"Mix" Question

[erasetheprocess]

I want to begin trying some wet blending, so I have literally been reading every single thing I can find online, and in many different forums, but I'm finding myself slightly confused.

One of my biggest issues painting before was that I was effectively doing straight out of the jar.

I know to thin my paints now.

I understand that flow improver and slow dri will help me, slightly, and will allow me a little more time to get a different color onto the mini, and allow for actual blending.

What I would LIKE to do is create a dropper bottle with flow release, and slow dri in it, and this is when I get confused.

I KNOW that this is INCREDIBLY subjective and changes from person to person, and paint to paint, so please try to stay with me on this.

From: http://www.reapermini.com/Thecraft/15

25% Liquitex Slow-Dri 25% Winsor and Newton Flow Improver
50% water

Now, in what I have read about flow release, its incredibly potent, so here are my questions:

1) Do I take a bottle with one drop of flow release and 9 drops of water creating solution X, and use 25 drops of solution X to 75 drops of water

OR 25 drops of flow release to 75 water and use THAT?

What I ultimately want is a dropper bottle with a solution in it that "OK, I want to wet blend, pull this bottle, add 1 drop of paint, and 1 drop of solution, and off we go."

2) That solution has water in it. Again, using the 1 drop of paint, 1 drop of "solution," which already contains water, do I need to drop water in at that point, or, because its already in the solution, I would be over-watering?

If it helps anyone, I will be using:
Vallejo Game and Model color as my paints.
Folk Art Extender
Winsor and Newton Flow Improver

I am sure this topic has been discussed at length, but therein lies the problem - its too hard to search., and I hope I didn't confuse the heck out of everyone.

Thanks, in advance, everyone.

Cheers!

 

[jcichon]

Part one of one would be yes and number two would be no but this of course is subjective. One paint may react differently than another brand so its always a guessing game. I just use vallejo glaze medium and differ the number of drops to paint and water depending on paint consistency and it slows drying more than long enough to wet blend though I am not a huge fan of wet blending. It's really hit or miss. I think Studio McVey has some vids on wet blending and they are the kings of it!

 

[Einion]

What I ultimately want is a dropper bottle with a solution in it that "OK, I want to wet blend, pull this bottle, add 1 drop of paint, and 1 drop of solution, and off we go."

Okay, that's totally doable but there's a bit more to it, see ● point below. Any number of solutions can work, the main thing I was going to check is what you have already which I see you list lower down which is great.

I was going to try to help cut down on what to buy - basically, starting with something simple and seeing if it does the trick, so you don't end up buying something redundant. Going back to that formula from Reaper, Slow-Dry and Flow Improver? Okay, that could be good but that's essentially what is in many blending mediums...

If it helps anyone, I will be using:
Vallejo Game and Model color as my paints.
Folk Art Extender
Winsor and Newton Flow Improver

I couldn't remember the Folk Art thing so checking the label it seems it's what's more commonly called a retarder. i.e. slowing drying is its main thing. The W&N thing is a tension breaker (for which you could have used dishwashing liquid BTW).

What I'd do is read up a bit on the Folk Art product, see how people mention they use it. Then I'd try a few tests for yourself - could be fine to use straight from the bottle, in small or large amounts, or it may be advisable to use it diluted with a bit of water.

Re. the W&N flow improver specifically, partly because of the paint it was originally intended to work with you'll want to be very careful not to add too much since it will inhibit proper drying.

I am sure this topic has been discussed at length, but therein lies the problem - its too hard to search., and I hope I didn't confuse the heck out of everyone.

It can be hard to search successfully for some things but you may not be taking advantage of the full abilities of the search. Some tips that should give you a leg up on any future searches in this thread (my post, #9).

This sort of very specific question might not be properly addressed in a previous thread, but looking for them can still be very worthwhile since you'll pick up so much other useful info along the way in related threads.

● While you can create a simple wet-blending medium that works perfectly for you for a regular paint mix you won't always be working with a regular paint mix. For instance sometimes you'll want to do a second layer, but more thinly, meaning you'll be using a thinner mix; so do expect to have to make some adjustments (in short: adding water as necessary).

If you don't live in a dry climate there's a decent chance that the Extender by itself could provide you with the right characteristics to do wet blending at the small scale we work at, without needing to worry about making up a custom blend.

Einion