Once dry, it does raise the wooden fibres slightly, so sanding between layers is required.

What is a Sealant?

The sealant layer is used to seal and protect the surface, whilst the Gesso layer provides a flexible ground and a key in which to paint onto.

How Do I Use the Sealant?

It is recommended that two layers of sealer is painted onto the back and the front of the panel, allow drying time between layers of sealant and layers of gesso and of course the sides of the cradle if you are going to paint on them too.

What is Traditional Gesso?

'Glue Gesso' or 'Italian Gesso', commonly known as Traditional Gesso, contains rabbit skin glue, chalk and white pigment. Some artists still use this gesso ground, mainly professional artists. Thankfully, today we have many synthetic equivalents at our disposal, so vegan and vegetarian artists can breathe easy!

What is Synthetic/Acrylic Gesso Used For?

Gesso is always applied after sizing your wooden panel if you are going to use oil or acrylic paint.

Using a white gesso will enable the colours to maintain their luminosity for oils and acrylic paint and allow the individual characteristics of the colours to shine, whilst also providing a tooth or key in which the paint will adhere too. This means you can use a variety of techniques depending on your own style; thick impasto marks, thin glazes, and more. Most white gesso dries to matte finish and is fast-drying. For use as a base for oils, at least three coats are recommended, whereas only two is needed for acrylics.

How do I Use Synthetic/Acrylic Gesso?

Gesso is available in a white, black, or transparent options. You can also add an acrylic paint colour of your choice to the gesso to provide a coloured ground. 

Black Gesso Primer

A black gesso primer has the same characteristics as white gesso and is applied in the same way. If used as a ground for acrylics, one coat is normally sufficient, but up to three coats may be required for oil colour.

Clear Gesso Primer

A clear gesso primer will allow the substrate surface to show through, which can be very appealing if working on softwood or hardwood with artists' panels. This will need a minimum of two to three coats.

A light sanding in between Gesso layers will help them to adhere to the substrate and to each other. The top layer can be sanded down for a smooth finish, or left slightly rough for impasto work.

Recommended Gesso Products

Winsor & Newton Galeria White Gesso Primer

Made from high quality acrylic resin with a good level of pigment strength, Winsor & Newton Galeria White Gesso Primer can be used straight from the pot and has excellent "tooth" for film adhesion. To reduce absorbency and to boost the integrity of the film, a minimum of two coats is required when working with oils.

Daler-Rowney System3 White Gesso Primer

The System3 Acrylic Gesso is specially developed as a inexpensive primer for use as a ground for acrylic and oil painting. It is ideal as a base for any large-scale work where primer is required, for example large paintings, scenery, and mural work.

The primer can be applied in multiple coats and sanded with fine grit sandpaper between layers for an extra smooth finish if desired.

Daler-Rowney Black Gesso Primer

Daler-Rowney Black Gesso Primer has unique formulation which needs no dilution. This product is highly adhesive and is ideal for directly sealing all semi-absorbent surfaces before applying colour – both acrylics and oils.

It's suitable for both interior and exterior applications and dries quickly to produce a matt surface with a slight tooth, which is easily sanded for highly detailed work.

Liquitex Professional White Gesso Primer

Liquitex Gesso is a premium acrylic gesso used to prepare painting surfaces for acrylic and oil paint. The gesso helps to provide the perfect "tooth" and adhesion to a wide variety of surfaces such as canvas, paper and wood.

For even more gesso options, check out the Gesso and Primers Collection on the ARTdiscount Website.

Let's Gesso!

We hope this article has cleared up any aspects of sealing and gessoing wooden panels that you may be unsure about! If you're looking for more inspiration about how you can use woodne panels, check the ARTdiscount Blog article "A Guide to Using Wooden Panels with Oils, Acrylics, Gouache, and Fineliners" to see how well this surface handles a range of mediums.

We're excited to see what you create on this unique surface! If you post your work online, don't forget to tag it with #ColouringTheNation so we can see your work. Happy painting!