Bible Journaling- Preparing Your Page With Gesso
Preparing your bible page for journaling is one of those common things bible journalers converse about. You may have heard mentions of prepping pages, or wondered yourself how to keep your medium from bleeding through your bible page. So I’m going to lay it all out.
What does “preparing my page mean?”
So, you know, bible pages are thin. “Prepping your page” refers to adding a protectant- usually gesso- that thickens your page to protect it from tearing and keeps your medium from bleeding through the back of the page.
Gesso? whats that?
Gesso is an acrylic paint or glue-like substance that works wonderfully for protecting your bible page. They can be found in limited colors, but white or clear are most common. I do know some Bible journalers who use a thin application of white gesso, but generally, you’ll want a clear gesso. My personal favorite is THIS Art Basics gesso, which you can find on Amazon. It is clear, and matte so you can hardly tell it is even on your page.
*There are recipes that you can find online for “DIY Gesso” which can be a good option if you don’t want to spend the $10 on store-bought gesso right away. But, I do find that the store bought is well worth the money*
So when do I need to Prep my page?
This depends on what medium you are using and how careful you want to be about bleed through. If you are just using colored pencils, crayons, stickers, or a small amount of watercolor or gelatos, you shouldn’t need to prepare your page, as these don’t usually show on the back side of the page.
However, if you are using a lot of watercolor, acrylics, or gelatos, I recommend spreading a layer of gesso on beforehand. I also recommend prepping your page when using stamps. Even though a pigment ink pad (like Versamark, or Colorbox) shouldn’t bleed through, you do usually get some ghosting (meaning a shadow on the back side of the page.) Any other type of ink pad will bleed through an unprepared page, and no one likes that.
If you are unsure if your medium will bleed through your page, go ahead and use a page in the back of your bible to test it! But my main point here is: it never hurts to prep your page, and only takes an extra few minutes!
So how do I apply the gesso?
Applying gesso is actually very simple and doesn’t take very long at all. Here are the steps.
- Place a piece of paper, cardboard, a sheet of acrylic, parchment paper (really anything) under your page.
- Use a flat paintbrush, or sponge brush, and gently paint a small amount of gesso onto your page. Try to keep your layers thin and application even. Be sure to apply the gesso onto the entire portion that you are working on.
- Move the paper that is under you page slightly. This is very important! If you don’t move the paper just slightly, your bible page and the paper can get stuck together, and it is not fun trying to get it apart (yes I speak from personal experience haha)
- Let it dry! -and don’t forget to rinse out your brush right away
Here is a short video showing the process. I hope this post helps, let me know in the comments if you have any questions! xoxo Jenna
