BRUSH Let your brush pre-soak long enough for the hairs in the ferrule to get wet before painting. Then hold the handle straight up when pressing the bristles down on the towel to draw the excess water from the ferrule.
CLEANER If you forgot to clean your brush or your Grandchild did, Wal-Mart sells De-Solv-It. Spray the brush and wait about 20 minutes. The dried paint will soften and then you can use your brush or dish soap to wash your brush. Your brush will be good to go............................
CORRECTION Always have a large flat brush and clean water available to wash away a mistake. This works much better than a Q-tip...........
CORRECTION If your shading or highlighting is too strong, give the surface a wash or two of the base color. It will soften that shading or highlighting and give a softer look.
DRAW LINES I have always admitted that I cannot draw a straight line but I just learned why. In preparing to go to convention, I was checking a list of items that should be packed. On the list was a T square, for those of us who have astigmatism in our eye. Painting teachers can tell when a student needs to go have their eyes checked. Over the years, I have had a few but I was glad to learn about the T square.
GLASS There are many ways to paint on glass, but this is one that works. Wash glass and let dry; lightly spray with Krylon 1311--will be a little cloudy -- let dry; base coat area or trace on pattern and paint, let design dry; spray again with Krylon crystal clear 1303, glass will become clear again .
GLITTER- Just in time for Holiday Painting-Our thanks to Margaret LeCoq of Mobile for this tip. I thought you might like this tip about varnish and glitter. You may already know this but if you didn't-----. Most directions will tell you to sprinkle glitter on the wet varnished surface. Mine continues to flake off sooooooooo- I mix the two together. I use regular DecoArt Glamour Dust or the DecoArt gold Glamour Dust. Pour a small amount of gloss varnish into a small container-just enough to complete your project, and then add a good amount of glamour dust into the varnish and stir. Continue to mix it with you brush as you use it. I find a "slip-slap" motion with the brush will eliminate a streaky look.
GLITTER If you are using glitter on your holiday pieces, remember to add the glitter after you seal the painted surface. Painted or sprayed sealers will dull the glitter if applied after the glitter.
GOOBERS & GLOBS When bottles of acrylic paints start getting old and have been used frequently, little bits of hardened paint can get inside the bottles. Don't throw them away and buy new ones yet! Instead, cut out a small square of pantyhose or nylon, stretch it over the top of the bottle and replace the cap. It acts as a strainer and you'll get much more mileage out of the bottle.
HOLES When you need to drill holes into a project to hang, paint the design first and then mark the placement of the holes. This is easier than trying to line the painting up with the holes.
LEARNING We love to learn new techniques and new art forms, so get out there, and visit art shows or festival. If you see a style you like, tell the artist. Maybe you will learn something. If it is a good day, maybe the artist will invite you to her class to learn more.
PROTECTION George Saved My Shirt-----George went around with a roll of Press’n Seal applying it to areas not to be painted on our T-Shirts. Especially the BACK. It sticks wonderfully to fabric too. We had hardly started when I plopped my shirt into my puddle of paint. If it hadn’t been for George and Press’n Seal, my black shirt would have had white paint all over the back and been ruined.
RED Red is a transparent color so basecoat a med. green color first and the red will cover with only one or two coats. Interesting, let’s try that this winter on Santa’s, etc.
TECHNIQUE If you would like to paint looser; Hold your brush farther back on the handle.
Stand up to paint. Stand back from the easel. Try it, you will be surprised that these tips do work.
TRANSFERRING When transferring a pattern, use a red ballpoint pen. That way you will know what lines you did or didn’t do. For placing the pattern, trace 3 X’s first outside the pattern lines. If your pattern moves, all you have to do is line up the 3 X marks. This works great if you need to retrace pattern lines after base coating. After a few lines or X’s, remember to check your tracing to be sure the transfer paper is down and not upside down. You know, we have all done that one, at one time or another.
VARNISH To help prevent scratches on varnished surfaces, apply a generous coat of bee’s wax, paste wax or even neutral shoe polish. Finish with a good buffing.
VARNISH When using a brush to varnish, never use one that you have used painting with color. If you have done this, you know that the varnish will dissolve the old paint. In other words, when your loaded varnish brush touches your piece for the second or third time, your varnish will now be bleeding red or another color. Not a happy situation at the end of a painting project………………….
