How do you stop Vallejos from drying out?

[mvonb]

I am having great difficulty stopping my Vallejos drying out whilst I am base painting faces. They are thinned with distilled water and placed in a porcelain spotting tile. Even away from strong light, at room temperature, they dry out way too fast. Are there any additives that can delay this? Hopefully someone has a trick up their sleeve for this one...

TIA

Martin

 

[gforceman]

Hi Marc,

i just add a little water with my brush each time I pick up some paint. That's all I do and I never have had a problem with the paint drying to quick.

i hope this helps,

Gino.

 

[slaj]

What is your ratio of paint to water ?

Stephen Mallia

 

[KeithP]

Are you unloading excess paint in to a moist/damp cotton rag? Are you frequently swishing the brush tip in water in between applications?

What size brush tip are you using? Sometimes using a 000 or 00 does not carry enough paint before drying out. At least for me

Keith

 

[amherbert]

You can buy acrylic paint retarder at an art supply store. I have the stuff by Golden. It slows the drying of acrylics. Add a littled dab to the flesh mix, and you'll get a longer working time.

Use only a little bit.
And why not mix your paint in a little cup? I use an aluminum palette with 7 wells, and the paint stays workable for a while without retarder.

Spread on a tile, it'll dry faster than pooled in a cup/well.

Cheers
Andy

 

[mvonb]

I am using a porcelain palette, with 12 wells, the size of a regular palette.

I mostly use a 00 brush for my flesh tones. Maybe I do need to wet the brush between applications a touch more frequently. Also, when I'm laying down the flesh tones, I dilute the paint 50/50 with the water. Thanks for all the suggestions, I will experiment next time and see what's best.

Kindest regards

Martin

 

[Pete_H]

Another little trick you may want to consider is using a "Sta-Wet" palette. This pretty much a large flat rectangular Tupperware container with a thin sponge inside of it. After soaking teh sponge in water and letting the excess run out (do not squeeze it out), it is placed inside the container. Over this, a sheet of wet sta-wet palette paper is laid over it. If you properly use this and seal it correctly after each paint session, your acrylics will last for days.

 

[mvonb]

That Sta Wet palette looks like a winner to me.

Thanks

Martin

 

[amherbert]

Originally posted by mvonb@Jun 1 2004, 12:48 PM
I am using a porcelain palette, with 12 wells, the size of a regular palette.
...

When you said a spotting tile I thought it was just a ceramic flat surface!!

I've looked at the stay wet palette too. Shelf paper with retarder is another option.

Cheers
Andy

 

[Anders Heintz]

I think it is your dillution ratio thats messing things up. I hardly ever have any problems with paint drying up on me and I keep it wet for hours sometimes. After each time I clean my brush, which is probably every 5 minutes or so I wipe off most of the water but then I put it back in the pallette semi moist, that way the paint is dilluted at all times and it wont set up on you.

 

[Franco]

Hi Martin,

What I find helpfully is using a larger sized brush. When I was using a 00 or 000 it was drying too quickly. I then read a small article by La Torre which said he never uses brushes smaller than 0. Also I place my Vallejo in bottle tops mixed with distilled water. The bottle top is deep and wide enough to hold sufficient paint i.e. I do not end up waisting paint but by the same token it does not dry up on me. My experience with retarders has been aweful and I steer clear from these - they thicken the paint and at times change the colour value. Hope this helps.

Cheers
Franco

 

[Pete_H]

Gray,
Dude, just buy Golden's gel retarder. It's pretty much the same thing as Vallejo's version and you get a helluva lot more for a little bit more $$$. Winsor & Newton also makes a retarder for water colors (I don't remember the exact name, but Tim Flagstad talks about it in his article a few issues ago in HM on painting fleshtones w/acrylics).

 

[mvonb]

Thanks to everyone who contributed. I now have more options than I dreamed of. I also think the low humidity in my room accounts for some of the problem.

Happy modelling

Martin