painting with drying retarders

[bullfrog]

I have never really had the need to use slo-dry mediums but gave it a go with mixec results.
My main problem was that unless it was diluted to the point of being useless I was left with unsightly brush marks in the paint. I didn;t like it so much that I wiped it off and started again without slo-dry.
What am I doing wrong?

 

[freakinacage]

sounds like you are using a retarding gel. use liquitex retareder, thats pretty good and liquid

 

[Legacy Account]

Never really seen the point in drying retarders for 28mm minis. Even if you\'re wet-blending there\'s usually plenty of time to work the paint.

Just seems to encourage people to work the paint on the surface of the mini more, and that can\'t be a good thing in the long run.???

Is it just to keep your mixed colours wet? If so, try a wet pallette...

 

[freakinacage]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
Never really seen the point in drying retarders for 28mm minis. Even if you\'re wet-blending there\'s usually plenty of time to work the paint.

i have had trouble in the past when trying wet blending. even in england\'s cold, soggy cllimate!

 

[KatieG]

If I had to guess, based on what you\'ve described, I think you\'re trying to work it too long, and with too thick a paint. To be honest, I don\'t use retarders at all, just paint thinned enough to not dry right away (though you have to be quick!).

Keep in mind, if you use a retarder, you have to do what you need to do fairly quickly (though you have more time than you do without it), but then you must leave it alone until it FULLY dries! And with retarder, fully dries might mean 24 hours or more. You see why I don\'t use it?

 

[mattrock]

I use a retarder to paint very small details like eyes. The paint just dries too fast on those tiny brushes otherwise and I can\'t get my gorilla fingers steady enough to do the details otherwise.

As far as use goes, you want to use a liquid retarder, not a gel. In addition to that most of them need to be (and say as much on the label) mixed at a rate no higher than 3:1 water to retarder (ie 25%) otherwise there are some like Windsor and Newton that may NEVER dry.

If mixed well and used with thin paints, you shouldn\'t have problems with brush strokes.