How To: Modelling Paste VS Plaster

Modelling Paste & Plaster are two products used to create texture on the canvas. What's the difference? Are there advantages to using one as opposed to the other?

What is Crack Shot by DAP?

Crack Shot is a plaster-like substance made by DAP which can be purchased at most hardware stores. It was created for filling holes in your walls. Not for using on a canvas.

What are the advantages of using Crack Shot?

Let's just go ahead and call this product DAP. I don't like referring to it by "Crack Shot".

Think of DAP as an extremely cheap alternative to Modelling (aka Molding) Paste. Both of these products can be used to create texture on your canvas but where a bottle of Modelling Paste will cost you plenty, a large container of DAP will cost you around $7.

Because I work on such large canvasses (and so many of them) I am constantly looking for cost effective ways to create texture. DAP is a wonderful alternative.

But there is a catch:

DAP was meant to be applied on a hard surface (walls) so when you put it on a flexible surface like a canvas, DAP has a tendency to crack. 

To keep this from happening, I mix 1 part DAP to 1 part Gloss Gel as a way of making the mixture more "flexible". Doing this will make the mixture less prone to cracking and it will ensure that the mixture will adhere to the canvas without any danger of falling off the canvas in the future.

Add paint to the mixture for added flexibility. 

Using either a palette knife or your trusty roller, mix everything together. 

TIP: Keep in mind that by adding wet DAP to paint will be like adding titanium white to your mixture. This means that the colours will be greatly affected. Had I used red instead of Burnt Sienna for example, the whole think would have turned pink.