Facilitating Blitz Splatter and Beyond

Blitz Splatter, Acrylic and Gesso on Canvas, Cree Mullin, 2015



I've mentioned before that my oldest son is an artist.  He primarily paints, but also creates these enormous, and precarious, found object sculptures.  One day I expect to find him crushed beneath one.  Gravity yields to no man,  grasshopper.
Like most artists, he is on a shoestring budget, and to help out, I've learned to stretch canvases.  It's not hard, building the frame itself is a bit more exacting.  After you've made the frame and stretched the canvas, you have only to prime it and then you're set to paint.  Cree had some gesso leftover, but it was getting chunky, so I thought, "I bet there's a recipe online for making your own gesso!"  And of course I was correct in this assumption.  The one that worked the best for me was:
1 part white glue (like regular Elmer's)
2-3 parts HOT water
3 parts cornstarch
3 parts baking soda
3 parts white acrylic paint
MIX WELL
Then pour into a container or jar and seal with a lid.