[MR] Milk Paint

[Ceara ni Neill]

>> Jesso makes a
>> good primer
>
> Gesso makes a terrible primer for anything canvas, but
> would be especially bad on tent canvas.  It's made
> from hide glue mixed with some inert white pigment
> (like chalk) and is both rigid and absorbent -- not
> something you want on your pavilion.  The stuff sold
> as "acrylic gesso" in art supply shops is not really
> gesso but a thick, overpriced, latex paint.
>
> Alianora

I'd have to agree. Gesso is great for wall art, indoors. Outdoors it will
be exposed to sun & will crack & break down very quickly. It also makes
the canvas slightly rigid; add paint on top of that and it *is* rigid. A
pavilion can't be rigid. Might as well cash it in and opt for plywood. But
that's a whole 'nother project....

My opinion is that simple acrylic paint is the best; use a small square of
posterbord to apply it. 'Scrape' the paint onto the canvas, this works it
into the fibers & gives you a good coating using a minimum of paint. If
you've ever done silkscreening, it's the same principal as when you're
putting the wax resist on the screen.

Hope this helps.
-- 
===Ceara ni Neill
http://HouseBarra.com