Chalky Paint

[allergies]

Hi, whenever I try to blend using pastel colors such as light blue or even white I find the paint becomes very chalky and it is hard to get a smooth coverage. This usually happens with glazing, or two brush blending. Am I just not thinning it down correctly? It seems for darker or mid tone colors the paint goes on as I want, but with the lighter colors I can't seem to figure it out. Thank you for any advice!

 

[EpicMiniArt]

Depends on how your thinning it. Try thinning with a paint or glaze medium (like GW Lahmian Medium or VCG Glaze medium).

I often found the same when thinning with water only. and white is by far the worst culprit

Good luck

 

[Maenas]

Adding a drop of a glazing/matt/sattin medium or even a drop of varnish to the mix, has helped me with that issue, but take this with a pinch of salt as I am really far away from being a pro!

OH. I did not read your post Epic I was writing my own response xD Now I see I was close on my approach. xP

 

[MAXXxxx]

you could also try:
- going up in smaller steps. (more mixes inbetween)
- highlight it more than you'd want, then glaze back with a darker color. this glaze helps getting rid of the chalkiness
- using pastels / pigments for light colors

 

[eyeayen]

Perhaps it would be easier to start with your lightest brightest colour ( the highlight ) and work back from that with darker and darker shades as you've already mentioned darker seems to work better ?

 

[BloodFather of Kharnath]

You are noticing what many veteran painters deal with as a law of sorts. Whites, flesh colors, and anything desaturated with white is going to be chalkier than your darker paints. This is actual even true for oil paints as well, and with this medium they use a fat over lean rule that, while not intended to battle chalkiness, has the fortunate consequence of making whites less chalky. Basically, this rule says not to dilute your whites, and to put them on thick or impasto. There are two ways to do this with your acrylics. The lighter the color, the less you should dilute it, up to an undiluted pure white. Pure white should be used so sparingly anyway that the thickness of the paint shouldn't really affect the smoothness of the overall finish. Secondarily, as Maxx mentioned, place a larger area of pure white down and then glaze over it to create lighter colors. The key here, though, is how you apply your pure white. You need to scumble it on, which means to put a very small amount on the brush and stretch it very thin with very free, painterly brush strokes. Banshee does this on his famous chaos-type knight bust from Scale75 when he painted the box art. See Figure Painter Magazine if you are really interested in this technique.

If you read nothing of what I have written, read and remember this: Use Vallejo Model Color white paints. My favorite is VMC Ivory. They are the least chalky of all white paints on the market right now, IMO. Others will second this. There are several other slightly off whites from them that work just as well too. Use these whites to lighten other colors and forever rid yourself of chalky light paints.

 

[Antar000]

I do second this. VMC's off-white (blanco pergamino) is almost indistinguishable from their white (though it smells and tastes different), but is less chalky and has a better consistency. White, actual white, is only for point highlights.

 

[oistene]

If you do not feel like diluting your white, grab a Warcolors Transparent White. I really like it for making those last, white highlights. It requires little or no dilution when used off a wet palette. It works best when highlighting light colors.

 

[Sproket]

Try using Vallejo ivory instead of white - it goes on smoothly, mixes well with other colours and really helps to avoid that chalky look. Visually it makes an excellent substitute for white and brings a subtle warmth to the highlights. I almost never use white now except for the occasional pinpoint highlight.

 

[JohnLobster]

You are noticing what many veteran painters deal with as a law of sorts. Whites, flesh colors, and anything desaturated with white is going to be chalkier than your darker paints. This is actual even true for oil paints as well, and with this medium they use a fat over lean rule that, while not intended to battle chalkiness, has the fortunate consequence of making whites less chalky. Basically, this rule says not to dilute your whites, and to put them on thick or impasto. There are two ways to do this with your acrylics. The lighter the color, the less you should dilute it, up to an undiluted pure white. Pure white should be used so sparingly anyway that the thickness of the paint shouldn't really affect the smoothness of the overall finish. Secondarily, as Maxx mentioned, place a larger area of pure white down and then glaze over it to create lighter colors. The key here, though, is how you apply your pure white. You need to scumble it on, which means to put a very small amount on the brush and stretch it very thin with very free, painterly brush strokes. Banshee does this on his famous chaos-type knight bust from Scale75 when he painted the box art. See Figure Painter Magazine if you are really interested in this technique.

If you read nothing of what I have written, read and remember this: Use Vallejo Model Color white paints. My favorite is VMC Ivory. They are the least chalky of all white paints on the market right now, IMO. Others will second this. There are several other slightly off whites from them that work just as well too. Use these whites to lighten other colors and forever rid yourself of chalky light paints.

What the man says (I may have got this tip from him) VMC Ivory is a MUST have paint

John

 

[Zab]

This ^^^ Ivory is the secret weapon of all our palettes Tell no one -_-

 

[Indee1936]

Hi, whenever I try to blend using pastel colors such as light blue or even white I find the paint becomes very chalky and it is hard to get a smooth coverage. This usually happens with glazing, or two brush blending. Am I just not thinning it down correctly? It seems for darker or mid tone colors the paint goes on as I want, but with the lighter colors I can't seem to figure it out. Thank you for any advice!

Hello. There is the same problem, with white flowers in general hell. Try to use light colors (like Champagne - https://create.vista.com/colors/color-names/tan/), but if you need to use white already, just add a drop of varnish, it should help.