Virtues of wet sanding

[William Whitaker]

I end the series with this extreme close-up of a hand, again taken in raking light.

I will now let the painting sit for a month, out of sight, and then get a nice fresh-eyed look at it and probably change some stuff.

I always do.

Bill

[Michele Rushworth]

Thanks, Bill, for posting these.

I will now let the painting sit for a month, out of sight, and then get a nice fresh-eyed look at it and probably change some stuff. I always do.

What a great idea. I need to start doing this too!

[Claudemir Bonfim]

Hi Bill,

I always loved to see your work. I think it

[Jean Kelly]

It's amazing.

Jean

[Kimber Scott]

Googling ABS turns up a scary array of choices - none of which appear to be appropriate. Who knew "ABS" could stand for so many things?

[William Whitaker]

ABS = acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.
An industrial plastic.
I buy a 1/16" thick white sheet of this material, glue it to plywood using countertop cement, sand it until it looks like a lovely piece of matte ivory, and paint away. No priming necessary. It is archival.

A great alternative is to buy a gesso panel here. http://www.realgesso.com/
These panels are primed with gesso -- not the acrylic stuff, but the real thing.

[Kimber Scott]

Thank you, William. Is the ABS something that can be found in a home improvement store? Where can I get it? Also, what is the advantage in real gesso, over acrylic? Is it in archival quality, aesthetics, working surface? I never knew there was a "real gesso."

Thanks, again!

Kim