Priming wood panels for watercolor

People watercolor on wood panels frequently, and do it quite beautifully. Most often times when I ask what other artists have used, it's one of Daniel Smith's watercolor grounds. Whereas they're effective and beautiful, they take 72 hours to cure and some folks think the surface should be pre-wetted before being worked on (though that opinion varies).

I'm not much for waiting three days for something to fully be prepared, despite how great the product is. I decided to find an alternative to it, and after a day of incessant research decided to try an experiment. If it failed, I figured I would use the basswood panels for oil instead.

Step one was two to three layers of Golden's GAC 100. Once that was dry, I brushed two layers of matte medium over it and made sure the panels were completely sealed- If the GAC 100 didn't do it, the matte medium would. The final step was three layers of Liquitex Clear Gesso.

The experiment was a success. I have been working on three wood panels with a combination of Tombow Markers, Pentel water brush pens with watered down washes in them, and my collection of Angora, Daniel Smith, Windsor & Newton professional series, Dr.PH Martins Blackstar ink, and Chinese traditional watercolors.

They've been a lot of fun and I cannot wait to finish them!

*Still in progress* <3