Schleiper Opaque gesso

Schleiper Gessos is a range of water based primers designed to prepare a variety of substrates for painting with various media including acrylics, gouache, oil, pastels and more.

Before creating the range, we enquired with artists what they look for in a gesso and were astounded to learn the diversity of requirements and of preferences. The common theme, nevertheless, was that a white gesso should be as opaque as possible and a transparent gesso as clear as possible. Beyond that, most artists had very personal preferences on the level of smoothness (or coarseness) of their ideal gesso.

Based on this, we asked Turner Colour Works in Japan who manufactures what is probably the most matte and opaque range of water based colours that exist (acryl gouache), to develop a range of gessos that would best correspond to the needs of all, or nearly all discerning artists.

This is the reason our gessos exist in a smooth (S), a medium-grain (M), a coarse (L) and an extra coarse (XL) finish. As an indication, our smooth gesso contains particles of just 6 microns, allowing for incredibly detailed work and our extra coarse gesso contains particles of 350 microns which provides excellent tooth for drawing with pastels but may also simply add a ruggedness to a painting otherwise may be difficult to achieve.

Our standard gesso is the medium-grain (M). With particles measuring 20 microns, this will feel similar to many existing gessos. The opacity of our white gesso nevertheless sets it apart from others of its kind and likewise the clarity of our transparent gesso.

Try our six differnt gessos and find the one that best corresponds to your work!