Gesso before painting water

[Oldtimer]

I notice that you do not show using gesso when painting water scenes. I have a problem with the brush strokes showing when finished. Should I not use gesso?

[nolan]

Oldtimer
Gesso is only for preparing raw canvas to accept paint.

I don't recommend using it for the actual painting process, just use white paint.

PS - Do you paint in oil or acrylic?

[Bill76434]

Nolan, I have used Gesso to cover an acrylic painting for reuse. Is this not advisable?

[nolan]

You should be okay as the original was acrylic. You can't do that with an oil painting though.
Usually what you want to do is lightly sand the previous painting because the acrylic is a smooth surface so sanding gives the gesso something to grip onto.

Acrylic paintings are mostly opaque so most times you can simply give the old painting a light sand then paint straight over it without a layer of gesso. 

[Bill76434]

Thanks Nolan