[Scriptoris] Help w/brown paint! :o)

[Hillary Greenslade]

I went to the Windsor and Newton website to see if they have any suggestions for 
pigments drying out fast.  

The site is: 
http://www.winsornewton.com/
Details about gouache: 
http://www.winsornewton.com/products/gouache/designers-gouache/further-information/#DC


There is a composition table, that I thought was interesting: 
http://www.winsornewton.com/main.aspx?PageID=334

Under FAQ's, I found the following:  
8. How do Gouache and Acrylic in water colour technique differ from real water 
colour? 

Gouache is an opaque water colour, made with Gum Arabic it is matt, flat and 
opaque because it is extremely highly pigmented.  Gum arabic is far superior in 
flow properties in comparison to acrylic.  Gouache is most suited to more solid 
colour effects as opposed to the gentle pale washes of water colour.  Acrylic is 
time consuming because you have to thin it so much and it dries waterproof, 
quickly ruining sable brushes. 


11. How can cracking be prevented in Designers Gouache? 
Winsor & Newton gouache derives its opacity and matt finish from the exceedingly 
high level of pigment used in the formulation.  With so much pigment this means 
the proportion of binder [gum arabic] is lower than it would be in water 
colour.  Cracking can usually be attributed to one of two reasons when using 
gouache.  Firstly if not enough water is used to dilute the colour, the thicker 
film may crack as the paint dries on the paper.  The amount of water needed will 
differ with each colour.  Secondly, if painting in layers, the subsequent ones 
may show cracking if the underlayer absorbs binder from the wet colour. 

 
I wonder if the paints you are using, had the glycerine issue when you first 
opened them, were you removed the clear liquid before starting to paint, as you 
would want to do... But if you had a lot of glycerine to remove, is it possible 
that the moisture to pigment ratio was adjusted too much, don't know.  Could be 
possible the paint did sit on the shelf a long file, causing more 
separation/settling of the gylcerine, which you removed the first time you 
opened it.  Or it could be that your local area's dryness is just more 
tempermental with that specific pigment composition... you could check the 
composition tables to see if you have regular problems with paints that are 
based on the same chemical makeup.  

 
Well, as David said, you could rehydrate it.  I'm wondering if you would squeeze 
out what you can to be stored into a waterproof plastic container.  But, first, 
put some on a plate or glass tile, and using a paint palette knife, mix in some 
more gum arabic binder as well as some water.  Maybe also add just a drop or two 
(doesn't take much) of Ox Gal as a wetting agent, to help the pigment mix with 
the water. 

http://www.winsornewton.com/products.aspx?PageID=129&ProductID=880
The pigment you can't get out of the tube, split the tube with a knife and work 
on it to rehydrate, till you can move to the new container.   

 
I'm having some issues with my favorite black, Ivory Black, it seems to be 
overly glycerine-like throughout the tube, and it's causing some unusual feeling 
to the way the paint seems to work in my brush - hard to explain.  It's as if 
the formula has been changed, as I've used it for years.   Something for me to 
play around with as well, or try a different black.  

 
Good luck and let us know how it works out.  
Hillary



________________________________
From: Deanna della Penna <estencele at gmail.com>
To: scriptoris at lists.ansteorra.org
Sent: Wed, July 7, 2010 3:01:42 PM
Subject: [Scriptoris] Help w/brown paint! :o)

Like lots of others, I love Winsor & Newton Designer's Gouache.

I've noticed for a long time, whenever I seem to buy a tube of
brownish paint--- Vandyke Brown, Venetian Red, etc-- they seem to dry
out extremely quickly, so that I only get a few uses out of a regular
14 mL tube.

Am I just really clumsy about recapping my brownish-paint tubes? Did I
accidentally buy a batch of old paint and maybe I just need to try a
different vendor? Or do others have that problem with certain kinds of
colors drying out on them?

I mix a lot of my colors, of course-- but it's nice having those
shortcuts available, and very disappointing when you pick up a tube
with a looming deadline and discovering it's dead. :o)

Thanks!
-Deanna
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