Using Gesso on bird carvings

Am doing another chicadee in basswood.. have had problems with the wood burned texture filling up in the past and am wondering what I am doing wrong. Â* If I put the gesso on thick enough to cover the burn then I also fill in the feather details. Have several books for research but somehow I have missed this bit of help. Â*Harold

You don't necessarily have to make all the burned detail white. One way to reduce that problem is to not burn that dark to begin with. A light burn will still give you the detail you want unless you are actually burning for the effect of the color. If you do want a white base for painting, thin your gesso at least 50% and you can still seal your piece without filling in the detail.

I've also had good luck with just thinning the Gesso. But first, you're susposed to seal the finished bird with Krylon 1301.

In the book, 'How to Carve Wildfowl' Anthony Rudisill says he doesn't use Gesso because it raises the grain of the wood. He uses a primer called Loc Tite stain sealer. He doesn't say how and if he thins it, but i'd experiment first.

[pinefeathers]

If you paint with oils gesso is an option, but when useing acrylics, gesso is a must. Also, sealing the wood is a must with acrylics. Water used for thinning the paint and gesso will raise the grain if not sealed first. I use Jo-Sonja gesso thinned only with flow medium (no water). Burning very lightly allows coverage of the dark lines with less gesso. Gesso is the medium between the wood and the paint that allows for good paint bonding. It (gesso) is basically ground chalk, and some brands are ground finer than others. The coarser the grinding, the more apt it is to fill your fine detailing. Try different brands to find the one that works best for you.
:P

Sorry for the stupid question but I'm realatively new to carving and haven't done any bird carving. If it's not for the look of the burning why do you burn at all?

Thanks.

[pinefeathers]

Burning is a technique used to create very fine, crisp texture on the surface - e.g.-the barbs and shafts of feathers. A bird not textured at all is referred to as a 'smoothie'. These are usually working type decoys where the added realism is not necessary.

I to am new to carving I am just getting my airbrush set up. Would you use Gesso on all of your carvings if you are going to paint them? I was going to use acrylic to paint some one told me that it isn't toxic. I am going to paint a musky which is the first thing that I carved. thanks for all the help!!! this site is a life savre 8)

I was talking with my carving instructor yesterday and he told me he prefers to seal his carvings with TK sealer and paint the acrylics directly over that. When using this method, the darkness of your burning can be used to enhance the color of the finished piece. Might be something to try...

[icarve2003]

I have been reading Songbird Carving by Rosalyn Leach Daisy (excellent book!!) and she says to dry brush the gesso on. I tried it and found that it gives a good base for the paint and doesn't plug up your burning detail. Hope this helps.

[Nancy-G]

I burn in all the detail in my Santas' beards which, I suppose, is very similar to the detail on a bird and I need a sealer before painting with acrylics. I used water thinned gesso before I happily discovered KT Super Sealer. It comes in clear or gesso white. Both are as thin as water and do a super job of sealing wood, burned or not, before painting with oils or acrylics and it doesn't fill in detail.