FREE >>> ART TIPS <<<FREE
Barbie Kew
ART TIPS are posted here at infrequent intervals. Other artists are
encouraged to share their tips. I will archive and give credit where due when
tips are reposted in the future. Barbie Kew
Palette and Painting Knives
Many times an artist will "paint" using a palette (painting) knife. There are
some who like the challenge of painting an entire painting using only the knife.
Palette or painting knives come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit
individual tastes/needs. I often use a painting knife whenever I have a need to
create a thin, fine line. For this purpose, I use a painting knife that looks much
like a putty knife, but instead of the knife tip being squared, as it is on a typical
putty knife, it is angled about 15 degrees. The edge is also honed very thin
and is perfectly flat across its width.
By spreading the paint thinly on my glass palette, then dipping or drawing the
knife-edge through the paint, I pick up a fine line of paint which is transferred
to the canvas, board, or paper I am working on by the knife tip. Using a
straight-edge as a guide I can draw a fine line of infinite length much more
accurately than by using a one-haired brush or some other instrument.
My favorite knife for drawing fine straight lines is a UTRECHT 196Q. I have
seen something similar sold under Bill Alexander and Bob Ross brand names.
An Ounce of Prevention
For those with sensitive skin, an alternative to wearing rubber gloves when
working in the studio or shop is to use a barrier cream. A barrier cream can be
purchased in most drug departments, safety supply, and house-paint stores. If
a barrier cream is not available, then plain old vaseline, hand lotion, or any
other hand cream may be a useful substitute.
Hand Cleaners
Especially useful for removing oil paints and printing inks from the skin as well
as clothing are the waterless hand cleaners sold to mechanics by auto supply
stores. Also can be found in house-paint supply stores.
The Best PALETTE.
I use a piece of plate-glass with edges ground smooth. Glass is so much
easier to clean than anything else commercially available. I use a piece of
white paper beneath the palette to give me a background to work against when
mixing colors. I use this palette for both oil and water based (acrylic) paints.
In the field (plein air painting) I use a piece of galvanized sheet metal for a
palette when using my French Easel. My French Easel came with a wooden
palette, which is very hard to clean in the field. I substituted a piece of sheet-
metal the same size and find it works much better. Being somewhat heavier
than the wooden one, it doesn't blow off as easily when it gets windy. When I
am through painting for the day, the metal palette cleans easily with a rag and
a little paint thinner.
Cleaning my palette.
Once most of the paint has been removed/discarded, I use one of those
commercially available razor-blade scrapers to scrape away the remainder
and wipe clean with a rag and a minimum amount of paint thinner.
ACETONE Solvent.
Be forewarned, it is a highly volatile solvent--high vapor pressure like raw
gasoline. It is safer than most other solvents from the standpoint of toxicity,
but should still be handled with care--adequate ventilation, and avoiding skin
contact.
There is nothing better for softening dried OIL Paint residues: linseed oil,
damar varnish and such. When dried paint cannot be easily removed with
conventional paint thinners, try a little acetone. Spread around with the end of
a scraper. Works like magic. My pallete cups eventually become a gummy
mess. I put a little acetone in a large-mouth jar, drop in whatever I want to
clean, slosh it around a bit, and--voila !! You can even use it to soften and
remove paint from natural bristle brushes and some of the nylons--but don't
allow it into the handle/ferrule area.
Acetone is available in gallons at most building supply and paint stores. Store
it with the same care you would any other highly flammable in your studio.
Removing Dried Acrylic Residues
Isopropyl Alchohol (common rubbing alchohol) will soften dried acrylic and
allow its removal from palette, brushes, and smooth surfaces. Water alone
works well for cleaning the glass palette with no other softener needed.
Preserving unused paint.
When working in oils, I transfer any salvageable oil paint onto a second, clean
palette for storing in the freezer compartment of my refrigerator until the next
painting session. With acrylics, I try to place on the palette only what I will use
each painting session--having found no practical way to save acrylics from one
session to the next.
Opening/Sealing Paint Containers
Have trouble with all those stuck lids on paint tubes, jars and cans of paint?
Here is another one of my unsolicited and free ART TIPS.
I keep one of those plastic bags that they bag my groceries in handy.
Whenever I open a tube, jar, or can, I stretch the plastic across the mouth
before screwing (or pressing) the lid back on. No more stuck lids for me. Use
scissors to trim away the excess plastic bag material. Not only does the plastic
make removal of the lid easy, it also seals the container to prevent the
contents from drying out.
From: feefy...@aol.com (FeeFyFoFum)
If you didn't make use of the preceding tip and your lids are stuck
closed, try soaking them in straight ammonia. It will dissolve most (water-
based) paints quickly, and will not harm water-based paints if they are not
exposed to the ammonia for a long period. Not too effective on oil-base
though.
Recycle your panty-hose.
Don't throw away those old panty-hose. There is no better rag material for
making delicate corrections to oil and acrylic paintings, or for "stumping"
(smudging) other art materials, like charcoal and pastel. The nylon material
makes excellent strainers/filters. Just stretch across a the opening of a jar, can
or funnel and pour in the contaminated material, and strain. For dissolving
crystals of damar varnish in turpentine, cut off the foot of a panty-hose, fill with
crystals, and suspend toe-down in the turps. If you have long hair and need a
hair net--hey, why not? On another personal note, use the foot and about
twelve inches of the leg for a wash cloth--drop a bar of soap inside, tie the
open end loosely, and--voila!--self-laundering wash cloth with soap built in.
Making Your Own Stretcher Bars for Canvas
Both red cedar and redwood offer economical choices for stretcher bar
material. Both are long-grained woods with minimal knots and other weak
points. If you have access to a table saw, then making stretcher bars is a snap.
I buy the largest sizes readily available (usually 2 X 10 inch planks) and cut
these down to size. Alternate rip cuts (lengthwise cuts)-- one straight cut (blade
at 90 degrees to table top) and the next angled at 30 degrees which leaves a
sharply angled knife-edge lip that I trim and flatten slightly to a 1/4 inch width.
This lip provides "stand off" for the stretched canvas.
Here's my secret for assembling the beveled strips once I decide on the length
I need. I make the appropriate 45 degree miter cuts at the ends of each piece
as needed to get the correct length for each side. The mitered corners will be
held together with hardwood dowels. The holes for the dowels are drilled to the
same size as the O.D. of the dowels I will use. To keep corners aligned for
drilling, I use a corner clamping jig (mine is a conventional corner jig used by
picture framers). You can buy inexpensive corner clamps at most building
supply or hardware stores. With a corner clamped and held tightly together, I
use a variable speed hand drill to drill a hole all the way through the corner at
a right-angle to the miter cuts. I then insert a hardwood dowel to hold the
corners together and trim it to size . The dowel is NOT glued--it is left lose, or
friction fit.
The advantage of this system is that the loose dowel allows me to use corner
wedges to spread the corners open for tightening my canvas later. This
method replaces the complex rabbet joints used on commercially available
stretcher bars. If you are working with extra large stretchers, you can drill two
parallel holes at each corner for added stability.
Priming with Acrylic Gesso
Regardless of the painting surface, the following may help you if you prime
using acrylic gesso as I do. First you should know that many of the top-of-the-
line acrylic house paints are excellent substitutes for the acrylic gesso bought
from an art supply house. Acrylic gesso from a reputable manufacturer is
usually thicker than house paint. If you do use house paint, be sure it says 100
percent acrylic and not acrylic latex or acrylic with something else. When using
a house paint, ask for one that has a mildew inhibitor in it, or ask the paint
salesman to add it. If you are using acrylic gesso in gallons or larger quantities
(from an art supplier) it is possible to mix in a mildew inhibitor yourself, but not
easy with a new full container. I usually pour out some into a separate
container, mix inhibitor into the separate portions, then recombine them in the
original container.
Formaldehyde used to be the recommended treatment for prevention of
mildew. Before it was banned from over-the-counter sales you could buy it in a
drug store. I don't know where you get it now except through a chemical
company. The mildew inhibitor now sold for paints is safer to use and readily
available at a paint supplier.
When applying acrylic gesso, I first thoroughly saturate my canvas with clean
water using large urethane sponges. I rub vigorously on BOTH faces of the
canvas to break down the size in the cloth and help the fiber to wick up water.
This allows the first coat of gesso to flow into and saturate the fabric, thereby
providing a seal (barrier) that cannot be obtained by applying gesso to a dry
canvas. After the first coat has dried sufficiently, additional coats can be
applied. If painting with acrylics, you can begin working immediately on the
thinly primed surface without worry of additional coats. For oils, I use a
minimum of two coats, the second one applied as thickly as possible. I sand
down between each coat and again pre-wet the canvas on the side that will be
my working surface, this time using a spray bottle filled with water. The pre-
wetting makes the thick gesso much easier to distribute without thinning it.
For applying gesso I use the best quality natural bristle house-painting brushes
I can buy--and as large as they can be bought. As with all good brushes, they
are expensive. Properly cared for they should last almost forever. Mine are
many years old. Before dipping into the gesso I submerge the brush in a
bucket of water and then shake out the excess. When not using the brush,
hang it by that hole in the handle in a pail of water with the bristles fully
submerged. If the session lasts a long time, and gesso begins drying in the
heel of the brush, stop and wash the brush out thoroughly before continuing.
After cleaning your brush, hang it to dry, again using that hole in the handle.
After it is dry wrap it in a piece of newsprint or craft paper similar to the way it
came when purchased before carefully storing it away.
Sanding Gesso Between Coats.
The gesso must be thoroughly dry if you are going to sand it. If not dry, it will
quickly clog the sandpaper, rendering it useless. Even when dry the acrylic will
clog the sandpaper and the finer the paper the quicker it will clog. I use a full
sheet of very coarse grit paper, wrapped around a large urethane sponge.
One problem you will have when sanding a canvas is caused by the "give" of
the canvas. When you press on the canvas it will give and come in contact
with stretcher bars or cross braces as you are sanding and ridges will form. To
avoid this I back up my canvas with a large piece of galvanized sheet metal
(18-20 guage) that has been cut to a rectangle with rounded-off corners. The
rectangular dimension of the sheet metal is much smaller than that of the
canvas. It is moved around as required for backup as you sand. The sheet
metal will slide into the spaces between the canvas and stretcher bars, or
canvas and crossbraces.
--
888888888888888888
Barbie Kew
Smoke'n 'em.
888888888888888888
Charles Eicher
Kew) wrote:
> ACETONE Solvent.
> Be forewarned, it is a highly volatile solvent--high vapor pressure like raw
> gasoline. It is safer than most other solvents from the standpoint of
toxicity,
> but should still be handled with care--adequate ventilation, and avoiding skin
> contact.
Jees, do we have to go through this again? Acetone is NOT a safe solvent,
and is highly carcinogenic. "High vapor pressure" means "Highly
Explosive".. If Acetone doesn't give you irreparable liver damage, it will
probably blow you up.
There are plenty of solvents that are much safer than acetone. It is
highly irresponsible for you to promote its use. Of course, you have
nothing to risk, shielding yourself behind a bogus email address. If you
have the temerity to advise people to use chemicals that will cause
immediate risks to their health, the least you could do is to post your
real mailing address where they can send the subpoena, so they can sue you
when they develop liver cancer.
--
----------------
Charles Eicher
cei...@inav.net
----------------
Barbie Kew
>Jees, do we have to go through this again? Acetone is NOT a safe solvent,
>and is highly carcinogenic.
No Charles, WE don't have to go through THAT again. It is offered as free
advice from someone who has safely used all sorts of solvents for more
years than most in this art group have been around. Having worked in
the industry that produces many of these solvents for over 32 years, I
have had the ignominous duty of literally crawling in the stuff before.
BUT there is a safe way to handle studio materials, no matter what they
may be, and un-safe ways, and everyone should know that by now.
Mdeli
>I often use a painting knife whenever I have a need to
>create a thin, fine line. For this purpose, I use a painting knife that looks much
>like a putty knife, but instead of the knife tip being squared, as it is on a typical
>putty knife, it is angled about 15 degrees. The edge is also honed very thin
>and is perfectly flat across its width.
>By spreading the paint thinly on my glass palette, then dipping or drawing the
>knife-edge through the paint, I pick up a fine line of paint which is transferred
>to the canvas, board, or paper I am working on by the knife tip. Using a
>straight-edge as a guide I can draw a fine line of infinite length much more
>accurately than by using a one-haired brush or some other instrument.
By this method you will get a fine enough line to
satisfy any Modern Academic artist who hasn't learned
his skills. Namely a fatso fine uneven line.
If you want to see fine lines take a good look at some
Dutch still-life paintings or even better Classical
Persian or Mogul painting.
To paint these kind of fine lines requires knowledge of
technique and a bit more skill than that of our modern
schmierers.
Mani DeLi
...no skill no art.