cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

I have a question for the crafty types out there: is gesso supposed to be super thick and stick to pretty much everything? I'm trying to prep something for painting and one of the Helpful Hints in the instructions is to wait for the glue to dry and then put on two coats of gesso.

The part that I tested this on looks pretty good with one coat and like it will hold paint pretty well, but I'm not sure I'm doing it right. The gesso is so thick that I'm afraid of wiping out any subtle texture differences. I know that paint will further mask that sort of thing, but I was hoping some of it might stick around.

Yes, cryptic Sabine is cryptic. I'm more looking for a generic description on what this stuff is supposed to be like so that I either don't water it down too much or something else that's important to know.

This entire project is a leap away from the media that I've played with before. It's pretty fun, I'm enjoying myself, and I think it will end up being cool. I just have very little idea of what I'm doing and less idea on how I'm supposed to be doing it.