Monday 17 January 2011

Watering down your paints

Its one of the main rules of good painting and I have to admit its something that I don't do and should.

Most of the time I just take the paint from the reservoir in the lid after a good shake up.

This post is really a plea for help, I'm looking for peoples advice on what to do with paint thinning, do you just use water or some sort of agent? Do you water them down on your palette or in a mixing pot? How many more coats do you find you need to use once watered down?

6 comments:

  1. I just mix my paint with water. I've seen people use all sorts of fancy mediums but honestly unless you're going for a Golden Demon I doubt they're necessary. I also use a wet palette which does keep the paint thin while I'm working as well. As for how many more coats; it depends on the colour. Thinned white and yellow takes a lot more effort, but you do get far smoother finishes.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Pretty much what Dave said, good ol' water unless you're Picasso junior.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I use a 50/50 mix of Future acrylic floor finish & distilled water to thin my non-metallic paints, and Liquitex Flow-Aid (mixed according to the instructions on the bottle) for metallics. It really helps how the paint "flows" off the brush, your paint stays workable longer, and you go through a lot less paint.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Water works fine for me. I only add a tiny bit. I'm not someone who does layers and layers of thin paint but a couple will give you a good result. I have used a medium too but prefer to use that with inks to get them to flow better

    ReplyDelete
  5. I use water, myself- but I'm no painting mastermind or anything.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I use a windsor Newton flow release product mixed 1-10 with regulars tap water. I do find the paint flows more evenly off the brush but as you know from my models i'n no expert i'n painting!

    I always thin my non-metallics 50/50 with this mix, metallics are thinned less, usually 3-1. I find 2-3 coats gives a great finish but 1 may be enough depending on whether you plan to wash or highlight and it depends on the model itself, I.e. how much flat surface area there is to cover!

    ReplyDelete

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails