Tips and tricks

Here are some thoughts and suggestions in these trying times about how we can continue to improve our art without emptying the bank account.

Care of watercolour brushes 

from John Strickland

    
 

 

  

Storing brushes

Keep these dry brushes standing in a jar with bases down and hairs upwards

For travelling

It is an idea to keep them in roll-up pouch made with dividers, a flap-over at the top, and with longer sticks at the side to prevent the flap 'crunching' the hair/bristles.

NB. Interruption from your blogger. Potato-based Pringles! They are sold in fairly-solid round tubes with a plastic lid accommodate almost every length of paintbrush. Wrap in a rag or kitchen paper so they don't move around. 

Oh,I forgot to say: enjoy the Pringles first.

Hair-type brushes

Never leave standing in water jar for many hours - causing rotting of hair at the base (ferrule)

Maintenance of brushes

Periodically wash and soak brushes with dish-washer soap, then hang them (hair/bristles) down to dry or lay them flat - and remember to repoint them after washing.

Do not clean any watercolour brushes (hair or synthetic) with thinners.  This will cause the fine hair tips of a brush to become frizzy, and may ruin the brush.  Sometimes a frizzy tip can be trimmed with nail clippers or a fine pair of scissors.  

Not worth the risk!

Care of acrylic brushes

So the brushes used for acrylics are probably much cheaper (especially those from a hardware store) but they also need care and cleaning. 

Keep brushes in water while painting and as soon as the painting session is over, clean them. Yes, some folk have dirty acrylic brushes but clean ones work much better. And last longer. The same advice as for watercolour brushes applies:

Wash and soak brushes with dish-washer soap, then hang them (hair/bristles) down to dry.

Some saving suggestions

Dried up tubes of watercolour?

Get a razor or cutter and slice open the tube and use as though it was a pan. Careful the edges don't cut good watercolour brushes though.

Cheap paints are not a good idea - unless just for practicing - and even then...

Quality is best. Buy watercolour paints in tubes and fill your watercolour pans with this. Screwing the top on the tube tightly afterwards will keep the paint moist for years. And will cost you at least 30 percent less.

However, the best tip for saving money on any paints is to invest in only a certain number and learn to mix thoroughly. With six paints you'll have a good variety. With TEN MAXIMUM you have an excellent variety. Stick to these until you know them or want to splash out on more hues.

Watercolour artist Will Freeborn recommends his all-time favourite mix for greys: French Ultramarine and Burnt Umber.

Save on acrylics

Chris Breier says: Soft Body acrylic has three times the coverage of the heavy body acrylics. This is due to the fact that heavy body paint is applied in a thicker layer than the thinner soft body acrylics. The Soft Body Acrylics can be applied in a thin layer so it will cover more square feet. So one tube of soft body acrylics is roughly equivalent to three tubes of heavy body acrylics.This is much better return than a 10% discount on paint!

He also adds another tip that is valid for oil, acrylic and pastels:

"When I am done with a painting, O scrape up all of the leftover paint and mix it up into a neutral grey. It's wasteful to just throw it away. Most paintings contain neutral grass in them and the leftover grey can be used to dull down colour mixtures. Store in an airtight container and use it in your next painting".

And hello pastel artists. You are of course doing the same with all the pastel dust and excess, right? It's perfect for your greys.

Run out of canvas for oils or acrylics?

Who needs canvas! None of us are Monet or Rembrandts.(Yet!). It's really modern to paint on your trainers, beach stones, or a bit of drift wood. But if that's not what you fancy, then ask DIY pals if they have any leftovers (tripleply or hardboard) or go down to the hardware store and pick up some offcuts of hardboard or, if you are feeling flush, get the store to cut up one whole piece into useful sizes for paintin g- 40x50cm for instance.  It is VERY economical. You'll need to prime these but household water-based paint (the paint you use on walls) is a good bet. We use left overs and get a good mix of priming colours. And at the same time, indulge yourself in a 2-inch/5cm brush for those big washes!

But if you don't want to reinvest, then re-use. 

The wonderful Durbanville artist Eliza Bezuidenhout once did a fabulous oil paint demonstration in front of a group using and old canvas still with the remains of a painting on it. And she produced a magnificent portrait from a photo that she brought. Re-use your canvases. Re-use your boards. Check out her work on Instagram.

Watercolour paper can be used on both sides for practice especially the 300g weight. Just stick it down with masking tape on a support. But always buy the best quality you can afford as it can take many more layers of wet paint. Arches and Saunders Waterford are top favourites.

Palettes? Recycling old material is not a bad idea. While meat is still packaged in polystyrene (and it ought not to be!) or on bamboo plates, clean them and use them as a palette. Another idea was to cover a white silicone chopping board with clingwrap clean film and then discard the clingwrap after each painting session.

A tip from Hazel Soan

When you use paper towel to clean or absorb your watercolour, don't chuck them out afterwards. Dry them and use again! Save the planet. Same idea with those kitchen wipes. When they are no good or too stained for the kitchen, they are - after a good wash - excellent for painters who want to clean their brushes.

And another tip from Hazel:

A Splash of Red

"As painters we often add a splash of red into a painting to bring a composition to life. The red stands out because it is different. This week I read a quote by the Stoic Agrippinus, likening our role in society to threads in a garment, he said, "I want to be the red, that small and brilliant portion which causes the rest to appear comely and beautiful”. Red stands out because it is different but its real purpose is to make the other colours come alive. Being different is not about attracting attention to oneself, it's about bringing out the best in everyone else. Red understands how to "be the small part that makes the rest look bright”. No wonder the red tube lasts for so long!"

Use a mirror or cellphone for a quick snap

How are you doing with your painting? Take a cellphone snap or hold it up to a mirror to see how it looks. This forces you to re-evalue your work and it is extremely helpful.

Frames?

If you are going the recycle route, how about looking for frames in a secondhand shop. 

In watercolour you can always create your own 'mount' by blocking out the whole perimeter of your watercolour painting. Or, as FHAS member Di Breeze does so cleverly, create a simple doodle pattern on the white paper around your drawing or painting.

An easel? Never cheap but if you cannot make one yourself, perhaps a friendly DIY family member can help. 

Two types are worth considering. A table top easel or a stand up easel. Your blogger made her own stand up easel with pegs at different levels to accommodate different sized boards. You can do it as simply as you like using bolts and screws. Or fancy with mitred corners and permanent screws.

If you are game (and you'll save SO MUCH money) then Wikihow tells you how to do it. Have a look at the link below and pass it on to your husband/grandchild/handyman or get out your electric drill and have a go. 

https://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Easel  l 

I've always found that Peninsula hardware stores will cut your wood to the size you ask. Such a treat for a saw-shy artist.

Constant digital inspiration

You are reading this on a computer, cellphone or smartpad. So you can download material easily or watch short videos.

Use the internet to pick up tips and inspiration. Instagram is amazing for finding work. Pinterest too. How about typing in words such as 'paint a tropical beach'  or 'paint trees' and you'll find FREE tutorials on YouTube for this. 

Checkout watercolor_planet on Instagram. Or the wonderful American watercolour artist yonghong.zhong. He often publishes 3 images at a time to show the progress of a work.

And if you want to spend a bit of money, start a free account with Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com and buy digital books for less than paper ones. All Hazel Soan's books are (I believe) available digitally now.  These type of books you can consult at any time, anywhere.