Acrylic gesso on raw canvas instead of PVA?
Hello art material experts.
I have stretched and prepared my own canvases for years, with lots of experimentation. Usually turns out pretty well. Last year I did it the "correct" way, using raw linen, sized with PVA, then used a alkyd based quick drying oil ground, and they turned out pretty nicely! Loved the oil ground.
But man the PVA step was HORRIBLE, and it occured to me that MAYBE this step is skippable?
Since the canvas was raw, it soaked up so much of the PVA as I went, that I felt like I was constantly batteling the surface and re-loading and re-loading my brush. If I watered it down more, it became easier, but I then had to go over it again and again and it just took AGES. Sticky brush, repetative, ineffective.
We all know we can't/shouldn't put oil ground or oil paint directly on the canvas. I will never do that. I will also not use rabbit skin glue - it's morally horrific to use animals skin for this, and it's not even stable or archival compared to PVA.
But why not use acrylic gesso straight on raw canvas in place of sizing? Couldn't I just stretch the raw canvas, get a container of solid acrylic gesso, and use that to seal the canvas? People use it on paper to paint oils on paper. Are there ingredients in generic white acrylic gesso that could threaten the canvas? Isn't it just a polymer, white pigment (titanium) and a filler (chalk)? Will the chalk damage the fibres in some way? Is the acrylic gesso porous?
And if I have to use PVA after all, are there any tips to make it less insufferable?