Masking fluid tutorial - part 2...

In today's tutorial, I'm going to give you some tips on removing masking fluid and next time we'll look at some of the alternate approaches to masking -- including unusual uses of the fluid and use of masking films. (If you want to review the first posts in this series, go back here and here!!)

Before removing the masking fluid, it's a good idea to clean off as much of the residual paint on the surface of the masking as possible so you don't rub dried paint onto your paper as you work. You can use a damp tissue for the larger areas and a damp cotton swab for smaller places.
In the image above, I'm removing a section of masking fluid with a rubber cement pickup -- basically a little square of crepe shoe sole material. I rub it lightly at the edge of the masked area to grab the masking and pull gently away from the paper. This works especially well with Winsor Newton masking fluid because it forms a relatively thin film. With the heavier masking fluids such as Incredible White Mask and Pebeo, you can start lifting the film with the pickup and then pull on it with your fingers to remove it in strips or sheets (this also works with the Winsor Newton). Below, you see me pulling the masking off by hand after getting each row started with the pickup tool. I carefully grab the rolled edge left by the pickup and tug gently.


If you have very small areas of masking fluid, such as the dots I used on this painting, you can either rub over them gently with the pickup tool or use your fingers to loosen them. You must clean the edge of the pickup or wipe your fingers frequently so you don't smear paint onto the newly uncovered areas as you work. I find it helps greatly to brush the surface afterwards with a drafting brush to remove all the loose bits. That won't mar your paint surface or rub paint into the reserved areas.


At the end of this process, you need to "pat down" the painting to make sure you've removed all the masking fluid. Run your hands lightly across the surface to detect any missed spots.

In my last tutorial, I mentioned that I had read that you shouldn't shake the bottle of masking fluid because it causes the latex to clump, but I couldn't recall where I'd found that information. Reader Kristen Colebank pointed out that Elizabeth Kincaid discusses this in her book Paint Watercolors that Dance with Light (North Light Books). Although I only recently purchased a copy of Elizabeth's book, I suspect that I may have looked through it at some point and that it was the source I remembered. Thanks, Kristen!!

I hope you're enjoying these posts. I recently saw a comment from an artist asking why we artists spend so much time on technique instead of talking about ideas. I've been thinking about that ever since and have to answer that without a solid grounding in technique, all the fabulous ideas in the world are just elusive mists. The goal is to reach a point where the technique becomes so integrated into your process that it becomes second nature. I hope I'm helping you proceed in that direction!!

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What a difference a day makes...

I went to bed last night sure that I'd lost this painting -- poured washes hadn't worked the way I expected and . . . well, let's just say "mistakes were made." I hate that feeling.

But I don't have time to start over on this, so I decided to proceed with the next pour this morning and make the best of it. This pour happily covered the problems I'd created for myself yesterday and has added some funky "special effects" -- I'm back on track!! I may do another wash over parts of the painting before I remove the masking, but I no longer have that sinking feeling that I've wasted all my efforts so far.

What you see is a tiny section of the painting, with a fair amount of residual paint on the masked areas. I'll clean that off a bit before I remove the masking, but because I used Incredible White Mask on most of the larger areas, I should be able to pull it off in sheets once I get a corner started. That largely eliminates the problem of rubbing paint off the masking and onto the open paper.

As you can see, I masked over a poured first layer of paint, rather than preserving white paper, and I will be enhancing and modifying the color as needed after I remove the masking. Stay tuned!!

I'm also planning to do another post in the next few days on variations in masking techniques. Be sure to stop by for the continuing tutorial.

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A masking fluid tutorial...

Yesterday's post on watercolor masking fluid generated a lot of interest and feedback. Lots of strong feelings out there on the subject -- particularly when it comes to the brand!! I decided this topic deserved a little more airtime.

I've been using masking fluid since I returned to watercolor 15 years ago -- starting with very experimental spattering techniques and eventually moving to controlled use to preserve whites or to allow me to create background washes around complicated shapes. Although some artists use frisket film in combination with the fluid, I have always coated all masked areas with fluid to make sure all surfaces behave the same after I remove the masking and start adding paint. I use a variety of masking fluids and tools to accomplish my goals, as you can see in the photo above.

You can see the various masking fluids I use, brushes (a size 2 and size 6 are all I need), my bucket of soapy water and the little container of liquid dish soap, the sharpened wooden handle of an old cheap brush, a toothbrush for spattering, a ruling pen, and a couple of different nibs.

Inexpensive white synthetic brushes seem to work best with masking fluid. (Whatever you do, do not use a fine watercolor brush to apply it.) Yesterday's post includes information on how I keep the brushes in good condition. Although I've never tried it, some people use Goo Gone or other solvents to rescue clogged brushes.

The supernib plus from Masquepen is in the upper left of this closeup photo, along with the fine pin they include to help clean it. At middle right is a bottle marketed by Jacquard for silk painting -- three different nibs are available and what is shown is the mid-size one. The metal nib screws onto the little plastic spout which pops into the bottle top. When I'm using this, I put the straight pin into the nib to keep it open when I take a break. These nibs seem to work best with slightly thicker-bodied fluids -- Pebeo and Incredible White Mask -- and are fairly easy to clean because of the short tip.

The ruling pen, shown at the bottom of the photo, can be adjusted to give lines of varying widths. I find the Winsor Newton fluid works best because it flows easily. A line width of about 1mm seems to be best for outlining rectilinear shapes. You can also create finer lines for special things like cat whiskers or tiny plant hairs, but it's difficult to make very thick lines because the pen doesn't hold enough fluid to go very far. This tool is very easy to clean by wiping it thoroughly and/or peeling off any dried masking. You can go here, here, or here to find ruling pens.

I got an Incredible Nib with my first purchase of Incredible White Mask, but I've never found it to be useful.

Don't buy large quantities of masking fluid unless you're planning some big projects. Pebeo tends to seize up in the bottle over time and Incredible White Mask can be difficult to remove if it's old when applied, even if you don't leave it on the paper very long. A sign that it's too old is the color -- when fresh it's the color of cream, and it gets very yellowed when old. Although I don't always remember to do this, it's a good idea to date your bottle when you buy it.

Slightly thickened masking fluid can be thinned with a very small amount of plain ammonia. I always stir the fluid rather than shaking it, after reading some years ago that shaking caused the latex particles to clump and separate out of solution, making the stuff useless. Yet several manufacturers instruct you to shake the masking fluid before using. Although I often save technical information, I can't find the article I read. If anyone has more information on this matter, please leave a comment.

Masking fluid must be applied to perfectly dry paper and your painting must also be perfectly dry before you remove the masking. You can remove it with your fingers or with a rubber cement pickup (a small square that looks like a piece of a crepe sole) if there's a large amount to remove.

After removing the mask, you'll have bright white shapes with hard edges. It's this characteristic that leads many watercolorists to reject the use of masking fluid. However, by softening the edges and/or painting in the shapes, you can integrate them and create an esthetically pleasing painting. But that's a topic for another day!!

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Starting off the new year as a materials geek...

I finally had a chance to test the Stephen Quiller watercolors I'd received a few months ago. The primary claim of this line is that the pigments are balanced to give perfect neutrals when complements are combined (and each tube is labelled to identify its complement). Taking into account that it's difficult to mix exactly perfect proportions, my impression is that they perform as advertised. However, I found them a bit gummy to brush out -- perhaps due to the use of honey as one of the ingredients.

As a comparison, I mixed neutrals using the same Winsor Newton pigments, with one exception -- I don't have cadmium yellow on my palette so I substituted Winsor yellow, knowing that it was not likely to give a clean neutral. Although my camera distorts the color just a bit, I think you can see that the Winsor Newton neutrals are comparable to those mixed with Quiller paints. The W-N mix of ultramarine violet and Winsor yellow is muddy, as I suspected it would be. That's because Winsor yellow is a staining pigment and is not compatible with the granular ultramarine violet whereas the cadmium yellow, another non-staining pigment, mixes well with that violet.

In sum, I'm happy with the W-N colors I have on my palette -- I know which pigments can be successfully mixed and I have a wide range of pigments for that reason -- and I prefer their consistency.



I've also been trying out some new masking fluid -- Masquepen -- using the Supernib Plus for the little blue dots you see on this early-stage painting. The beauty of the superfine nib is that you can make very consistent-size dots -- these are about 2mm in diameter. It really is important to clean the nib frequently however, because it's so fine that it can clog up in a very short time. I keep a bucket of soapy water on the table and rinse the nib every few minutes, blowing the soapy water through the tip and running a fine wire through it to make sure it's completely clear. The other areas on the painting have been masked with either Incredible White Mask or Winsor Newton Colorless Masking Fluid applied with a Cheap Joes Uggly Brush -- the masking shows up as slightly darker and a bit shiny where the light hits it. I dip the brush in liquid dish soap and then rinse it slightly and wipe it before dipping into the masking fluid. I also rinse the brush regularly and repeat the soap step before applying more masking.

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Silly string...

One of the best features of Incredible White Mask is that it holds together as you remove it. I get a child-like joy out of pulling up on one of the strings and following along as it meanders over the surface of my paper. I took this picture right after I'd removed all the masking. I'm now painting in all the lines.

True confessions...

I dislike (...OK, I hate...) painting for a group show when the theme is imposed by a committee and that's where I find myself this week. I won't go into details, but it has to be something with a watery theme -- AND it has to fit a title that I chose a month ago to meet the venue's printing deadline! (Did I just hear someone snicker out there?) I tossed around a few ideas that would have taken me much too long to paint and then inspiration struck.

Some years ago, I found a fun computer program that allowed wild manipulations of an image through various filters. Even better, you could capture the variations as they were morphing and print them. I scanned one of my paintings (of a cabbage) and generated a whole bunch of crazy offspring from it. One of those ended up as a painting entitled "Koi Pond." I took a scan of that painting and ran it through the same program, with even crazier results. But I never actually turned any of the second generation offspring into a painting. There in the idea file they languished, just waiting for me. Fast forward to two days ago -- there I was bent over my drafting table, drawing little squiggles all over my watercolor paper. I spent the better part of today applying Incredible White Mask.

Partial view of painting with resist lines

Tomorrow, I paint!!!

Renewed...

Yesterday's post was the first in way too long. But I haven't been snoozing. On the contrary, it's been a very productive couple of months. First off, I finally accomplished a long overdue studio cleanup. I jettisoned some supplies that have been cluttering up the landscape, both literally and figuratively; I got the bookkeeping up to date; I sorted through the idea file and cleaned that up a bit; and I took inventory of a drawer full of half-finished pieces that I want to complete. Perhaps most important, I came to a decision that simplifies my life and gives me a huge boost of energy -- to focus on watercolor (with a collage or two thrown in now and then) and stop playing around with every painting medium that comes into my field of view. I like to try new things, but over the last two years, I found myself getting so scattered that I couldn't see where I was going.

Watercolor has been my favorite medium since I first put brush to paper. As happy as I was with my finished acrylic paintings last spring, the process of creating them was not one I enjoyed. And oils in any form trigger my chemical sensitivities, so that's definitely not an option. But beyond the physical reasons to stick with watercolor, I came to realize that my recent successes were a message from the universe to stay on the path. It's good to know where you stand.

Ever since I started painting seriously, I've put paintings away for some period of time because I get stuck and can't see how to proceed. I periodically revisit each one and think about how to resolve whatever problem caused me to banish it, knowing that I'll eventually come up with a solution. Last year seems to have produced a bumper crop of these goodies. Here's a peek at one of the pieces I pulled out of the "works in progress" drawer today:

The Eyes Have It (detail)
watercolor

The weird blobs that appear on the surface are masking fluid. I have always disregarded the instructions to remove masking fluid in a very short time, with only one really awful experience as a result. And I started using Incredible White Mask a few years ago and have been very pleased with how easily it came off (as long as it was reasonably fresh when applied). I probably should throw in a disclaimer here along the lines of "don't try this at home" so I don't have a bunch of ticked-off watercolorists emailing me with threats of bodily harm!! My studio stays at a very even temperature because I need to use an air conditioner for my allergy problems. Heat will cause masking fluid to set into the paper: if a painting is exposed to heat or sun, you'll never get the masking off.