Milk consistency

[Temujin Pasha]

Is this the best consistency for good blending regardless of paint brand?

 

[Tommie Soule]

yeah generally. a little thicker for basecoats and thinner for blends

 

[No Such Agency]

God dammit. I've been painting for ages and damned if I can figure out what that term means. Flow enhancer, no flow enhancer. Slightly thinner, stightly thicker. More paint on brush, less paint on brush. And still, the visible non-blends and tide marks. I truly have come to loathe the term "milk-like consistency".

/rant off

 

[gohkm]

Have you tried comparing it to actual skim milk? When I first hearing that term 'milk-like consistency', I literally had a glass of full cream milk (cause I loath skim milk) next to me, and I kept eyeballing my paint mix to try and get it as close to the milk's viscosity as possible. Low-tech, but I learnt paint consistency that way. Unfortunately, different paints have different dissociations when diluted to 'milk-like consistency' ...

 

[Einion]

No, it's not the best consistency for transitions regardless of brand. Partly that's because it depends on exactly what you're doing but it's also simply a matter of personal preference - easy to find two different painters who'll work with the same paint where one will prefer his/her mixes far more watery than the other person.

Einion

 

[supervike]

What I think people are trying to say here is:

"Milk like consistency is a good place to start."

There are many things which can contribute to a "good blending consistency". Things such as brand of paint, elevation, enivironmental factors (temp, humidity, etc). As a result if you start with a "milk like consistency" and then adjust towards either "skim milk" or towards "full cream milk" depending on your results you should find what works for you.

This is honestly something I am still trying to determine myself as well so I could be talking out my nether regions!! But it sounds good and is the hypothesis I am testing with my own paints!

 

[orion1723]

Find what works for you via experimentation and go with it. There are so many variables at any given time that trying someones provided recipe, unless they live with you or in the same general area and have essentially the same painting style and technique is guaranteed to cause frustration. Hang in there and if you are working on a critical part of a mini, do a test run on another mini of a batch of paint or wash and see how it turns out. Maybe even just a paper plate. Dont be in a hurry, this is supposed to be fun

 

[Einion]

As a result if you start with a "milk like consistency" and then adjust towards either "skim milk" or towards "full cream milk" depending on your results you should find what works for you.

:good:

Einion

 

[skraaal]

So after reading this thread, all I want now is a pint of milk & cookies >.<

On track though, the way I seem to be working my way out of horrid "tide-mark" issue, is by using hardly any paint on the brush at ~ the fabled milk like consistency, It seems to work for me, the only down side of it being that It takes so many layers to build up to a decent colour, however the blends seem to go very well and no tide-marks!

Now off to raid the fridge for the pint of milk...

 

[Einion]

On track though, the way I seem to be working my way out of horrid "tide-mark" issue, is by using hardly any paint on the brush at ~ the fabled milk like consistency...

Yes, that's one of the key things - damp brush, not wet - as has been touched on in many threads over the years.

This is important because often we're essentially working with paint that's as dilute as it would be if we were doing a wash, but obviously we want it to perform differently. So you apply just enough, at whatever the consistency is, that it won't go anywhere you didn't put it and won't leave an obvious tide mark or edge (by being that thin, by feathering, by brushing out the edge etc. etc.)

Einion

 

[Trevor]

Sometimes the tide mark can be useful, for example in getting a very thin line inside a hard edge like a sword blade, works with the GW washes which don't run like inks do.