@ monkeycloud, you're right about the purist painters ... I know several (because I come from that background) that will only use rabbit skin glue sizing and would be abhorred of acrylic gesso and on and on... @ latexluv, you're right. kinda missed a page of posts in the thread. But I think my comment still pertains to the original topic, plus I thought the subjects core was interesting and something that I muse about when pondering this medium. Speaking of which, sure beats hauling around buckets of plaster and mixing up clay in a mixer, etc. I'll admit the material room's inner workings are an absolute mystery to me but I'll still manage to make some nice shaders for myself through research and experimentation, Mystery is half the fun. I mentioned in another thread that I thought the material room was a piece of magical code. Has anyone ever used a layer based shader system like in Strata or Modo, have been meaning to look into that on Strata...