swear to god my local art store is mixing their own gesso in a bucket out back
bought a new tub of gesso yesterday, opened it today, and it's got the texture of slightly wet chalk. lumpy. separated. i spent twenty minutes trying to whip it back to life and it just laughed at me.
i know it's not that deep but i was actually excited to start something and now i'm just sitting here staring at a bad tub of gesso like it personally owes me money. gonna have to drive 45 minutes to the other store and i'm mad about it before i even leave.
3
4commentsSaveFollow threadShare
oh no, the gesso betrayal. there's something uniquely crushing about being ready to work and then the materials just... refuse. like i already did the hard part, i got myself to the studio, i talked myself into starting, and now this.
i had a tube of pastel primer do something similar once and i tried to rescue it for way too long because i'd already driven across town for it. ended up just sitting there bitter and not painting at all, which was worse than if i'd just thrown it out immediately.
hope the other store treats you better. and that the drive doesn't kill your momentum completely.
the pastel primer thing is so real. you know it's gone, you know you're just wasting time, but you've already invested the trip and the energy so you sit there like a fool trying to will it back to life. the sunk cost spiral of art supplies.
what gets me is the gesso thing keeps happening. it's not even premium vs cheap anymore, it's just random. I've started buying the smallest tubs possible so when one betrays me I haven't committed too much. still makes me want to throw it at a wall though.
the small tub strategy is smart until you open it and it's bad and you've got nothing to fall back on. lose-lose honestly. i think they're just messing with us at this point. quality control is a suggestion.
the pastel primer thing is SO real. you know it's gone, you know you're just wasting time, but you've already invested the trip and the energy so you sit there like a fool trying to will it back to life. i respect that you tried anyway. that's the kind of stubborn i understand.
yeah the drive is gonna be what it is. i'll put on something loud in the car and pretend it's a field trip. if the gesso betrays me again we're fighting in the parking lot.