The gesso I applied to my canvas is cracking. How do I avoid this?

Our gesso has a healthy level of solids and body. It is designed to be applied in several thin layers that build upon each other. It may be that your current technique is not a good match for the thickness of our product and thus, you ran into a cracking issue. Given the characteristics of Art Alternatives Gesso, we speculate that either too much gesso was applied, or there was too little dry time between coats.

A layer of gesso that is applied too thick may crack. This phenomenon would be similar to drought stricken soil. It has been our experience that as layers build up, it becomes harder to ascertain the thickness of the present coat. If the sub-coats are not completely dry they will cause tension on future coats as they are applied, resulting in a cracking from below. Therefore defining an absolute dry time can be tricky because of varying film thickness and conditions of heat and humidity. Keep in mind that as multiple coats are applied, drying time extends. This is because the older dry coats absorb some of the moisture from the upper coats, extending the time needed for drying.