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Helpful Hints from Mary and Friends!
This is a section in our website that will hopefully help you with little discoveries I have found regarding Inking and Rouging and some of the other techniques that we use. As I travel to the shows and teach, I hear about things that my students and Certified Teachers bring up in class and I have said over and over that I should start a section on the website with these discoveries listed so everyone can benefit from them! Well, I talked to Cindi and we are going to do a monthly addition right here with a finding from me as well as a suggestion you might like to share! I would love for you to share things that you have come across by emailing me with the information and if you would like me to list you as the contributor and post your email address it would be so much fun to share with other artists! We will add one addition monthly; beginning with the one I have listed below which is something I have discovered! I look forward to hearing from you, and I hope these additions help you as much as they have helped me!
Helpful HINT #1: ETCHING COACH LIGHTS!
Everyone is becoming energy conscious and we are all looking for ways to save money on our utility bills [my family included]! We have switched to those spiral light bulbs that are energy efficient and are slowly eliminating the standard light bulbs we have used for years and years. The only thing, though, is they are not very attractive! When we switched the bulbs in our coach lights out in our front yard, my husband and I had to admit the light was brilliant but the bulbs sticking up inside the clear decorative glass fixtures were pretty ugly! So…..this is what I did, and this also led to the other lights we had outside on our garage and out farther in our front yard transforming, also!
I had Ralph take all of the glass out of the wrought iron fixtures. I washed the glass, and at the same time I had a chance to remove cobwebs and dead bugs and leaves.
After the glass pieces were thoroughly dried, I got out my etching liquid. I cut the top off of a 2 liter pop bottle so I had a dipping container, and placed the glass sections in 2 at a time so they would not lean up against each other in the container filled with B&B etchall. After 15-20 minutes I removed the glass pieces from the etching liquid; squeegied as much of the liquid form the glass as possible so it would go back into the container, then rinsed the glass under water while at the same time rubbing with a nylon scrubber to remove all of the residue.
I dried off the glass pieces and Ralph placed them back into the wrought iron fixtures and you would not believe how beautiful they are when the light go on! This was so easy to do, and the light reflects beautifully through the frosted glass!
If you have any questions about my helpful hint, please feel free to email me! I look forward to your questions or comments!
Mary
Helpful HINT #2: COTTON ROUNDS!
This helpful hint was given to me by Deb Parker from St. Catharines Ontario. Many students tell me they have trouble with background rouging like adding color to skies and behind still life designs. Her hint is wonderful! She buys cotton makeup rounds at the dollar stores and uses them to buff away the outer edges of where she is rouging. Softer than paper towel folded into 4ths, no lint, and easy to use, ending in a nice result with none of those nasty make-up line that we all try to eliminate! Good Job Debbie!
Helpful HINT #3: HAND SANITIZER!
This one comes in REALLY handy!! I was teaching at our continuing education [reunion for certified teachers] in Florida and we usually do a lot of show and tell and sharing of discoveries we have made. Sonja Sindell has been one of my certified teachers for years and she lives in Florida so I only get to see her when I come in to teach. We were working on a really detailed inking and rouging and she shared something that has helped me so much when I am teaching.
Picture this! You are working on your rouging and the picture you are adding color to is a barn scene with a beautiful sky and background. After you get the sky rouged you work you way forward and finish adding color to the barn boards and roof areas. After finishing the foreground, you look at your sky and wish you had added more color to it. Well; your Blenders are contaminated with color from the grass, trees, and buildings and you want to add more blue to the sky but do not have a backup blender brush that you can use and you KNOW that if you clean your only Blender with soap and water you will have to wait a really long time for that brush to be dry enough to rouge again! This is what Sonja shared with me! Use the gel hand sanitizers that everyone is using now! She told me that they use it for acrylic painting when you are mopping over acrylic and want to clean the mop brush but not make it soggy. Guess what??? It works for oils too! Even the gel we use! Squirt a little bit into the palm of your hand and work your Blenders only in it and swirl onto paper towel til you see all of the oil come out and within seconds the alcohol dries the bristles and you are ready to go! The reason I said ONLY the Blenders is because if you wanted to clean your Liner and Scumblers with soap and water you CAN do that and the dampness will not affect your adding the oil color to your piece.! As long as the Scumbler or Liner was not sopping wet, the slight dampness that is left after you pinch-wipe between paper towel will not affect your work!
The reason I am so pleased with this helpful hint is the fact that I teach big classes at convention and sometimes my classes are back to back and I do not time between the classes to completely clean my brushes! This will be a great help this February when I teach in Vegas!! I have 2 classes back to back and an hour to set up between them!! We will be bringing in a lot of hand sanitizer for class!! The stuff you can get at the dollar stores works just as well as the expensive stuff!
Thank you Sonja!
Helpful HINT #4: PRACTICE SHEET!
This helpful hint is something I have started doing in my classes to help students overcome obstacles that everyone seems to struggle with; rouging background color, sky, and grassy areas and snow.
Every time I teach a seminar and we are working on floral inked and rouged designs, landscapes, buildings, and still life designs I hear the same thing…everything goes so well until I try to add color in the background. So many people struggle with the addition of color behind their motif and end up with a huge “makeup line” as I refer to it. After you blend the color away with the #32 Blender, you cannot seem to get rid of the excessive line of demarcation.
This is the answer! You need to PRACTICE only this til you overcome it!! I have a small pattern I have copied and I distribute it in my classes and this is what you need to do. Take this pattern to the copy center and ask them to laminate it for you. 3 mils is adequate and you can use it over and over. Do you remember when you first got into decorative painting and you struggled with stroke-work and floating? What did your teacher tell you to do? Yes; do it until you master it. I remember sitting at the kitchen table with my acrylic paint, brushes, and tracing paper pad, doing those strokes over and over and it finally happened!! I conquered it.
The laminate will help you immensely because you can rouge over it, wipe it off, do it again and again and only focus on the thing that is stumping you! I have inked some pine trees, stick trees, horizon line and you can work on adding sky, divots in the ground, shading under the trees, and also you can work in different colors to create snow drifts, sand on the beach, and grassy knolls. If you want to practice snow, use Payne's Grey to shade the drifts. If you are practicing sand for a beach scene; mix Cad Yellow Medium with some Burnt Umber to create a sandy color and use that. If you are practicing grassy areas for a landscape, mixing Payne's Grey with a little Cad Yellow Medium will create a deep pine green which will be rich when rouged into landscapes.
Drop me an email and request the pattern. I will send it to you as an attachment. Print it out, take it and have it laminated. Practice any time you get some free time and wipe the paint off with paper towel after you finish practicing. When working on the laminate it is not really necessary to spray to dull the surface. Just make sure you do not use gel at all because it will make everything too greasy and slick. You can also enlarge the pattern if you want and if you are a teacher you have my permission to reproduce the pattern for your students!
Have fun and please email me so I can send it to you! Mary!
Helpful HINT #5: Things We Haven't Thought Of!
Posted 03/25/2010
These helpful hints come from Gloria Davis who was a participant in a seminar I taught in Hughesville, PA for the MT Laurel Chapter of Decorative Painters. After class we were talking about things that were experienced in the class and I thought it would be great to have Gloria write and share her experiences in her own words! The first one is something we all do not even think about when starting a project, but oh……it can impact your end results!
Here are her thoughts:
1. Choose your painting attire carefully. My chenille sweater shed mini fibers that adhered to the surface and created an unattractive fuzzy texture. In the future, I will choose lint-free clothing to wear when painting. (I waited several days until I was sure that the sealer had cured and then I ever-so-gently sanded the surface. Sanding only removed the outer most layer of fuzzies.)
2. Although Mary encourages spraying matte finish that ends in a “buttery” surface, do not achieve that degree of smoothness for the initial inking surface. I was so pleased with the smooth surface that I had to begin inking, but it turned out to be a frustration because the ink did not stick to the slick surface. Remember to maintain some “tooth” to the surface for inking. That lovely buttery finish comes later in the process.
Now that you are aware of how your clothing can affect your work, check BEFORE you go outside to spray between layers so you can remove the lint fibers before you spray. This way they can be removed before they get sealed into the surface.
Let’s talk about the comment on spraying! She was so right! If you spray so much before inking and you have no “tooth”, your pen slides around on the surface. Your first 2 sprays can be very generous to insure correctability, but, the most important thing is to apply a few light mist of spray afterwards to create that toothy surface. When adding the rouging, it is important not to have the tooth. You need the buttery surface to allow your rouging to go smoothly and effortlessly. Gloria said it perfectly!
Thank you so much!
Mary
Helpful HINT #6: No Such Thing As A Bad Question!!
Posted 06/21/2010
Another helpful hint that might come in handy in the future!
This one came about as a result of an email and then, a follow-up phone call. I got this email from Sharen Suste who has been dabbling with my technique! She wrote as follows:
Hi, Would appreciate your help. For Christmas I had given a friend a gift of one of your rouging prints I had done where I put her address on the print. She is moving and asked me if I could insert her new address.
It was sealed with your Liberty matte spray with at least 3 coats maybe more. Can you recommend how I get thru the sealer to remove the old inked address, insert the new one, and reseal. Thanks!!
I asked Sharon to call me because I had questions about how she did her work, and what kind of surface she was working on. Sharon called me back and told me she worked on a canvas panel, and because she was not sure how the surface would work, she base-coated the panel with a few applications of JW UNDERCOVER. [I think this was great because, as a teacher I am always telling my students that the inexpensive panels are just canvas glued to cardboard, and most of the time they are not archival! Lots of times students will bring them in for use in the classroom and because of the way they are constructed we actually have trouble with the ink staying on the surface, and, ink that has been applied bubbles on the surface itself, and does not want to settle into the canvas!]
Sharon told me she personalized the picture by adding the family’s address and now they are moving and asked Sharon to change it! Sharon thought she would have to strip off the finish, remove the original lettering, then go over it.
NOPE!! I told her to take a small flat brush and apply several thin perfectly flat coats of the JW over the area where the address is
And apply enough coats to block out the original address! JW states on the bottle that it is better than gesso, and it is! It will completely block out old lettering or paint, and I told Sharon to wait 24 hours before re-lettering with the new address, and she could apply more rouging if needed! A final spray of Liberty Matte Sealer Spray to protect and act as a varnish replacement and no one will ever know she re-did her piece! Isn’t that a great hint? I think so!
Please share your tricks with me so I can share them with students and teachers all over!
Mary
Helpful HINT #7: Liberty Matte Spray in the SUMMER!!
Posted 06/29/2010
Hi All!
I just got a phone call from a local student with a dilemma, and as I was replying to her I thought I should share this with everyone, so here goes!
The phone call:
My blender brushes are getting stumpy and the centers are shaped like a “U”. What am I doing wrong? I sprayed a lot, but my brushes are wearing down really fast.
The answer:
I know EXACTLY what is happening! Especially with the summer hot humid months; your spraying has to change from how you spray in the cooler months! Let’s talk about this first! In the summer especially with it being hot as well as humid, the matte spray dries in mid air before it lands on your surface. If you spray from 7-10 inches away, you are experiencing what I refer to as “dry-spray”. It does not matter if you use an entire can of spray on your piece!! If you are applying it from a distance like I mentioned you are continuing to “dry-spray.” It is that gritty residue you feel as you swipe the palm of your hand over the surface. You will literally grind your blender brushes down to a stump! I have compiled some info below to help you in the future. In the winter months or cooler and less humid conditions, your spray will land smoother on your surface and you will feel more of a buttery smoothness to your surface! The reminder at the very bottom of the article is something you should really try to remember!
THE MANY USES OF MATTE SPRAY!
· TO SEAL SURFACES like wood after it has been either whitewashed or base-coated: Apply 3 generous, closely applied sprays to seal and create a “sheen” on your surface. Buff lightly with a sanding pad and wipe with a damp rag, and then apply one more light, misty coat, which will add “tooth”.
What this does is really seal your surface well, but, with adding the final light spray, your ink will not slide around on the surface as you are trying to work on your pattern. This; I refer to as adding dry-spray”.
· TO DRY OIL ROUGING as you are adding layers of color: Apply 3-4 progressive mists of the spray. Do not apply heavy applications because it will move the paint and create blotching.
You start with a light mist from about 10 inches above you rouging. That takes seconds to dry, and your next spray is a bit closer and heavier. The third one is even closer and the fourth one is about 1 inch above your work and applied heavier without pooling and running. Keep your work flat so it does not “curtain”.
· SEALING YOUR CANVAS AFTER INKING, whether it be stretched, cut, canvas board, or from a pad. Complete your inking [no spray is needed prior because the canvas is gessoed allowing for correction work in pen and ink], then, apply 2 light, misty sprays to seal the ink and stop it from running. Then; 3 generous and close coats of the matte spray as I explained for wood surfaces. Do not apply the final misty light coat; you want a slicker feel to the surface.
What this does is creates that slick buttery feel you need to make your rouging work so wonderfully! If not, and you try rouging over a gritty feeling surface you will be grinding and actually sand the bristles off of your brush!
· PREPARING GLASS OR PORCELAIN 2-3 light misty sprays for porcelain AFTER doing the etching. No spray for glass; not necessary.
After you etch and add the sprays I suggested, go to your inking and then, you need to 2 light, misty coats and one really generous one so your rouging moves like butter.
· SLATE OR TIN needs to be lightly sprayed with about 3 misty dustings after your basecoat has dried completely. Let cure 24 hours before tackling the inking so you do not clog the pen. Then, apply your spray [2 light “misties”], then one really generous, close, like mentioned previously.
You need to remember; tooth is needed before inking. Slick is needed for rouging!
Helpful HINT #8 - #6 Blender and Ammonia!
Posted 07/04/10
This one is my own hint which came about as a last minute, much needed quick remedy. I am working on a new project and there is an area that is really detailed and it has to be precise. After I added the detail I was not happy with my work and I wanted to take out the shading on the railings. I wanted to remove my ink but we all know that cotton swabs will smear if you are trying to work in a really tight, confined area! I didn’t want to remove all of the fencing, just the shading I placed strategically. Some students have told me they use the cosmetic cotton swabs that come to a point, but, I don’t have any at the moment. [I am working on this project right now, and after I discovered the remedy I HAD to stop and jot this down so we could post it to the website!!] I get so excited!!
This is what I did: I used my #6 Blender to dip into straight ammonia, blot onto paper towel and sweep across the inking I wanted to remove with the chisel edge. The first sweep loosened the ink. I re-blotted onto paper towel and immediately swept back across my ink and it removed it wonderfully. Another blot and sweep and the area was clean! I continued this throughout the entire area that I want to remove and it was wonderful! Change Blender brush sizes depending on the width of the area you want to correct and you will see how great this works! What made me really happy as well; is the fact that there was no grey residue of left over ink in the areas I cleaned.
Did you note that I said straight ammonia? This works so much better than regular window cleaner because it is undiluted. Make sure you are in a ventilated area and remember that window cleaner is ammonia that is cut with water and fragrance so it is not as potent! Try this when you get a chance; you will be amazed!
Helpful HINT #9 - Etching Slate!
Posted 11/15/2010
This one is amazing! If you are familiar with the Etch All line of products, and if you have the etching crème, you will have a ball with this one! This is what you need:
A piece of slate; plain, no basecoat, no sealer spray
My tiny bristle Fan Brush [stiff bristle, not nylon]
B&B Etching Crème
Soap and water for cleanup after etching
A nylon scrubber pad
Running water!
Directions:
Wash slate under running water to remove any grime
Let dry completely
Open the jar of etching crème and set the cap on your work space
Use the fan brush to stipple pine trees and a liner to set in stick trees with the etching crème
Neatness counts because the Etching Crème starts to work as soon as it hits the slate. [I suggest practicing my pine trees on paper with acrylic paint maybe the day before!] You can also use the practice sheet mentioned in the earlier helpful hints with tracing paper over it to practice your pine trees!
You must wait at least 20 minutes for the etching product to do its magic!
Another hint is to use your Liner to personalize the slate with either a family name or something like HAPPY HOLIDAYS
After 20 minutes, take your slate to the sink and run cool water.
Immediately immerse the slate completely under the running water and start scrubbing over the surface with the scrubber pad I mentioned earlier.
Remove all of the etching crème and let dry. You can wipe with paper towel to speed up this process.
You will be amazed at the results! As you look at the slate as it is wet, you can see the faint pattern of the trees. As the slate dries the design will appear more and more intense. It is amazing how beautiful the results are and you need no sealer, no varnish, and no paint! What a great gift! Buy an easel from the dollar store to display!
I suggest long thinner pieces of slate so you could create an elongated design! I am going to do make it, take its at the next trade shows I attend! I am sure we will sell a ton of etching crème! Have fun with this one!
Helpful HINT #10 - Refresher for Liberty Matte Spray!
Posted 11/15/2010
I was thinking about the next helpful hint I wanted to add to the website. I think a review of using matte spray for all of the steps in my technique would be something that would really help so many people! As I travel and teach I am always asked about the format I use, and how to know when to implement the various choices I talk about in my seminars. “When do I apply progressive sprays, and why do I need to apply 2 light, misty sprays, then 2-3 really generous sprays, and how do I know when to do this!!?” You might want to print this out and if you are a teacher; make copies to give to your students!! You have my permission to print out and share all of my hints as you see fit!
Let’s start from the beginning:
If working on wood or any POROUS surface, you MUST have enough sealer to allow you to do correction work with cotton swabs and a glass cleaning product that contains ammonia. To prepare this porous surface you need to apply several [at least 3] generous and closely applied sprays to seal. This always creates a gritty or toothy residue and you need to go further with your prepping to come to the final “perfect” surface to ink on!
After the 3rd really heavy spray has dried, use fine sandpaper or a sanding pad to go over this surface and smooth down the gritty feel. Do not sand so much that you remove the sealer! This will create a satin feel to the wood, and your pen MIGHT slip and slide over this surface if it is too slick. Your ink might bead up.
Use a rag dampened with water to remove the residue left after sanding, let that dry.
Now; apply 2 light misty coats of the Liberty Matte Sealer Spray to insure you still have a toothy surface, and you are ready to ink after 24 hours [curing time].
A REMINDER WHEN THINKING ABOUT THIS STEP:
If your surface is not well sealed you cannot do correction work. If it is too slick your ink will bead up! You want the really good sealing that the heavy sprays will add, but, at the same time you want the “tooth” so your ink settles onto the surface. The sanding, smoothing, and re-spray of the light coats insures you have a really good sealer underneath, but, the light misty coats added gives you the tooth you need. This applies to all surfaces you might decide to work on]
- TO PROTECT YOUR INKING BEFORE ADDING ROUGING [This applies to ANY surface you decide to work on]
After completing the inking, and you have corrected anything you feel needs to be done, go outside and apply 2 light, misty sprays of Liberty, letting them dry[ it should take merely seconds], then apply 2-3 REALLY GENEROUS AND CLOSELY APPLIED coats of Liberty. You should not need to buff with paper bags or tracing paper at all, because your surface will be slick!
A SPECIAL REMINDER ABOUT THE CHANGE OF TEMPERATURE AND HUMIDITY! [This applies to all surfaces]
When I teach in the warmer climates like in Florida and the weather is really hot and humid, I find I use so much more spray than in the cooler and less humid weather. If you experience this excessive warmth and humidity; your first light misty sprays are ok, but, if you want your rouging to move really well and not drag, your last sprays MUST be applied almost an inch away from your painting surface and they should look really wet when you angle you piece to the light. In less humid and hot weather, those last 2-3 sprays need to be applied closely, but, you will see it does not have to be that close. As you think about this, and apply it, you will see an amazing difference in how easily the rouging works; and the life of your rouging brushes will be extended!! If you are rouging on a surface that is not buttery and smooth, you will actually sand the brush hairs from the Blender Brushes!!
- TO DRY YOUR OIL ROUGING BETWEEN LAYERS OF COLOR [Again; this applies to all surfaces]
After adding rouging to your design, clean up any mistakes with either a cotton swab or a clicker eraser and remove the crumbs with a really big fluffy mop brush or like I use in class, a fluffy make-up brush from the Dollar Store! Then you can go outside to spray-dry your rouging!
Start with a really light, misty spray from several inches away form your piece. This should take seconds to dry. Then next spray is applied a tiny bit closer, and a tiny bit more generous than the first spray. Again; let this spray dry. Then next is even closer and more generous, then the final one is the critical one! It must be really close and generous to give you that buttery and smooth surface so you additional rougings will move like butter. If it is hot and humid the role applies that I mentioned in the previous section about heat and humidity. You MUST make sure you follow that reminder!
Every time you add more rouging you will repeat the above steps to insure you do not ruin your brushes in the process!
- FINISHING YOUR WORK
I am so pleased with the performance of the Liberty Matte spray that I use if for sealing, drying, and finishing my art work! I apply the matte spray generously after completing my work to replace varnishes whether they be “paint on” or “spray on”. I love the fact that it does not yellow or crack, and if you want a slicker finish you need only to apply it closer and more generous, and if you want more of a matte surface, you just need to apply it farther away and less generous.
I hope these reminders are a help to you and that they will make it easier to understand! Don’t forget what I mentioned about the spray impacting the life of your brushes!!
Mary
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