Vallejo drying retarder

[iceman]

Could anybody help me out here with how best to use this. I know that you add a few drops to the paint and that it will then help keep it wet for longer, but how much longer? Should this help me blend the colours better or should I just keep perfecting using the acrylics with out this additive? My intention was to use it when I'm painting faces.

Thanks in advance.

Tim

 

[MattS]

Tim,

I don't use any type of drying retarder with vallejos, but I believe that I've heard people use Windsor Newton's Watercolor Drying Retarder to good effect. I don't believe it can be used to allow you to blend acrylics like you would with enamels or oils. The acrylic technique is about layering color in very thin glazes or washes rather than traditional blending.

Matt S

 

[Brad S]

Tim,

I agree with Matt. Acrylics should be layered in light glazes or washes (controlled) and build up your highlights and shadow with increases of darker and lighter color with eash increase more diluted than the previous one. But at times I do use a flow medium that also acts as a drying retarder. It is from Jo sonja. I add just a little to help eliminate brush strokes while basecoating and to eliminate the water lines I might get if I happen to make my paint/water solution too thick. Also I find it easier to erase mistakes with a clean wet brush if I add a little drying retarder to my wash/glaze mix. As far as actually blending, I cant do it, but I know some have.

Brad Spelts

 

[Figure Mad]

Hi Tim,

Using the slow dry medium is a great way of helping you to move into using acrylics for base colours and main colours for uniforms and larger areas. It also helps with the flow of acrylics through airbrushes, it stops them drying out to quick at the nozzle. But washes are the best way to get the highlights and shadows, I did use slow dry medium when I started using acrylics and gradually worked my way to using less and less of it. I now dont use it at all, just work with washes on top of base colours as Matt said.

I know its not very usefull, but, learning how forgiving the paint is and how to get used to its quirks is the best way to get good results, your figures will get better every one you paint...

Dave

 

[KeithP]

I work primarily in oils but I use the WN Watercolor medium instead of water with the Vallejo and Andrea acrylics that I use for my base coats.

I am not very good with acrylics and this helps me take it a bit slower. Also, the WN watercolor medium is slightly more thicker and viscous than water which seems to help me too.

It's worth a go if you are interested in these factors or just want to experiment. I think I have an older article from Tim Flagstad on how he uses the WN medium. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll post or send you a copy.

Keith

 

[tortoise]

Personally for me I find all slow dry mediums make the paint too thick to work with very comfortably at small scales. I also find that for some reason the colours dry duller.

 

[godfather]

would windshield wiper fluid help extend vallejo paint?

 

[PJ Deluhery]

I'm an oil painter. I have experimented with using acrylic drying retarder to make acrylics work like oils (wet on wet). I've done a 30mm flat (practice piece) with this technique and was moderately pleased with the results. One problem is how much of the retarder to add - too much and the paint gets too thick, too little and it dries before you get the second color going to blend. You can "revive" a color freshly dried with the extender added by dabbing with a wet brush, but this gets a bit tricky. I think these problems could be overcome by a little further experimentation.

I think this technique could be made to work for you with a little creativity, experimentation and practice. What's the fun of painting if you always follow the "standard" method? Go for it, and you may create a whole new painting method. I would use acrylics more often, but I hate going over the same "real estate" a dozen times. Good luck!

 

[iceman]

Thanks everybody for your input.

PJ Deluhery

I totally agree with you on that, thought it might be cool to try and see about using acrylics to blend like oils, which is why I bought it.

I'll practice on some scrap first and let you all how it goes.

 

[PJ Deluhery]

Good luck, Tim!

In fact, you kinda got me interested in the concept again. I may try another practice piece myself.

 

[Flatsy]

I use the Windsor Newton Watercolor Blending Medium on my figures with the Vallejo paint.
I do not like the Vallejo retarding medium. I have tried many mediums and find the WN Watercolor the best for how I paint. Be very careful how much you add. If you add too much it will never dry. You just need a little bit of medium. Also adding too much seems to make things glossy.
I also add a little Isopropyl Alcohol to my water I use for thinning the Vallejos. This also adds flowing quality to the paint.
If you are learning to paint with Vallejos, I do not recommend using the retarding mediums. You need to learn the technique of layering the acrylics. Then after you learn that, use the watercolor medium sparingly to aid flow in glazing and feathering the paint.
I do not use the blending medium for high highlights and dark shadows. Only at the beginning of the shading/highlighting process to keep from having hard edges in the layers.
I get up many times during a painting session. The paint seems to keep workable a little longer when using the blending medium. I cover the paint pallette with a damp paper towel and this helps keep the paints workable for a little longer when I have to leave the table.
I do not try to keep the paint over night or longer. The properties of the paint change the longer it sits.
I write down all the color mixes I use and proportions and I mix new paint for each day. I tried to save paint on a wet pallette and I found I was spending way too much time trying to get the paint to lay down properly after it sits 24 hours. Good fresh paint is a wonderful thing for productivity.
-penny

 

[frank h]

Hi
I am getting back to painting
after a lay off spent trying to sculpt

For thinning I am using water with a few drops of
washing up liquid in it

With the water tension broken the paint flows well for layering

Used to use flow mediums and retarders
now just two water jars one to wash brushes during painting
the other to transfer a few drops to the paint by means of an old
larger brush

Frank