Wayne .. aka .. Enyaw .. Art from August/25 onward

[Enyaw]

Strong stuff. 1/2 hour still wet on the glass palette, on the paper spread thin, on the paper impasto. Did not use what I think would have been 15% .. glad I decided to make a little test before I tried it on a painting. I’m thinking a slight dip of a plastic toothpick would do for a teaspoon of paint. Thins the paint by at least 50%. Wow, this will be a lot f test before I get ready to paint. I used abut 2 to 3 drops to a heaping teaspoon.

1 hour. .. still wet on palette, still wet on impasto, dry on thin layer.

1.5 hr still wet on palette, still wet on impasto, dry on thin layer.

2 hours .. no change

 

[Enyaw]

3 hours .. palette still good, impasto on paper showing some drying but still open .. wow.. powerful crap lighter thickness of impasto dry to touch .. heavy impasto still open.

 

[Donna T]

Very cool experiment! I didn’t know you could make your own paint retarder but how nice it is that you can adjust it to suit your needs. It sounds like a little will go a long way.

 

[Enyaw]

Donna. Yes.. unfortunately I tested it on the cheaper acrylics and not my heavy body. 8 hours and the impasto is still not dry. I will have to retest tomorrow on the heavy paint with my medium and dust added to it. It looks promising once I get the amounts sorted out and yes it should go a long time. I will test it on a painting tomorrow as I won’t use it on my block in but on the next overlay.

 

[Enyaw]

16 hours later, as I was out, and then night time called., The impasto was dry but slightly tacky .. definite no. So I then made a painting using it overly sparing and it worked but not to the end of the session but still ok. A slight tad more and it should be down to an art. I am going out to find a syringe to administer the dose. I am talking paint retarder to paint here in case someone thinks I am about to do something you see in movies.

 

[Donna T]

I imagine you in your laboratory all decked out in a white lab coat, latex gloves and protective eyeware: the complete mad scientist look. Tacky impasto will not work so it’s good that you’re figuring out the right “dose” and how nice it will be when you have a custom-made product. It will be so freeing to be able to paint with thick acrylics without having to rush before they dry out!

 

[Enyaw]

I think it’s the problem solving that puts the wheels in motion and the excitement of thinking one’s way through the road block. I got the needed dose administrator so two at most should solve the riddle.

 

[Enyaw]

Not as easy as I thought. Too liquid to get a good measure from the syringe as it flows too easily to control. So next I will integrate it into my medium and dust mixture. I put what I thought to be a good amount and stirred it into my medium. I noticed it went to a softer gel so I will try it later and see if I need to add or subtract and by subtraction I mean adding more dust to the medium. I can measure my mixed medium into my paint and hopefully control it that way.

 

[Donna T]

You’ll get there, Wayne. Thanks for sharing your progress. Did you know there’s a cold wax made specifically for acrylic paints? I know nothing about it except that it exists.

 

[Enyaw]

Keep trying till something works or you find you can get by without it. yes, I knew of the wax but I only used it with oils to get a mate finish. I get that now with my matte medium.