HOME | DD
PickledPixie — Clover
Published: 2008-03-24 13:23:48 +0000 UTC; Views: 1749; Favourites: 40; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
Well, it's a little late, but never mind!Here is my 2008 St Pat's Day piece.
I tried a couple of different techniques in this piece, which I think worked out. I don't think I've ever used that much masking fluid on one piece before!
Can you spot my *nod* to the Irish flag??
A4 Watercolours.
Please do NOT use this image without permission.
Copyright L.Machin © 2008
Related content
Comments: 58
So happy that you like her!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hi, I've featured your lovely work in my journal.
[link]
Have a nice day!
If you don't want this deviation to be featured, please let me know so I can take it down
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
She has a very sweet face and I love all the foliage!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
very pretty and very St Pats-ish... love it, love the background, love the GREEEEN
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
i love it!!!! the colors are fantastic!! i have yet to use masking fluid-how did it work out? judging from the painting it worked out beautifully for you!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks Kat!
Masking fluid serves a purpose, but by no means to I like using it. It can be temperamental. This piece is a good exapmle -
First I masked in the fairy - Masking Large areas is sort of ok, but because the fluid is pretty much liquid latex it doesn't necessarily want to spread very far... Don't get me wrong, it does spread, but as soon as it starts to set, it will stick & catch to your brush (or whatever you're using to apply the masking fluid). Doing intricate & small areas in masking fluid is tricky, as using a brush to apply it finely doesn't really work. You either need a really small brush & work quickly (which doesn't necessarily work cause the masking fluid clumps up on the brush rather quickly, even when you're trying to keep it from doing so), or do like some do & use a small pointed object like a toothpick to do those small delicate areas.
Then you've got the challenge of trying to decide what thickness to apply the fluid. I've tried both thin & thick and both have given me grief. If you apply it too thinly it'll be easier to peel up but it may not cover/protect all the area properly (even though it looks like you covered all areas evenly with the fluid). If you put it on too thickly it's even harder to peel up from the paper (as it's had a chance to slightly dampen & soak into the grain of WC paper - which will cause some slight damage to the paper when peeled up), and even despite it being applied thickly, it may not have covered *every* bit of the area you've masked even though it looks like it has.
Applying masking fluid with an old brush (for larger areas anyway) is both practical & a nuisance. To try & protect the brush from the masking fluid it's best to have a small jar of soapy liquid (just washing up liquid in some warm water) to wash the brush in during the masking process. The fluid doesn't bond to the soapy brush hairs as well - but it'll still try to! You also have to be careful when applying the fluid, because if it starts to set/dry on the paper & you've still got more to mask off, then the dry stuff will catch on your brush (if you have any dry-ish fluid bonded to your brush hairs) & start to pull up what's alrady on the paper...
If the fluid does have a chnace to bond to your brush, then you can kiss that brush goodbye... It'll ruin it. The latex bonds sooo well to brush hairs that it will stick tight. Latex doesn't re-liquify, so once it's dry, it's dry. The only way to then get it off your brush it to pick it out or peel it off & this will ruin brush hairs... To never use a good brush. Get some cheap crappy ones if you want to use them for masking.
When I masked off the fairy, I tried to use a medium coverage... And it looked as though I had covered all of her well. I waited for the fluid to completely dry & then started painting my background washes. Once the first couple fo background washes were dry, I masked in a few clover leaves (ontop of the masking that was already there), waited for it to dry & then painted further background washes ontop. I repeated this process a couple of times. The colours of the clover are the colours of those particular background washes. I had thought everything had gone alright, but I wouldn't find out until I peeled all the layers of masking fluid up. Some of the fluid ended up beaing quite thick in places, which caused me a lot of grief when trying to peel it up. It wasn't until I had peeled it all up that I found out that the masking on the fairy figure hadn't worked properly. There were small (almost pinprick) spots of green paint all over her. Her face, her body... All over. I could have cried. I tried my best to lift the green off her, but it didn't really work. They weren't too obvious once she was all painted up, but the remaining dark spots & got rid of in Photoshop. So yeah, wasn't exactly the worlds most calming experience...
I also tend to find the instructions on the bottle of masking fluid (well the bottle that I have) are less than helpful. Specifically the part where they state "Do not leave masking fluid on paper for long periods" - but they don't tell you how long is long. I asked at an art store and the lady told me "20 minutes, no more". Yeah right... Some of my washes take that long to dry! And if I'm layering masks, then the original layer is going to be there a lot longer than 20 minutes...
So yeah, my advice is to experiment & see how you go. Different brands of masking fluid may behave in different ways. The only one I've been able to get my hands on is 'Winsor & Newton Art Masking Fluid'. Hope you have more consistant success with it than what I have!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
lily thank YOU SO MUCH for the detailed explaination and help
in my eyes you are a pro at it!! knowing me i will probably mess up but i will do just that experiment with it and see how it goes,i don't know if this works but i was wondering is masking tape worked to block out figures objects in a painting? i have been using it so far as a border or to tape down artworks, i know it will be a paint vutting so much tape to fit different shapes especially when painting full figures but i was thinking maybe it would work.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hi Kat,
Personally, I haven't tried using masking tape for masking figures. I do use it to tape my pieces down onto a board, but I have found that sometimes I get paint seeping under the masking tape border - especially if I'm doing large background washes that require a lot of wetting & re-wetting of areas. Masking tape will only take so much 'beating' before it too starts to buckle slighty or absorb pigment. That's my main reason for not using it for figures... It's one thing to be dealing with paint stains in the 'blank' border around my piece, but it would be horrid if that happened to my main figure. Yeah, it sometimes happens with masking fluid, but not to the same extent. A little spot here or there can be covered up or incorporated into the painting. It would also depend very much on the type of masking tape you attempt to use - you'd also have to keep in mind that a tape may leave behind adhesive residue on your paper. This can cause the 'sticky' area to get dirty quickly or even trap the pigment particles in the paint, which will cause them to 'stick' to that area, making that spot appear darker or more 'intense' in colour and much harder to blend. I know masking fluid can be a pain to pull up also, but it usually doesn't leave any residue on the paper.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
yeah you're right i didn't even think of that, i too had incidents were paint went under the masking tape, one of these days when i get brave i will use the masking fluid i'll let you know my results thank you so much for your advice and help
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Very cute, I love how the shades of red in the hair and wings pop so well against the green. Happy belated St. Pat's, too!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks! I was hoping that the oranges/reds would work alright with all the grees, especially since there are no organey tones in the background... I think it worked out ok
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Coolness! Go redheads
(oh and that background must have taken forever!! 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yeah the background took forever and a day to do... well, perhaps not quite that long but it was a pain.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
*smiles* she is a delight...better late than never too...that is a 'lot' of green
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks Wendy... Well, at least it's not as late as my Halloween piece
Yep.. green, green & more green. I need to replace one of my green pans now!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Ultra PP this is so awsomly cute i LOVE it!!!
I showed my mum, she wants to know if its ok for her to print out and put up on her fridge! (she sorta collects irish drawings and arty stuff on her fridge, its awsome!)
Your painting quality is freekin AMAZING!!! I cant get over how lovely this is!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Aww thanks Sah! I'm slowly getting better at this painting stuff
Special permission for your mum granted
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
lol! thanks man! she says "aw man im stoked!" (not very irish of her 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
In which case, tell her to say "Oh faith and begorrah, Oi'm stoked"
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
She's so cute Lily! Great techniques by the way...the leaves look fantastic against the background
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Thanks Kirsten...
All those clover leaves & the background colours took ages. There's probably about 6 different layers there - each was masked first & then painted over, wash & repeat. Way too much masking fluid was used, but I think it turned out ok in the end
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Thanks Laura! Yeah, I love using greens too!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
lovely..!!!!!!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
you're welcome:flowerdanceplz:
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
AWwww Thats so beautiful!
I love her Wings ^^ 
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Wow, she's charming
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
| Next =>