🎨 Grumbacher Gesso (Hyplar) Artists' Acrylic and Oil Paint Medium in a 32 oz. Jar Review

For my paintings I use Grumbacher's Artist Medium acrylic plaster instead of the usual tube of white paint. It has enough texture and thickness to act as a white blending medium. It is also excellent for priming painting boards and can also be used as a "glue" for sticking canvas to boards. Excellent goods.

Grumbacher Gesso has a thicker consistency than others I've used. It covers the canvas well, but it's harder to apply evenly to get a smooth, non-textured finish. Sanding may be required for still lifes and portraits. I use it to cover my canvas with abstractions when I don't care if the painting looks smooth.

The product arrived with the lid closed. Plaster was spilled onto the outside edges of the plastic jar either before or after sealing. Anyway, the result was that the sealed lid had dried enough plaster to act like glue and not unscrew. My husband and I worked for 20 minutes or more, pulling out dried plaster and prying off the lid. Now the cover is damaged. There was no foil at the top under the lid that could prevent such a disaster.

I've tried various wood panel plasters but this is the best I've come across so far. This is a high quality thick gesso. Just shape the surface of the patch in the pot a bit, come back the next day and it still has its shape, more or less, and if you tilt it to the side it keeps its shape. However, it has fluidity. It's pretty much the best of both worlds, both being easy to apply yet thick. I needed a plaster that was hard (not rubbery) and sandable when dry, and this is the same plaster. I've