Rabbit Skin Glue - do you need it?

[Marina Dieul]

Thomasin,
I don't know what is a double boiler, but here is the traditional way I learned to heat the RSG : in french it's called " au bain-marie". You don't need to make the water boil, the RSG souldn't exceed 60 celsius degres, or it will loose it's qualitys.

[Karin Wells]

Some but not all RSG is rotted and smells bad - no matter the brand. It happens.

Fortunately, you do not need it anymore. Modern acrylic gesso can be applied directly to your canvas fibers - either cotton or linen. As long as you seal the fibers so the oil paint does not touch the fibers, you're good to go.

It is better to apply several thin coats of gesso than one thick one. Sand between coats.

Historical note: Some painters used RSG (water soluble) to seal the surface of the canvas - and then painted directly on top of the RSG. The color of the RSG and the canvas surface was used as the imprimatura.